Have you experienced the frustration of turning on your Oculus headset and it gets stuck on the black screen with 3 dots on the startup?
If your Oculus is stuck on a black screen with 3 scrolling dots, this usually happens when your headset loses connection with the Wi-Fi network. To fix this, open the “Meta Quest” app, select your VR headset under the “Devices” option in the menu, tap “Wi-Fi,” choose the network and enter the password.
In this article, I’ll explore why your Oculus is stuck on the black screen with 3 dots and what you can do to fix the issue quickly.
Why does my Oculus just show 3 dots?
If your Oculus turns black on the loading screen and stuck in infinite 3 white loading dots, one of the following can be the reason:
- Temporary glitches.
- Unresponsive, dirty, or damaged proximity sensor.
- The VR headset lost connection to the Wi-Fi network.
- Insufficient charge.
- Incompatible Oculus Link cable.
- Incomplete or outdated Oculus firmware.
How do I fix my Oculus stuck on black screen?
To fix the Oculus stuck on a black screen with 3 scrolling dots, here are 8 quick solutions to help you get back to playing your favorite VR games.
Restart the Oculus Headset
Oculus has a proximity tracking sensor between the lenses to detect whether you’ve put on the headset. However, the sensor can sometimes become unresponsive because of software glitches causing the device to remain stuck on the black 3 dots loading screen.
To resolve this temporary glitch, press the “Power” button on your Oculus headset and select “Restart” from the menu. Your VR headset will power off and on again, starting a new session and fixing the issue.
If this doesn’t help, press & hold the “Power” button on your Oculus headset for 10 seconds to turn it off. Wait 30 seconds and hold the “Power” button again to switch it back on.
This process works as a force reboot and can help you access the main menu on your Oculus.
Use Orginal Link Cable
Using a third-party Oculus Link cable can also cause the gadget to hang on the black screen with 3 white loading dots and prevent you from accessing the main menu.
So, always purchase and use the original Link cable from the online Meta Store or an authorized retailer.
INFO: If you are using the Air Link feature or Link Cable to connect your Oculus to your PC, update the Windows firmware and GPU driver to clear out any compatibility issue causing the 3 dots scrolling screen problem on your VR headset.
Charge the Oculus Headset
An insufficient charge can cause your Oculus to get stuck on the black loading screen. Therefore, connect your headset to a power source using the original charging cable and adapter. Wait for it to fully charge, and try turning it on to check if the problem persists.
Connect the VR Headset to Wi-Fi
Your Oculus headset might have lost connection to your Wi-Fi network, so it cannot complete the pending updates and is stuck on the 3 scrolling dots while loading.
To reconnect your Oculus headset to the Wi-Fi network, do the following steps:
- Turn on the headset.
- Open the “Meta Quest” app.
- Tap “Menu.”
- Tap “Devices.”
- Select your VR headset.
- Tap “Wi-Fi” under the headset settings.
- Select the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to and type in the password.
- Tap “Connect to Wi-Fi” to establish the connection and verify your Oculus can bypass the black screen with three dots.
INFO: If your Oculus doesn’t connect to Wi-Fi, move your headset closer to the router to improve the signal strength or restart your router to resolve the slow network connection.
Disable Proximity Sensor
Sometimes, the proximity sensor becomes faulty because of connector failure or dust accumulation and won’t track if you’ve worn the headset. As a result, your Oculus fails to bypass the 3 white dots on the loading screen.
To fix this issue, turn off the headset and disable the illuminating proximity sensor located between the lenses by covering it with a small piece of opaque tape. Now turn on your Oculus; hopefully, you should be ale to access the main menu now.
Turn on Automatic Updates on the Headset
You might have disabled the automatic updates on your Oculus, causing its system to fail to keep itself up-to-date. This can result in software malfunction on your headset, preventing it from getting past the black loading screen with 3 scrolling dots.
To fix this, turn on the automatic updates on your Oculus with these steps:
- Open Meta Quest on your iOS or Android device.
- Tap “Settings.”
- Tap the drop-down menu icon next to your Oculus device.
- Select “More Settings.”
- Tap “Advanced Settings.”
- Tap “Turn on Updates.”
QUICK TIP: If your Oculus headset is overheating while playing with it in a hot room, it can cause loading issues on the next boot. Move to a cold or ventilated area to use the gadget and to avoid the black screen of death.
Factory Reset the Oculus Headset
An unstable internet connection or low battery results in incomplete or corrupt Oculus updates, causing black screen with 3 dots.
To fix this, factory reset your Oculus device by following these steps:
- Turn off the headset.
- Press & hold the “Power” and “Volume -“ buttons until the boot screen appears.
- Use the “Volume -“ button to select “Factory Reset.”
- Press the “Power” button to confirm.
- Highlight “Yes, erase and Factory reset.”
- Press the “Power” button again to initiate the factory reset process.
Note: After resetting, you must complete the set-up process on your Oculus and pair it with the Meta Quest app.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve discussed why your Oculus is stuck on the black screen with three scrolling dots and provided some practical solutions to help you resolve the issue quickly.
Hopefully, you can now immerse yourself in your favorite VR experiences without interruptions. But if the problem persists, contact the Oculus Support Team to report the problem and get a conclusive fix.