Quest 3 - Left controller flashing SOS and unusable

[BVCVR.SHW03]

Hello support team,

I have a Quest 3 controller (left) that is unusable, and is flashing the SOS lights. 

Steps taken so far with no results:

1) Held down A button, and tapped the menu button 5 times

2) Replaced the battery

3) Removed the battery for 30-60 seconds, and placed back

4) Manually pairing remote to headset, but unable to find pairing option

Right controller works just fine, its just the left that isn't working. Any advice / replacement would be highly appreciated. Thank you!

[MetaQuestSupport · Accepted solution]

Hey there, @BVCVR.SHW03, and thanks for reaching out to the community! We love to see you have taken several steps of your own to get your left controller working smoothly, so we'd be happy to continue gathering more details to take a further look into your device via PM. To send us one, either select our name to get to our profile page, or click here while signed in to the community. Next, click "Send a Message" to privately message us! We hope to hear from you soon! 

[ChrisDoesStuff]

My left controller has also just randomly stopped working - pretty sure it was working prior to the latest headset update - did you get a resolution to this? I'd much prefer not to do a factory reset, so any help is majorly appreciated 😄

[MetaQuestSupport]

Hey there @ChrisDoesStuff! If your controller is flashing SOS too, we'd like to learn whether you've tried unpairing and re-pairing your controller. A Factory Reset might help if that doesn't do the trick, but this kind of issue usually is limited to the controller itself. While it's possible the next headset update might provide a fix, we can also look into possible warranty options in PM! 

Please select our name to get to our profile page, or click here: https://metaque.st/CommunitySupport. Next, click "Send a Message" to privately message us! Please remember, you must be signed into the community first to send us a private message.

[Nadsy]

Yes,

I have the exact same issue. In my case, I got a replacement headset under warranty, and still have the original controllers. When I start the new headset up, It asks me to pair with the controller (I have to wait till "remove battery tab" screen finishes). The very first time I tried to pair it (by holding the Y and menu button for 4 seconds), I felt the vibration. Then the controller tried to do an update. It got to 99%, then tried to update again. It failed without going past 0%, and now flashes in an SOS pattern.

Subsequent paiiring attemps (after removing the battery for hours or days) results in the same attempted and failed update, followed by the SOS flashing (no ability to hold Y and menu for 4 seconds to ge the vibration).

You can't get beyond this... the app is waiting for the 5 digit code, but I can't get to that point.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Nadaav.

P.S. I did put a ticket in through the app last week, but haven't heard anything.

[MetaQuestSupport]

Hey there, @Nadsy! Sometimes when a headset is replaced and the original controllers remain, this issue on setup happens and we would love to help you get past it. To set up your replacement Quest headset, please follow these steps:

1. Press and hold the headset power button until the display turns on.
2. Wait for the initial setup to complete.
3. Once complete, you will be prompted to pair your controllers. In VR, you will be asked to remove the pull tabs, or it will state that the controllers are not found. This is because the controllers do not come with the headset replacement. You will need to use the gaze function to complete setup.
4. To use the gaze function, put on the headset and move your head to navigate in VR. To select prompts in VR, use the headset volume and power buttons.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup process. This will include setting up your account, downloading any necessary updates, and configuring your preferences.
6. Once the setup is complete, you can start using your headset with the controllers.

This should get you past the setup faze and after that you should be able to pair your controllers just fine. Please get back to us if you have any issues going through these steps.

[Nadsy]

Hey there,

thanks for the detailed instructions, but unfortunately, it didn’t work. After waiting about 5 minutes with the “pull tabs” screen on, it gives you the option to pair the controllers using “gaze”. As mentioned before, this pairing method didn’t work… it does an update, and then throws and error. 

I took both batteries out of the controllers, and it gave me the option to ignore the left controller after a few minutes… but with the right controller, it only gave me the option to “Exit”… which took me back to the “pull tab” screen. 

there was no option to setup without first pairing the controllers (which fails for both left and right controllers)…. Unless I’m missing some other step or secret button combination. 

again, any help is much appreciated  

cheers,

Nadaav 

[MetaQuestSupport]

Thank you for your response! We have a couple more troubleshooting steps we'd like for you to try. Please review the following:

• Unpair and pair the controller to the headset
• Factory reset the headset

Please let us know if this works for you!

[Nadsy]

Hi again,

unfortunately this is not an option. The headset is a replacement, that hasn’t been paired with the horizon meta app yet (because I can’t get past it trying to pair the erroring controllers). It doesn’t show up as a device. 
if you can think of any way of setting up/pairing the headset without the controller, that would allow me to try this. 
cheers,

nadaav 

[MetaQuestSupport]

Thank you for that information! So that we can gather some personal information from you and further look into possible replacement options, we'll need you to PM us. Please select our name to get to our profile page, or click here. Next, click "Send a Message" to privately message us! Please remember, you must be signed into the community first to send us a private message. We look forward to your response!