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White horizontal stripe across screen while using link

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Headset seems to work fine stand-alone. I use the headset with IRacing, and often (not always) get a translucent horizontal stripe across the screen after about 15 minutes or so. It doesn't feel like the headset is overheating. This doesn't show up on the screen mirror on PC, or if I "mirror" with the debug tool. Is this likely a failing display or is there somewhere else I should look?

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PokebertAnswer

Participant

UPDATE: POSSIBLE WORKAROUND/FIX USING REGISTRY EDITOR

As I theorized above, this issue does NOT occur for those who use Air Link. Air Link uses HEVC and uses 1 slice for its encoding, whereas wired Link uses H.264 and 5 slices for encoding. Whenever the white bar issue occurs, it is very likely the final 5th slice experiencing an error in the encoding. If you pay close attention when this occurs, you will likely notice it only occurs in the bottom slice of the screen.

To use this workaround, open Command Prompt and use the following:

reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Oculus\RemoteHeadset" /v "numSlices" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

I will be experimenting with this for the next few weeks to make sure I do not get the white bar issue!

Original Post on REVISITED thread:

I have noticed that this is related to the horizontal encoding slices that are visible only through the Link Cable. A very easy stopgap solution would be to offer a toggle in the OculusDebugTool that allows us to turn OFF these encoding slices. Additionally, the encoding slices do not appear with Air Link and thus the issue has almost never occurred wirelessly according to both personal experience and these threads.

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DaGumball

Participant

Hey all,

First time posting just to share some of my correspondence with an Oculus rep earlier today:

1. First off, my rep literally copied and pasted a tip from this exact thread, and offered that as troubleshooting.

- "(12:14:12 PM) Tiago 😧 Have you already tried any troubleshooting step(s) similar to this one: Set the Encode Resolution Width in Oculus Debug Tool above 3664, i.e. 4000 - the white stripe at the bottom appears. Change it back to default (0) or 3664 and now it won't show."

2. I reiterated that this thread has been around since 2020, and there has been no official word from Oculus on how to fix it, or even plans to fix it. This is what I was told after a 15 minute wait:

- "(12:31:17 PM) Tiago 😧 Even though this issue already has about 80 pages it is not a current know issue of ours at this time. We would need to do further troubleshooting to find the cause of this which would start with that change I mentioned previously. Apologies, thought I had already sent this."

3. I requested a refund, stating that had I known that the headset was incapable of PCVR, I would not have purchased it. I was denied a refund, and was then told this:

- "(01:22:23 PM) Tiago 😧 It is absolutely capable of doing this and with very good performance scores. But at times, a new update or a new bug may interfere with the already in place software or vice versa that needs to be troubleshot a bit further to find the root and the best solution for it. And as of now, we were not aware of this as a known issue. I hope that the final outcome of this will be that, after we've created troubleshooting for this, a new update will be able to rolled out that will permanently fix this."

4. I was then offered a replacement headset, even though I had told the rep that the issue only began when switching my GPU to the 3060, and I knew that a new headset would not fix the problem. I also had told him that I have tested on different Quest 2's, with no luck. Basically, I was told that I could get a replacement, and at least I would have a new one to use standalone or with AirLink. I took this as "well, we can't fix it, but at least you can use it for these other things".

- "(02:05:59 PM) Tiago 😧 I understand your situation and appreciate your contact. If you want, I can still try to troubleshoot your issues and, if confirmed, we can request a replacement Quest 2 so that you have at least a way to continue to enjoy your headset both standalone and while connected to your Pc.
(02:06:44 PM) Tiago 😧 with AirLink"

Needless to say, I am beyond disappointed at these responses. I eventually accepted the replacement headset offer, but I am not keeping my hopes up that this will fix the problem.

HptmAtomiK

Participant

Yep sounds about right. Here we are trying to fix this issue all the while being blocked at every turn by oculus and even people in the community.

I wrote in one of my earlier posts that oculus support acted like they never heard of this issue before and someone replied to my comment "That is not true, they have heard of this issue." So there you go, here's another person saying the same thing I said. Go figure.

Anyway I was told by the guy that's handling my case to do a factory reset on the HMD and all these other fruitless troubleshooting steps. I basically told them these steps have been done by many other users who have reported this issue and it did not help them and that I will not be purchasing any more Oculus/Meta products in the future.

