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TeaFloor
New Participant
October 5, 2021
Solved

Oculus link suddenly not working after months of seamless PCVR gaming.

[EDIT] : After updating to the newly released game ready drivers (496.13) through GeForce Experience, and, as gary.clark.54584 suggested, repairing the oculus client by running the setup file again, oculus link seems to be working. I'm unsure which of the two actually fixed it, or if any actually did and the fix actually came from some update the oculus developers did, but what I'm sure of is that Oculus Link is currently working for me. Will update again if new issues arise.

 

[ORIGINAL POST] :

 

I'm seriously out of ideas.

I bought my Quest 2 in early July, and it's been working wonderfully since. I've been plugging it into my PC with that approved Anker USB 3.0 cable, and I've had absolutely no issues with it. Most games run perfectly, such as Blade & Sorcery, H3VR, Beat Saber, Boneworks, etc.


However, since today, oculus link just doesn't want to work at all anymore. Here's the exact chain of actions I take and the reactions from the Quest 2 :

  1. I plug the USB 3.0 cable in the Quest 2.
  2. I put the headset over my eyes and click "allow" or whatever the positive answer is at the prompt about sharing files with the computer. (I've seen tutorials saying that pressing "deny" is the preferrable option. I've however been pressing "allow" since forever with no issues, and pressing "deny" didn't do anything different either.)
  3. I get to the Oculus Home and open the quick settings menu (pressing the clock/battery/notification icon block at the far left of the task bar). I'd like to mention that prior to opening the settings, I get the usual notification over the task bar that oculus link is available in the settings.
  4. I click on the large "oculus link" block next to the Wi-Fi and Guardian ones of the same size.
  5. Screen turns black, the three dots loading loop appears to indicate that it's loading.
  6. The 3D Oculus logo appears in front of me.
  7. I see the infinite white grid-patterned link area, but only for a split second before the screen goes black again.
  8. After a short while, the 3D Oculus logo appears once more, again succeeded by a peek of the grid-pattern area, only to turn black again.
  9. Steps 7 and 8 are repeated in a loop endlessly, until I unplug the cable from my headset, thus breaking the Oculus Link connection and being sent back to the Oculus Home.

Usually, I go through steps 1 to 7 and once I'm in the white grid area, I can just select my monitor and mess around with SteamVR. The issue here is obviously that it doesn't last for more than a second before turning black again in a loop.

 

I feel like I tried every solution available, and yet absolutely nothing gave me the slightest inch of progress. Here's everything I've tried :

 

  • Rebooting computer
  • Rebooting Quest 2
  • Restoring Quest 2 to factory settings (complete reset by holding the power and volume-down buttons)
  • Reinstalling the Oculus App on my PC.
  • Updating my graphics card drivers to the latest ones through GeForce Experience.
  • Going back to a previous Graphics Card drivers version.
  • Rebooting router and modem.
  • Deleting the Quest 2 device entry on the Oculus desktop app, and adding it again.
  • Rebooting the Oculus software through the "beta" tab in the settings of the desktop app.
  • Trying Oculus Air Link instead of Oculus Link. This resulted in exactly the same results as with Oculus Link.
  • Verifying the cable connection through the Oculus desktop app in the devices tab. Results showed no issues.

I changed absolutely nothing in my computer that could've caused such an issue. The cable is in perfect condition, my headset is charged, no major updates of any software on my computer that could be even remotely related to Oculus Link has been made. I just don't know what to do at this point. I absolutely loved my previous VR sessions with my Quest 2 and would love to use it again, but this sudden Oculus Link issue makes my Steam games impossible to enjoy.

Here's my specs, in case anyone wants them :

 

Windows 10 x64

Intel Core i7-9700

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (latest game ready drivers are 472.12)

16 GB RAM

 

If absolutely anyone encountered a similar issue and solved it, I would be most grateful if you would share the solution that worked for you.


Have a great day!

 

      garyclark54584Answer
      New Participant
      October 6, 2021

      UPDATE - This morning, I was continuing to troubleshoot on my own, and after I ran C:\Program Files\Oculus\OculusSetup.exe and chose the repair option, my Oculus Link it working again.

       

      It's really odd because I've uninstalled and reinstalled the Oculus software a few times with no success, but repairing seemed to fix my issues. I hope this might help others.

      View in thread

      58 replies

      ABasiero
      Participant
      October 5, 2021

      Friend, I know how you are filling... I have a similar situation with the horizontal bars issue.

      I just can give you one more thing to try before the completely formatting of the computer, and maybe use the Quest 2 guaranty.  

       

      When you restarted the oculus app, in the first use of it after that, the app recognised your account automatically? If did, maybe the uninstalling was not complete. That happened to me, search how to perform a complete uninstall, and how to clean every single file related to oculus. 

      TeaFloorAuthor
      New Participant
      October 5, 2021

      I'll look into that. Thanks for the reply!

      MetaStoreHelp
      MetaStoreHelp
      Community Manager
      October 5, 2021

      Hey there, thanks for bringing this to the community. We understand how frustrating this is to you. We'd love to help you figure this out. Try reinstalling the Link driver on your computer. You can find the installable Oculus driver file at the following path: c:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-drivers\oculus-driver.exe.

