Is my Hardware Broken?

bloom691 · Jun 21, 2016

Please help! Not sure what category this should be in, but I need some help with a possible hardware problem. Plus this is going to be a bit long-winded, so please bear with me and read this to the bottom!

I have an almost brand-new system that I built. It is for high end VR gaming, and I only play ONE game with the system (Elite Dangerous with an Oculus Rift DK2).

System Specs: Intel i7-6700K, Asus Z170 Sabertooth MoBo, MSI GTX980Ti GPU, Samsung Pro SSD (500GB), Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 DRAM 2133MHz, Corsair RM1000i PSU. I run with a mild CPU overclock (from 0 to 7%) - all other speeds are stock. I started out with a new copy of Win-7, but recently upgraded to Win-10 from the "free upgrade" option in Win-7.

So the problem.... I set the system up with no problems, and installed Elite and the Rift (Runtime 0.5). Everything worked great! Amazing immersive experience and it was everything I was look for!

Over about 4 months various upgrades to the Rift Runtime came out, and I dutifully upgraded. Same with the game Elite (which forces you to upgrade to keep playing). Then a couple of months ago, Rift came out with the 1.3 version of the software. Elite was also modified so it was optimized for 1.3 and the upgrade was mandatory to keep playing in VR.

Then the problems started. The Rift 1.3 software would not install. It refused to load 100%, with a generic error message every time. Oculus Support was pretty amazing, and after about a month of literally trying EVERYTHING (and about 50 emails back and forth) they decided it must be a HARDWARE FAULT! When I say I tried everything, I mean I tried everything. I bought a new SSD, removed the old one, and installed a fresh Win-7 and did everything that is possible. Updated Mobo drivers, Mobo firmware, Win-7 updates, dozens of esoteric software modifications suggested by Oculus Support, you name it: I tried it and NOTHING worked. At this point I threw in the towel and thought "meh - I will wait for Oculus to release the next version of their software and hope that fixes it!". I thought there is NO WAY my four-month old, +$3000 gaming-rig could have a hardware fault! I had run all the diagnostics recommended by Oculus and anything I could find. All looked good. It just would not install.

Then last week, guess what? The game Elite Dangerous needed to update (like it has countless times). And now THAT refuses to install! It will not upgrade and so is unplayable. I have contacted Frontier Support and again, they have been amazing with trying to help me - sending me customized data files and scripts, etc... but still no-luck as of today.

So, can anyone shed some light on my situation? Could this be hardware related? Could I have a failure somewhere in the MoBo, CPU, etc. which could explain what I am seeing? As an Electrical Engineer, I find this hard to imagine that something could be bad and some diagnostic would not catch it. But at this point I am willing to try anything! I don't really want to replace my CPU or MoBo, but if thats the only option then I can go down that route - but I have to be sure!

Any advice on some checks I can run? Verification tools for CPU/MoBo/RAM/etc.? Anyone else heard of hardware related problems interfering with software installs which are "unexplained" and not easily be detected?

Thanks, Mark

Diddly · Jun 21, 2016

have you had any problems installing other software titles? is it limited to Rift + Elite only?

kyzarvs · Jun 21, 2016

bloom691 :

Just because it's expensive and relatively new, doesn't mean it can't break...

If you can't install any updates, there must be an error log hidden away in the Elite patcher - can you find / post the latest contents for a clue as to the way forward?

kyzarvs · Jun 21, 2016

Quick update as it's the first thing I found in Googling and I've had it before with other programs. Are you installing into non Program Files location? Security settings on program files and program files x86 can cause patcher issues. This extract from Frontier Developments webpage:

"
2. Reinstall the launcher on your PC, to do this:

Uninstall the launcher from your computer
Remove (delete) any left over files from where the launcher was installed. (this does mean you may have to download all game files again.)
If "C:\Program Files (x86)\Frontier\EDLaunch" exists - Delete it
If "C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Frontier_Developments\Products" exists - Delete it
Install the Launcher to a non-program files location
For Example "C:\Games\EliteDangerous"

Do NOT run the launcher at the end of the install process. Untick the checkmark that asks you if you would like to and close the installation.
Launch the newly installed Elite Dangerous launcher, making sure you're not launching is as an administrator
Download game and try again
"

combinebasic · Jun 21, 2016

bloom691 :

Please help! Not sure what category this should be in, but I need some help with a possible hardware problem. Plus this is going to be a bit long-winded, so please bear with me and read this to the bottom!

I have an almost brand-new system that I built. It is for high end VR gaming, and I only play ONE game with the system (Elite Dangerous with an Oculus Rift DK2).

System Specs: Intel i7-6700K, Asus Z170 Sabertooth MoBo, MSI GTX980Ti GPU, Samsung Pro SSD (500GB), Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 DRAM 2133MHz, Corsair RM1000i PSU. I run with a mild CPU overclock (from 0 to 7%) - all other speeds are stock. I started out with a new copy of Win-7, but recently upgraded to Win-10 from the "free upgrade" option in Win-7.

