I am off on a long haul flight tomorrow and thought to myself wouldn't it be great if I could take the OR with me so I could get some gaming/ virtual cinema movies in on the flight (yeah I am sad and the wife has just reminded me of the fact). Anyway the problem for me was the lack of a power point to power the OR on the flight (cattle class) so I decided to improvise, I butchered a USB cable and wired this to a power connector tip that would fit the rift and I am pleased to say that I can now power the rift directly from my gaming laptop :-), one USB port for power and another for the head tracking.
I initially had a look at the following site (but really couldn't be bothered to take the control box to bits and solder a joint)
"kingtut" wrote: Actually, maybe the OR could actually help those who get motion sick - by giving them a real virtual horizon
That's an awesome idea. The head tracker should be able to pick up the movement of the plane accurately, so it could almost certainly help to relieve the problem. This would be a perfect type of thing to run from mobile devices (or for the built-in Android device there have been rumors about)..........
I have had this problem, there are many usb cables that look like they will power the Rift but only do so for a second or two. I've bought 3 or 4 different generic cables on ebay to this effect, and so far have discovered that the StarTech USB2TYPEM cable is the only one that gives sustained power that works completely. That model is only 3 feet, but I believe they make longer cords.
Thanks for the reply ^. Good information. I've got my Rift at work so I'm going to tinker with it some more tomorrow and try some different USB cables. Maybe one of those USB cables that splits into two for extra power. In the meantime I went ahead and ordered the cable you suggested StarTech USB2TYPEM. The waiting games begin again. I just got into the Steam in Home Streaming Beta, so really looking forward to having the ability to play games untethered.
EDIT: okay so spent the last 2 days trying different USB cables, battery packs, and even opened the control box and connected the USB to the power and had the same symptom every time; Rift powers on and shuts off after about 4-5 seconds. (Right after it tries to turn the screen on) It seems the USB isn't drawing the power the way the Rift needs it, I thought about adding a resistor in the mix but screw it, I'll just wait for these cables to arrive that everyone claims is working.. I don't mind the wait, the thing that bugs me is I can't understand why it keeps shutting off like that. Grrr lol
I have 2 Rifts, and I'm wondering if it's a firmware/manufacture date thing. Idk. But I don't really feel like hacking up my other one.. lol
Would the length of the cable have anything to do with it ? Shooting in the dark here
Hey, if you ever worked this out can you tell me the solution? Was it the cable for you as well?
I've tried the soldering method, but the box only stays on for a few seconds and I wanted to know if it's the USB cable or my soldered cable (if that is the problem).
I have to solder a new cable on as the connection in my power slot has broken (somehow) and can't keep a steady connection any more. So my rift is basically unusable until I fix this.
