A Meta Quest 3 bug has made the headset unusable for many, but a fix is coming
But Meta is being vague on when the solution will arrive
If you haven't yet installed Meta Quest 3 update v62, you might want to keep it that way for a while longer. That’s because some users who have downloaded the update, which was released last month, have been plagued by an annoying warning popup telling them there’s dust or debris in their USB port, when this isn’t the case.
What makes this popup especially annoying is that even if you try to dismiss the erroneous warning it’ll reappear again and again, leaving the headset feeling “essentially worthless” according to some disgruntled Meta Quest 3 customers.
It’s not clear what's causing the issue – I haven’t seen the popup at all, and I’ve been using my Quest 3 every single day for my VR fitness experiment, and anecdotal accounts from social media suggest that even if two people are using the headset in similar ways, one may see the popup while the other doesn't. But now there’s some potentially good news from Meta.
On the main Meta Community Forum page where people have been sharing their experiences, an official Meta Quest Support moderator has shared an update saying “Issue Replicated. Fix In Progress.”
While this is great news for the many Quest 3 users annoyed by the bogus USB-C port warning, the moderator stressed that the team doesn’t yet have a timeline for when a fix will be available – just that they've been able to replicate the issue, and have started to test possible solutions.
This vagueness has resulted in undertandable annoyance amongst those affected – especially those who have been having troubles with the warning message for over six weeks since v62 rolled out. In the forum thread linked above, we’ve seen people threatening to never buy Meta VR tech ever again, recommending that people file chargebacks on the credit card they bought the headset with, and generally venting their frustrations with the issue.
If you’re in this boat, is there anything you can do?
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
What can you do to avoid the Quest 3 bug?
As we said above, because there’s no obvious cause for this issue it’s tough for us to recommend what you can do to avoid it. The main piece of advice we can give is not to update to v62 if you haven’t already.
If you've already updated to v62, based on what we've seen on the community thread we’d suggest only using the official Meta Quest 3 charging cable with your headset, as some people have suggested that third-party cables have been a cause of their problems. We’d also recommend using for headset for standalone experiences rather than wired ones to avoid setting off the popup.
If the popup is appearing for you, however, then there doesn’t appear to be much you can do beyond trying to push through it. We’ve seen some people say it only appears when their headset is 80-100% charged – so you might have success if you don't fully recharge your Quest 3 between sessions – and some people have said rebooting their device caused it to go away (though others have said it had zero effect).
Unfortunately, these are the best solutions we can come up with until Meta releases a proper update, so hopefully one isn’t too far away – although given the vagueness of the timeline Meta has offered, who knows how long we'll be waiting.
You might also like
Hamish is a Senior Staff Writer for TechRadar and you’ll see his name appearing on articles across nearly every topic on the site from smart home deals to speaker reviews to graphics card news and everything in between. He uses his broad range of knowledge to help explain the latest gadgets and if they’re a must-buy or a fad fueled by hype. Though his specialty is writing about everything going on in the world of virtual reality and augmented reality.