Brand new BSB2 won’t detect my base stations. Running out of ideas.
Hello everyone,
I just got my Bigscreen Beyond 2 today and I haven’t been able to get base station tracking working. I’m hoping someone has seen this before because I’m kind of out of ideas.
SteamVR detects the headset just fine, the Beyond Utility detects it (firmware 0.3.18), and the displays turn on. I can see the gray SteamVR environment, but it’s completely stuck to my face with no 6dof tracking. SteamVR sits on “Searching” for a while and then eventually says “Headset not tracking.”
I’m using:
- Two HTC Base Station 2.0s (brand new from Micro Center)
- RTX 3070
- Windows 10
Things I’ve already tried:
- reinstalled the Beyond utility
- Verified SteamVR files
- Disabled other SteamVR add-ons (pimax, virtual desktop, etc.)
- restarted SteamVR and my PC multiple times
- tested with only one base station powered on
- Moved the base stations to different positions and distances
- confirmed both base stations have solid green LEDs
- Confirmed both are emitting IR using my phone camera
I also looked through the SteamVR logs. SteamVR recognizes the Beyond correctly and the Lighthouse driver initializes but it never seems to acquire tracking.
Has anyone had this happen with a BSB2? Was it something simple that I overlooked, or did it end up being a hardware issue?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
--------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE 08/06/26:
First, thank you everyone for all the responses and suggestions. I honestly wasn't expecting this many people to jump in and help, and I really appreciate it. I've been going through the suggestions and trying to eliminate as many variables as possible.
For some additional context, my normal setup is a sim racing rig. The base stations were originally mounted on stands around 6 feet high. since there is a wheelbase, metal rig, router, and a bunch of other electronics around that setup... I decided to move everything somewhere else just to rule out interference or something weird with my normal setup.
I moved the PC, bsb2, and both base stations into a different room. I disconnected unnecessary USB peripherals from the PC and even powered off the nearby router.
in this test setup, both HTC Base Station 2.0s are on stands about 5.5 feet off the ground and roughly 7 feet apart. I'm sitting in a swivel chair with plenty of open space around me. I've tried different distances from the base stations, including roughly 6 to 15 feet away.
I've also tried basically every orientation I can think of. I've faced each base station directly, turned left and right, looked up and down, rotated around in the chair, and physically held the headset at different angles to try to get any of its sensors to pick up a base station and held all in place for at least 45 seconds. Unfortunately, it has never acquired tracking, even momentarily. SteamVR stays on "Searching" and eventually reports that the headset isn't tracking.
Here are some photos and screenshots showing what I'm seeing:
Screenshot 1: Beyond Utility + SteamVR
Beyond Utility shows the Beyond 2 connected and SteamVR is running normally. The SteamVR performance graph is active at around 9.7 / 13.3 ms at 75 Hz. The headset displays are also working. I can see the gray SteamVR environment inside the headset, but the image is completely stuck to my head because there is no positional tracking.
Screenshot 2: Room Setup
During SteamVR Room Setup it says "Headset not visible." I've tried walking toward the base stations, holding the headset toward them, rotating it, and changing distances, but this never changes.
Something else I noticed is that the SteamVR performance graph drops to around 1.0 / 13.3 ms while Room Setup is sitting on "Headset not visible." I'm not sure whether that's meaningful, but I'm including it in case it tells someone more knowledgeable than me something.
Screenshot 3: Base Station Channels
SteamVR is able to scan for and communicate with both HTC Base Station 2.0s. I've also successfully configured their channels through SteamVR. One is currently on channel 1 and the other is on channel 2. Both base stations have solid green LEDs.
I also checked both base stations using my phone camera and confirmed that they're emitting infrared.
Screenshot 4: SteamVR Tracking Warning
Hovering over the headset/tracking status gives me:
"This headset is not currently tracking. Make sure it is in view of a base station."
Screenshot 5: Base Station Status
This shows the same "Base station not detected" warning.
I've also tested with only one base station powered on at a time, moved the stations to different locations/heights/distances, reinstalled the beyond utility software, verified SteamVR files, disabled my pimax and virtual desktop SteamVR add-ons and restarted/reinstalled everything multiple times.
I've opened a support ticket with Bigscreen as well, so hopefully they can look at the logs and figure out what's happening.
At this point I'm mostly trying to figure out whether there's still some setup/configuration step I'm completely overlooking, or whether the bsb2 simply isn't receiving the lighthouse optical signals for some reason.
--------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE 08/07/26:
I am completely frustrated at this point. Every BSB2 setup video I've found on YouTube seems to completely skip over the actual base station setup. They either already have the base stations working or just show where to physically place them in the room. Nobody seems to explain the actual process of getting SteamVR and the headset to recognize them for tracking.
What's especially frustrating is that I can't find clear documentation for setting up the base stations from scratch. Even the official setup guide doesn't really walk you through that process, despite base stations being required for the headset. You'd think there would at least be a step-by-step guide showing exactly what a brand new user should expect to see in SteamVR and how to verify that the base stations and headset are actually communicating.
I'm probably going to have to request a refund at this point. I've never had this much trouble getting a VR headset running on this PC. I've used the Pimax Crystal, Meta Quest 3, and even PlayStation VR without anything remotely like this.
The BSB2 was the headset I've wanted for a long time, and I finally decided to buy one, and instead of spending the last two days enjoying it.. I've spent them reading logs, updating firmware, moving base stations around the house, buying ferrite cores, and troubleshooting every possible variable I can think of.
I really wanted this headset to work, but I'm getting close to the point where I need to protect my return window rather than keep troubleshooting indefinitely.