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Can not get any extension cables to work on sensors

K1ppers
Honored Guest

Hi all.

I am a relatively new to Oculus and have only recently bought my first headset (CV1). I also bought the touch controllers as after using them round a friends house I thought they were the best thing since sliced bread!!

My problem is this.....

I am lucky enough to have a relatively square open play space of around 15 feet by 10 feet. No matter where I place the sensors using the cables provided I am unable to get good coverage/tracking when facing the back wall. I understand that my body is blocking the view to the sensors etc.. so I bought a recommended cable matters 5m USB3.0 Active extension cable in order to place one sensor in the opposite corner. No dice. During setup all I get is SENSOR DISCONNECTED or POOR TRACKING. So I decided to try another active cable (CSL), still same issues.

I've now tried 6x Active 5m 3.0 USB and 3 passive 2/3 meter USB 3.0 and can not get anything to work at all. Every cable I plug in I get the same errors. Remove the extension cable and error goes away and all is good in the (vr) world, except I'm back to having bad occlusion on my rear wall. I've considered buying a 3rd sensor, but I'll need around 5m extension to get that in a useful place so there is no point as I wont be able to get a cable to work and the addition of a 3rd sensor might give me even more issues.

I love the rift and the touch controllers, they are seriously the best thing I have ever bought (in terms of a computer experience) but I am getting massively frustrated with the inability to simply extend a cable without getting errors.

It is driving me mad and I have read through endless forums and posts about what cables work, but none of the recommended ones work on my system. The only thing I can think is that it is some kind of USB power issue. could this be the case? I get no problems when there isn't an extension cable so its the only thing I can think of. I'm thinking of buying the recommended Inatek Pci-e usb 3.0 card to plug just the sensor with the extension cable in. Maybe it will solve the issue, but I'm not hopeful if I'm honest and am rapidly running out of funds and love for the Oculus.

Has anybody had a similar experience and if so how did you solve it? I really am at my witts end.

😞

21 REPLIES 21

GATOxVoS
Heroic Explorer
@K1ppers - I truly apologize, I accidentally told a little lie. I thought 2 of my active extension cables had lights, but when in reality, only one did. I got confused between lights and external power adapters, as 2 of my cables do have the option for the power adapter.

The one cable that does have the light though, is kind of expensive 😕 : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007B61IJ8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1\

The upside about this cable though, is that not only do I have a blue light indicating the USB 3.0 status, it also comes with it's own power adapter in case you need extra power to carry the signal (Though, the light has been on without using the power adapter for me, and as such I have not tested it with the power adapter plugged into the cord).

Also using this Cable Matters active extension for one of my sensors, and it works perfect (just read that you were using one, didn't know if it was the same): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DMFB5OK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(Edit: This is indeed the same cable as what Oculus suggested in their Blog: https://www.oculus.com/blog/oculus-roomscale-extra-equipment/       ; So hopefully when you do get that card, your cables, at least this one, should work)

Though, before buying a cable with lights, I would suspect that after getting the USB card and plugging it into your PSU, you should get better signal for your active extension cables, and hopefully you wont need to buy others.

@danknugz - The card is linked to in Oculus' Blog post - https://www.oculus.com/blog/oculus-roomscale-extra-equipment/

They also recommend the Inatek, but after reading a bit about how ppl needed to use different drivers (fresco drivers?) and problems with that card, I decided to go with the Startech. Also, because it has separate controllers for each port (have had no issues with bandwidth, and tracking got less stuttery after changing to this setup). The Startech also provides for a plug for your PSU to power the card as well (I think most, if not all, USB 3.0 cards have the extra power plug... at least they should).
PC Specs:
Intel i7-6700k @ 4.5 Ghz
Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming 3 Motherboard
RTX 2080 Ti - MSI VENTUS
16 GB CAS-10 RAM @ 2400 MHz
Startech 4-port/4-USB controller add-on card
850W Corsair HX850 PSU
4-Sensor, Roomscale Setup

Qba73
Protege
I used this cable to extend my 3rd sensor and works flawlessly at 3.0, my board is a asus z170 deluxe with asmedia 3.1 controller. 

http://m.staples.com/QVS-6-USB-30-A-A-Male-Female-Extension-Cable-Blue/product_IM1NZ3370?cid=PS:Goog...
I9 13900k @ 6.0ghz AC (water), Asus Z690 Apex, 64gb gskill 5800 DDR5, Aorus 4090 Waterforce @ 3ghz