So the problem.... I set the system up with no problems, and installed Elite and the Rift (Runtime 0.5). Everything worked great! Amazing immersive experience and it was everything I was look for!

Over about 4 months various upgrades to the Rift Runtime came out, and I dutifully upgraded. Same with the game Elite (which forces you to upgrade to keep playing). Then a couple of months ago, Rift came out with the 1.3 version of the software. Elite was also modified so it was optimized for 1.3 and the upgrade was mandatory to keep playing in VR.

Then the problems started. The Rift 1.3 software would not install. It refused to load 100%, with a generic error message every time. Oculus Support was pretty amazing, and after about a month of literally trying EVERYTHING (and about 50 emails back and forth) they decided it must be a HARDWARE FAULT! When I say I tried everything, I mean I tried everything. I bought a new SSD, removed the old one, and installed a fresh Win-7 and did everything that is possible. Updated Mobo drivers, Mobo firmware, Win-7 updates, dozens of esoteric software modifications suggested by Oculus Support, you name it: I tried it and NOTHING worked. At this point I threw in the towel and thought "meh - I will wait for Oculus to release the next version of their software and hope that fixes it!". I thought there is NO WAY my four-month old, +$3000 gaming-rig could have a hardware fault! I had run all the diagnostics recommended by Oculus and anything I could find. All looked good. It just would not install.

Then last week, guess what? The game Elite Dangerous needed to update (like it has countless times). And now THAT refuses to install! It will not upgrade and so is unplayable. I have contacted Frontier Support and again, they have been amazing with trying to help me - sending me customized data files and scripts, etc... but still no-luck as of today.

So, can anyone shed some light on my situation? Could this be hardware related? Could I have a failure somewhere in the MoBo, CPU, etc. which could explain what I am seeing? As an Electrical Engineer, I find this hard to imagine that something could be bad and some diagnostic would not catch it. But at this point I am willing to try anything! I don't really want to replace my CPU or MoBo, but if thats the only option then I can go down that route - but I have to be sure!

Any advice on some checks I can run? Verification tools for CPU/MoBo/RAM/etc.? Anyone else heard of hardware related problems interfering with software installs which are "unexplained" and not easily be detected?

Thanks, Mark

If your OS run smoothly I can said your OS is good and your hardware. What is the particular error displayed in monitor screen once it failed to install? If you can't install this games probably you failed in system requirements, or your hardware and OS is not compatible in the games you wanted to install. Check first this including OS updates or a .net framework software of other utility software needs of your computer before you can install.

bloom691 · Jun 21, 2016

Thanks for the feedback so far! To answer some of your questions:

I have other software on the "old" SSD - Some Steam Games and programs like Photoshop. However on the "new" SSD I have nothing - just the OS, minimum drivers, and the Rift/Frontier software. I tried to keep that install minimal to avoid interactions.

Install Logs - I have lots of these for the Rift and Elite - but I have sent multiple versions to the support teams and they have reviewed them and can not identify why the software is not installing. The Oculus Team ran probably a dozen experiments with me on-line and could NOT figure it out. Even more frustrating - the Support Engineer has the exact same CPU and MoBo in his home setup and it was working fine - same low-level BIOS and Driver revs as me!

Frontier Patcher Issues - Yes, I have tried these, and am still working through some issues with their support team. But I am worried in case the Oculus team was correct: Could my hardware be damaged?

OS Install - I have seen a couple of problems, but it seem these are well known. With Win-7, the Windows Updater never runs. I have to manually mess around to get it to update, which eventually it does and installs all the patches. But it is always a painful process. But this seems a common Win-7 issue.

I have also tried TWO different Win-7 installations disks - one from an older computer that I built as my Son's gaming rig a couple of years ago, plus the new one that I bought for my gaming rig. (BTW - Rift installs fine on my Son's rig!). I am tempted to spend $100 and buy a brand-new Win-10 installation disk and reformat my SSD (for about the tenth time!) to see if that helps.

combinebasic · Jun 21, 2016

bloom691 :

Hi bloom in as I said if your computer OS is running good we can't directly said that your hardware has a problem. As because you have technical support through the supplier, try to sent the complete specs of your computer to the technical support to let them know if your computer is compatible. Did you install correctly your OS, is any error you encounter during the installation? Did you deleted all the old partition and create 2 partitions for OS and backup data. Remember if you have error during installation of OS it will hindrance also during installation of games and patches on it.

If the hardware also has problem you can't install the OS completely without error. I we're you reinstall your OS delete old partitions and be sure you have no error during installation. Tell also the technical support about the system requirements of that software.

Backup your old data in external drive, and install your OS clean by deleting old partitions and create new partitions and setup the new OS.

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Is my Hardware Broken?

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