       

      If that doesn't work please submit a support ticket here with the steps you have taken for us to look into this further for you. 

      If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
        garyclark54584
        New Participant
        October 6, 2021

        I have the same issues as the OP. On Sunday, I played some VR with my daughter using Oculus Link and everything was fine. I unlinked my headset and played a few other VR games in my game room. Later in the evening I went to hook up using Oculus Link and got the 3 dots and messages saying that Oculus isn't working correctly, my headset can't be found, and that Oculus Link stopped working. I made no changes to my computer in between Oculus Link sessions.

         

        I've done like the OP and tried uninstalling, reinstalling, updating, updating drivers, unlinking from phone app, factory reset etc... and nothing has worked. I've had my headset for about a month and up until Sunday, everything has been great. Although I do have a Rift S that I can play just fine, I sometimes like to use my Quest 2 through OL so that I get better resolution.

         

        I tried reinstalling the link driver, but it didn't help the issue at all.

          TeaFloorAuthor
          New Participant
          October 6, 2021

          That sucks man. Let's just hope this whole thing will get a fix soon. I'm suspecting it might be an issue on Facebook's side, since I'm not sure how I could've caused the slightest problem in the last days by watching youtube videos and doing school work. Furthermore, their stock did nosedive pretty hard yesterday on October 4th, although I'm not sure if there's any correlation between that and the oculus link issues sprouting up recently.

          MatthewXXI
          New Participant
          October 6, 2021

          I'm having the same issues with oculus link as well. For some reason oculus link just infinitely loads and never actually starts. I never had issues with it before now. Let me know when you find a solution cause I am stumped. 

            W4LKTHROUGH
            New Participant
            August 28, 2022

            I mean, my issue is that I’ll click link (pc meets requirements, so does cable (kiwi))

            And was working for maybe an hour, till suddenly it stopped working, also happened with airline, seems to be a software issue on MY pc, because I tried it on my girlfriends dads computer and it worked but bugged like hell. Does anyone know if this will solve it?

            MetaStoreHelp
            MetaStoreHelp
            Community Manager
            August 28, 2022

            Hello W4LKTHROUGH. We see you're having some issues with your link. We'd be delighted to assist you by getting a better understanding of your system.

             

            Can you please gather the Oculus logs?

            1. Open the Run window (Windows key + R).
            2. Enter and run: C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-diagnostics\OculusLogGatherer.exe
             *The above link is the default directory. Bear in mind that if you installed Oculus Home to another drive you will need to update the command with the correct file path.
            3. Select the checkbox next to ‘Full logs’.
            4. Select "1 day" from the "Collect last" drop-down list.
            5. Wait for the log collection to finish. This can take some time to complete.
            6. The program will automatically generate a zip file containing your logs, which will be saved to your desktop automatically.
            7. Attach the newly created zip file to your next support response.
             

            Please visit Meta Store Support and submit a ticket and attach the Oculus logs to your response. 

             

            All the best!

            If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
            RadMadDad
            Participant
            October 9, 2021

            I have the exact same problems as you (it started not working today, 10/9), except I never get past the initial black screen and dots (the white grid never appears). I also tried submitting a ticket, but didn't get any confirmation after I hit submit, so I don't even know if it went through. This sucks and the (lack of) tech support is doubly frustrating.

              ItsFelix
              Participant
              October 9, 2021

              I've had an almost identical problem and its so frustrating because it started messing up out of nowhere for seemingly no reason. I've tried everything I could think of and most of what you tried to fix it to no avail.

              RadMadDad
              Participant
              October 9, 2021

              Are you on a laptop? I'm on a laptop. Oddly enough, I was able to connect it to a desktop PC without issue. I wonder if it has something to do with the NVIDIA cards for laptops.

              ItsFelix
              Participant
              October 9, 2021

              I am on a laptop actually, so maybe that is the issue. I don't have a desktop to see if it works there, sadly.

              MetaStoreHelp
              MetaStoreHelp
              Community Manager
              October 9, 2021

              Hey there, we would love to offer you with the best assistance.


              We have noticed there are a lot of really helpful tips here. We would like to ask if you are able to provide us with the following: 

              • A photo of the Anker cable you are using.
              • Does your device function properly as a stand alone?
              • Are you using Windows 10 latest update?
              • Do you happen to see any error messages?

              Please be sure to reach back out with these details here, so we can resolve this matter together.

              If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
              jonny668
              Participant
              October 11, 2021

              I have the same issue a black screen and sometimes a flickering screen. Issues began immediately following an nvidia driver update. 

              • I am using the official oculus cable.
              • It works stand-alone.
              • I am using fully updated Windows 10.
              • I have no error messages.
              RadMadDad
              Participant
              October 11, 2021

              Don't know if this will help you, but what (just) worked for me is reverting to my old AMD Ryzen drivers (per Oculus TS, the newest version doesn't support Oculus which seems... weird, but ok). If you also use an AMD processor, I'd try that.

