FW16 BIOS 3.05 USB problems and Virtual Reality headsets

[James3]

Hi,

Prior to BIOS 3.05 i found that the USB ports on the FW16 seemed to be very unreliable.

Does the FW16 really support USB 3.2 on Ports 3,6 ? (front ports)

@deLemere Correct 20Gbit USB 3.2 is not supported on the FW13/16. Thunderbolt up to 40Gbps is supported on the FW16. (According to FW docs, I have not tested it) So, get a Thunderbolt device and not a USB 20Gbit device. Note, its probably not called Thunderbolt, its USB 4.0, but it is compatible with Thunderbolt devices. Note: due to overheads, although it says 40Gbps, you only get about 27Gbps of data transfer. Note: 40Gbps devices also get pretty hot.

With BIOS 3.05 it appears to be more stable.
Now, my DOCK works (I think a firmware upgrade to the dock fixed it)
My mobile phone now connects ok and can transfer files, even when plugged into Ports 3, 6.
So, something has certainly improved, but I don’t think it is mentioned in the release notes.

So, my question is:
Please can people add comments around any USB devices that still don’t work on FW16 with BIOS 3.05.

I still have something that does not work with my FW16.
I have an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, but it does not work on the FW16.
The Oculus Rift headset works on my Ubuntu Desktop, just not on this FW16 laptop.
So, my question is also, has anyone tried a Virtual Reality headset with the FW16 ?

[Charlie_6]

Does downgrading the BIOS work?

[James3]

@Charlie_6
Its in the release notes. You cannot downgrade from FW16 BIOS 3.05.
So, no rollback possible.

[Charlie_6]

How about using Smokeless UMAF, disable the Firmware Anti-Rollback, and try downgrading again?

As shown here, it’s possible to prevent BIOS downgrade when rollback prevention is not introduced, so it might be possible to do the opposite as well

[takaides]

What isn’t working with your VR headset? There’s been a few threads discussing VR headset usage with the 16, and most of the results I’ve seen have been positive.

With my PSVR2 hooked up to the PC VR dongle, I connect to both the DisplayPort via USB-C on the back of the dGPU, and a USB-A port (which I currently have in slot 3). Aside from being a bit cumbersome due to the excessive cabling for this VR platform (laptop power adapter, PC VR adapter, power adapter for VR adapter, USB-A to VR adapter, USB-C to Displayport on adapter, and finally the USB-C umbilical to the headset) it works well.

[James3]

My VR headset has a USB-A and a Display port.
The FW16 does not see the Display, no EDID is read from the VR headset.
If I plug the same VR headset into a desktop, it works fine.