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RIP Valve Index HMD.. 2021-2022
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Continuing from the last blog post of surviving from a really strong smell (and my computer being OK from the whole ordeal of having kerosene inside of it), I thought “I should see how it can handle VR as well”. I found my Index HMD (I will refer ‘headset’
as ‘HMD’ (Head Mounted Display) for the purposes of this blog post) lenses up that had fallen on the ground, between two pieces of my furniture. Didn’t think much of it as it showed blue lights at the time.
After starting up SteamVR, I saw this error.
Huh. The HMD’s cables are ‘securely connected’. Wait.. uhhhhh. Oh shit. The lights on the front of the HMD are solid red! I’ve never seen that before! ..FUCK!! Don’t tell me I.. I killed it!! I’m not sure if the kerosene got into the HMD or not, but it was covering the cable. It could’ve been from everything from the top shelf falling down that knocked it
off, as I always have it sitting next to my computer.
When I smelled the HMD, it didn’t smell (at all) like kerosene. So it definitely wasn’t that. Whatever it was, my HMD is dead.. I think? When using VR View, I saw an image
of SteamVR (as if it was working perfectly). But I saw nothing in the lenses.
I remembered what Malice said how he was able to get his working: “beat the shit out of it”. Though I didn’t do anything like that, I smacked it several times but it didn’t
help.
Then I tried to look up this ‘208’ error and did everything I read, including updating
my GPU drivers. But I noticed the red lights of the HMD weren’t going away with a clean install of the drivers. And when it was all over, I tried it again. Still getting Error 208.
When clicking the ‘Reset Headset’ link, the lights go blue on the HMD. My monitors go black and then display at 1024×768. At this point the HMD shows green lights. Then a few seconds later I get another black screen and the displays go back to 1920×1080, and I see the solid red lights again.
Well shit… so much for VR. Began to think the kerosene fucked with either my GPU’s display ports, the USB 3.0 extension card, or both. Then I remembered I still had
my Odyssey+ WMR HMD. I’ll be able to test to see if I really fucked up. After unplugging my Index HMD and plugging the O+, I saw the lenses light up. Ok! So this proves
my Index is dead, which is bad. However it also proves there’s nothing wrong with my computer. …Thank God. That would’ve been a whole lot worse!
Knowing this, it made me wonder if it’s possible to use my Index controllers instead of
the WMR controllers, as I threw away the battery chargers I used (thinking I’ll “never need them again”). Not a smart move.
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And at this time everyone was on VRChat. So I got on in desktop mode, slowly walking over to the mirror feeling ashamed of myself not having VR anymore. Nearly to the
mirror, Jero stops me and notices I’m in desktop. I told him “my Index died”. He couldn’t believe it. I can’t even believe it myself. This shit shouldn’t be happening to me.
Nova and Jero tried to give advice to fix the HMD. I tried all of their suggestions but nothing worked. Jero then suggested I try to replace the cable (by actually taking it out of the HMD) and managed to find an area on the Steam Store a way to buy a new one
for $130. So this is what Malice meant by they “aren’t cheap”. Jero felt ‘85% sure’ it was the cable, but I had my doubts. Still ordered it as I was desperate for a miracle.
Cue the ‘FedEx trolling the delivery date’ montage!!
Started that evening…
OSHI–!! Gimme gimme! That’s TODAY!!
Saturday afternoon…
Wait. “‘Initially expected WEDNESDAY’?! You said I would get it TODAY!!” Meh whatever. Guess I’ll wait till tomorrow.
Sunday afternoon…
I hate FedEx even more than I ever did. But.. I finally got it that Tuesday. And after replacing the cable and booting up SteamVR… nothing. It didn’t help. Now, I don’t wish to say I “wasted $130 for nothing”. I’ll explain why in a bit.
But I knew it wasn’t the cable. Infact my O+’s cable is even worse. There are very exposed
wires that need to be sealed up, yet it still works.
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Going through the BS of Steam Support
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Jero was upset with himself he gave the suggestion that didn’t help, then suggested I contact Steam Support. And I told him 1,000 and 1 reasons why that would be even MORE wasting my time (over what I went through with my controller several months ago).
“Hopefully you might not have to return the defective headset” he said. And I said “How am I going to tell them? ..If it’s my fault because of what happened last week (that it broke because I mishandled it)?! They aren’t going to do shit. They’ll say it’s my fault.”
He wanted me to lie to them, to say I was wearing it and it froze then the screens went black. Absolutely hated this idea. It felt so wrong to lie to a company. But after he convinc0ed me its OK to do so, to tell them “I was wearing it and then it froze and went black”, that telling them the truth will screw me, he tried to help give a convincing lie. This included saying ‘I have tested this on other PCs and got the same results’.
