Repeated PC freezes in VR with Oculus Rift - Maybe since Sim Update 10?

User Support Hub Virtual Reality (VR)
17

I am happy that I am now able to provide a SOLUTION! :smile:

(at least I hope that the issue indeed got solved now… :roll_eyes:)

Here is what I did: During the re-install of Oculus (after the clean uninstall before, see my previous post) I faced another PC freeze while Oculus tested if the Oculus sensors can “see” the Oculus controls. MSFS was not even running. So, this lead me thinking about a problem with the sensors as possible reason of the MSFS VR issue. I remembered that I had already noticed earlier with P3D, even on my old PC, that the Oculus USB connection quality indicators somtimes did not show status “green” for USB3 but “orange”. However, this has not been an issue before with P3D, neither on my old PC nor on my current new PC. But could it be an issue with MSFS, e.g. due to critical timing of events?

So now, before starting MSFS, I checked that Oculus shows connection status “green” for the Rift and both sensors. And I could now complete 4 times an 1 hour flight without any issues. In fact I did several things which can in principal contribute to the solution, but I guess that a proper USB3 connection status is critical for avoiding PC freezes with MSFS:

  • Re-installed Oculus (on default C: drive, recommended by Meta. I had it on D: before)
  • Re-plugged the USB3 cables of Rift and sensors into USB3 ports (doing so, I discovered a USB SS-10 port on my motherboard which I now use for the Rift)
  • Changed the rights of my “pilot” account from local user to administrator (recommended by Meta)
  • Checked the USB connection status via Oculus app before entering VR in MSFS

At least on my PC, the USB ports connected to Rift and its sensors are frequently and randomly detected as non-USB3 ports, see screenshots:

oculus-rift-orange
oculus-rift-orange944×727 55 KB
oculus-rift-sensor2-orange
oculus-rift-sensor2-orange972×614 52.3 KB
oculus-sensor2-orange
oculus-sensor2-orange918×613 52.2 KB

This seems to be a known issue, see e.g. here and here. I found a suggestion to deactivate/reactivate the respective high-speed USB driver from the Windows Device Manager (see here) which did not help in my case. But what worked on my PC is to log out and to re-login again which seems to trigger a restart of the port recognition and turns all previously “orange” Oculus connection indicators to “green” then:

oculus-all-green
oculus-all-green982×735 54.3 KB

This seems to be mandatory!

So, good luck for all who experience similar issues. Let me know if this solution is also valid for you and if you face similar connection issues with Oculus Rift on USB3 ports.