HTC Acknowledges Ryzen Problems With Vive Wireless Adapter, Offers Refunds

Some Vive VR headset owners have waited all year to get their hands on HTC’s wireless adapter. But not everyone is enjoying their purchase, because the Vive Wireless Adapter doesn’t work properly in all computers. If you’re running an AMD Ryzen processor, there’s a good chance that you’re going to have problems.

HTC released the Vive Wireless Adapter on September 24, and the following day, people with Ryzen processors started to complain about problems on HTC’s official support forum. We even experienced the problems first-hand while evaluating the Vive Wireless Adapter for our review. We reached out to HTC in late October, and the representative that we spoke to said that the company was aware of some compatibility issues, but HTC was still trying to narrow down the problems.

HTC finally publicly addressed the problem on November 19, nearly two months after the first Vive Wireless Adapters landed in customer's hands. And the company’s statement is less than definitive.

HTC acknowledged that it is “looking into multiple reports of Ryzen incompatibility with the Vive Wireless Adapter,” but the company doesn’t have an immediate solution. HTC said it believes the issue is isolated to “a subset of Ryzen-based PCs” and it is working with “multiple component manufacturers to identify the root cause.”

HTC said that the investigation would “take time.” Ao starting November 19, the company will accept returns from anyone with a Ryzen-based PC who’s having problems with the Vive Wireless Adapter. HTC will honor returns for purchases from vive.com or any of HTC’s retail partners.

To initiate a return, contact HTC Vive Custom Support via email at vive_care@vive.com. HTC said a representative will then contact you within one business day with the next steps. You will need to provide proof of purchase for your Vive Wireless Adapter, and the Vive representative will need to verify that you have a Ryzen-based PC.

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years.