So I submitted my ticket and waited to see how they would respond. I followed all of their troubleshooting requests.
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As the days went on, the thought of using my O+ with my Index controllers kept going through my mind. Jero claimed they “patched it out”, but I knew someone who would absolutely know the answer: Chase (aka GamerNit). And sure enough he said it’s still possible, through a program called ‘OpenVR-SpaceCalibrator‘. It will allow you to use other VR devices (such as my Index controllers).
However I ran into a plethora of issues that really killed my mood of trying this. Two things he forgot to tell me;
1. I cannot use my FBT, as the Index controllers require two Steam controller dongles or two ‘spare Vive tracker dongles’. And I only have three Vive tracker dongles. Two of them are being used for the controllers.
2. I have to set a playspace to properly calibrate the Index controllers.
This second thing is the true pain in the ass, remembering the pain I went through in the past. Even though I’m in a bigger room (my father’s old room) which has much more lighting above me, I doubt I’ll get any improvement. And calibrating the controllers was a real pain in the ass. I’m not even sure if I’m doing it right.
Think I’d rather deal with broken arms, than deal with the playspace shifting on me. And this has been my mindset since then. Though the thought to “just try it” has come and gone. However I want to see what Steam Support says first.
Going back to Steam Support, I’ve been in talks with them for over a week now (past the date this post was made). Kept feeling they’re going to see through the lies. In total I have sent them three SteamVR System Reports, and two MS Info 32 reports.
The last troubleshooting request they gave was a doozy, and to me asking way too much. They wanted me to uninstall every single VR related tool I had. In addition which
had nothing to do with the HMD, they wanted me to uninstall iCUE and Voicemeeter. Couldn’t lie my way out of it as they wanted an additional SteamVR System Report and
a MS Info 32 report (to make sure it was done). Jero suggested I do a System Restore point that I can undo all the forced changes. So I did everything they asked, including giving them a detailed explanation of what happens when I boot up SteamVR (and click the Reset Headset link).
With all the required info sent to them (as it too didn’t work), I use the System Restore point. This took a lengthy 10+ minutes. Though it restored Voicemeeter and iCUE, the others I had to reinstall (they were showed as installed in the registry, but not physically). And also since then I have a missing program on my quick launch.
The missing icon in the lower left. I’ve had this but finally figured out what app it is.
It’s iCUE. Seems the System Restore corrupted the install, as the app wouldn’t launch. Had to do a complete reinstall to fix it.
Anyway, back to Steam Support (again). Their next message was very promising. They offered to give me a refurbished replacement for free, even though I’m outside of my
warranty (bought the full kit on what would had been my father’s birthday (May 11th)). So yeah, two months outside of its 1-year warranty. And at the time, they never asked for the old one. Things were looking good.
…Until, the next day after I agreed to accept it and gave them my address.
DAMNIT!!! They gave me hope I didn’t have to send the old one back.. and then take it away from me.
Plus…
And that my friends, is what I call..
Just. like. they. did to me, with my controller months ago. They will refuse to accept that I don’t have a car/printer/FedEx Store in my city. That ain’t their problem. They see it
as “well if you want a replacement, you better cough up those things!”
Buying a replacement headset isn’t possible…
This is the first time having more money isn’t going to help me. A friend believes they’re making a lot of money with the Steam Deck, so why bother making more Index headsets?
Jero felt asking them ‘nicely’, that someone would show up to help me. At the time I didn’t know what ‘being nice’ felt. All I felt was defeat. But I did try to calm down and listen to him, and wrote something to Steam Support in hopes Jero was right.
And the next response, while they didn’t say “we only accept FedEx”, felt (to me) they should had.
It took… a day until I finally calmed down to see what they were truly saying. So they completely misread my message. I asked for a QR Code (like what Samsung did) that I can take to a UPS Store to have them print out the label for me. They also didn’t read that I don’t HAVE a FedEx office.
Kovo got involved, and he actually gave very good hope I can still do this. He suggested that I send my Index to him or Nova, and they will send it to their FedEx Store. But then the next day, he turns an about face and tries to pressure me in buying a printer, saying it’s worth it. I feel it’s not. It isn’t going to pay for itself with how infrequent I’ll use it as I don’t do RMAs that often to need it, and the ink will dry up. So yes it’s useful.. but not all the time.
He also thinks I can just go to my post office and they’ll do it there. I did try to call but they were closed at the time. My mother feels going there would be a waste of my time
as “they don’t work with FedEx”. But I’m still going to try to call tomorrow, just to see for myself.
He then told me Nova would be willing to do the whole ‘send it to a friend’ thing. But I’m going to wait to see what Steam Support says first.