They're just gaslighting us here.

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halopower67

New Participant

Adding my 2 cents. i get the issue too and its frustrating there hasnt been a fix.

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TomCgcmfc

Honored Contributor

This probably does not help you but the only way I'm able to see this problem with my Q2/rtx3090 is to select an ODT encoding res width above 3664 (need to restart oculus services for this to take). This is with my oculus desktop device settings at 80Hz and res slider full right. Also, other ODT setting default/zeros except distortion curve = low and link sharpening enabled.

i9 13900K water cooled, RTX4090, Z790 MB w/wifi6e, 64Gb 6400 ram, 2x2TB SSD, 1000W PSU, Win 11, QPro, Q3, w/Link and Air Link, Vive Pro1 with 2x2.0 base stations, Etsy lens mod and Index Controllers

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laekwondo

New Participant

Did a quick test changing the Encode bitrate from 500 to 300 when using Encode Resolution width 4000 - but still got the white horizontal strip at the bottom. Tested this with IL-2 Sturmovik and Automobilista 2.

I'm sticking with the following setting as with these it is not happening, at least with the games I'm playing:

Oculus Debug Tool:

Distortion Curve: Low
Encode Resolution Width: 3664
Encode Bitrate: 500
Link Sharpening: Enabled

Oculus Desktop App:

Refresh Rate: 80Hz
Render Resolution: 4480 x 2256

My PC specs:

CPU: Intel Core i9 9900K
GPU: NVidia GeForce RTX 3090
RAM: 32GB

Would love to get a bit sharper image still - but these work and I'm just tired of fiddling as there is no apparent solution or reason for this issue. Hopefully Link Sharpening gets better.

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TomCgcmfc

Honored Contributor

laekwondo I get best res with my 3090 with 80Hz and res slider full right and get very good results with all my Oculus, Steam, and VivePort games/sims. Also, Airlink desktop bitrate at 200 dynamic. For Link 500. Other ODT settings default/zeros except distortion = low , encode width = 3664, and link sharpening enabled.

For SteamVR make sure visuals are all set manually to 100% and disable advanced super sample filtering.

Nvidia control panel 3d global settings all default except power = prefer max performance.

Also, avoid any bloatware like geoforce experience or msi afterburner and use the latest nvidia and win10 updates . You, like me, have a very good gaming pc so you should expect excellent results imho.

i9 13900K water cooled, RTX4090, Z790 MB w/wifi6e, 64Gb 6400 ram, 2x2TB SSD, 1000W PSU, Win 11, QPro, Q3, w/Link and Air Link, Vive Pro1 with 2x2.0 base stations, Etsy lens mod and Index Controllers

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StunWar

New Participant

I gave up and returned my Quest…. Going to wait for an official update address this or a Quest 3 announcement. Fingers crossed the PSVR2 supports SteamVR

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Ryudar

Inspiring

Hey everyone,

thanks to fyte's workaround, I was able to play without the stripe for 3 weeks now!

I've just read a theory on page 60 that it could have something to do with SteamVR and when I read that, I remembered one thing before updating:

Before the workaround, my Oculust Quest 2 and Controllers were not shown in the SteamVR window (small window when you ipen the software), but after, they were.

Maybe the software versions after V23 have a problem with SteamVR compatibility.

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Sp0uny

Participant

Hi,

For sure the problem is not linked to SteamVR, many users don't have Steam VR but have white line issue.

It's an issue related to Oculus Link software and nothing else, we've benne talking about it for a year, and it's been demonstrated throughout the 60 pages of this topic.

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Tubbytibbles

New Participant

yeah I don't even have SteamVR and it happens on mine with Dirt Rally 2.0, but I haven't tried any other games through Link

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stefyu57600

New Participant

I fixed this issue (for me)

I activated this features in my BIOS (its in french) :

-Temporisateur de latence PCI 32 clocks to 128 clocks

-Prise en charge de l'ancien USB desactivé to Auto

-XHCI Hand-off desactivé to activé

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YoungGunn187

New Participant

fyte I followed your guide to downgrade. I had no issues and everything went according to your guide. When all said and done, I put my headset on and click the link button to launch it. My screen goes black for a second as if it's going to boot the PC VR version but then kicks me back to the oculus quest home. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?