                Anonymous
                October 12, 2021

                same here, it stopped working after uodating my nvidia driver. will try reverting to old driver tomorrow and see how it goes.

                jonny668
                Participant
                October 12, 2021

                I tried every driver available back to June, but no success. I hope you have better luck. If so, let me know which driver version.

                YanaArtis
                Inspiring
                October 12, 2021

                I had the same issue on the laptop I've purchased couple days ago (ASUS ROG G513, Ryzen-7, RTX 3060). Everything worked fine (except one issue(*) in the Oculus Home) until I installed Nvidia GeForce Experience and updated Nvidia driver. That completely broke Oculus Link - I saw the black screen instead of Oculus Home. I have tried all tips & tricks I googled but nothing helps. But I've found the cure. I installed Nvidia Studio driver 462.59 - and Oculus Link is working now!

                 

                (*) But there still remains the issue I mentioned above. The projection of PC screen in the oculus home is totally black with mouse pointer over it. Cannot find how to fix that. 

                  RadMadDad
                  Participant
                  October 12, 2021

                  I know how to "fix" your remaining issue (but as explained below I wasn't satisfied with the result). The issue is that your computer is trying to render the desktop with your (better) GPU, rather than your integrated graphics card. To fix this, in the Windows toolbar, type "Graphics Settings" (or open Settings then go to Display, then Graphics Settings). Under "Graphics performance preference," select "Browse" and select "C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime\OVRServer_x64.exe" (that's the default path; if you installed the Oculus software somewhere else, go there; or just search for "OVRServer_X64.exe"). Click "Add." Then select "Options" and set it to "Power saving." Click save and reboot both the computer and your headset (I'm definitely sure you need to reboot your laptop, and just did the headset in an abundance of caution). Credit and source is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/mvk5e1/comment/gw7br01/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 (but please note that it omits the reboot step, which I found to be necessary)

                   

                  My problem with the solution was that, running off the integrated graphics, everything was so laggy that it wasn't worth the effort and I reverted back to the "Performance" option (rather than "Power Saving"). Hopefully your experience is better.

                    YanaArtis
                    Inspiring
                    October 12, 2021

                    Thank you 🙂 I have tried the same fix recipe with the same results... I have tried switch the performance for the following applications:
                    1) C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime\OVRRedir.exe
                    2) C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime\OVRServiceLauncher.exe
                    3) C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-runtime\OVRServer_x64.exe
                    4) C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-client\OculusClient.exe
                    5) C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-dash\dash\bin\OculusDash.exe
                    I have tried all 32 possible combinations 🙂 And discover that only OVRServer_x64.exe affects on "black PC screen issue". If I set it to high performance (RTX 3060) everything is fine and fast but PC screen projection is black. If I set OVRServer_x64.exe to energy-safe mode (AMD graphics card), every thing is too laggy, but PC screen content is shown in VR.

                    Probably I'll try to resolve this issue next weekend.

                    ItsFelix
                    Participant
                    October 24, 2021

                    I tried everything I've seen suggested here and by a certified technician I have been talking to and absolutely nothing is working, its so frustrating

                    MetaStoreHelp
                    MetaStoreHelp
                    Community Manager
                    October 28, 2021

                    Hello, Felix!

                     

                    We see that you are having an issue with Oculus Link not working correctly when trying to tether your Oculus device to your PC. We appreciate the work you have done so far to try and resolve this issue. Are you receiving a specific error message, or is the Oculus device not being recognized by the PC?

                     

                    You may also want to try:

                    • Disabling any Antivirus programs that could prevent the sharing of information between your Oculus device and PC.
                    • Inspecting your Oculus Link cable for any damage, and try updating your USB drivers as well.
                    • Ensuring that both your Oculus device headset and Oculus app are fully updated.

                    If you are still experiencing an issue with linking your Oculus device to your PC, please send us a Private Message or submit a support ticket here for further assistance. We'll do our best to get you back into the PC VR gaming experience! 

                    If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
                    YanaArtis
                    Inspiring
                    November 12, 2021

                    The issue with broken Oculus Link after installing new Nvidia drivers happened more than month ago. Guys from Oculus, have you found the cure? Oculus Support asked me once more to check Game Mode, USB ports settings, try different USB ports and different USB cables - the same useless advices as month ago.

                     

                    Is there any hope that Oculus will resolve this issue? To work with Quest and Nvidia Omniverse I need to reinstall Nvidia drivers every time! Oculus was the perfect platform. But it seems, worth to choose another VR headset 😞

                    mrsavages3d
                    New Participant
                    April 18, 2022

                    same is happening to me just now and i tried avrything and nothing is working i got scared thought  my oculus is broken cus i dont have enough money buy new one pls help

                    MetaStoreHelp
                    MetaStoreHelp
                    Community Manager
                    April 18, 2022

                    Hey there, we definitely want to get a handle on this Link issue with you. First steps will be to reach out to us at https://metaque.st/Support, including your Oculus Logs. Providing logs will help us better isolate the source of the problem. Together we'll find a solution and get you connected. We're here to help!

                    If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
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