Uses / My Setup
Quest 2 After a Swim: Stuck Boot Dot, Buzzing Controllers, and What I Tried
Part 5 of the thread Games and gear
- My Quest 2 took a full dunk. It came back partly: stuck boot dot, odd sleep behavior, and controllers stuck in an update loop.
- A factory reset and an
adb sideloadfirmware reinstall didn't change anything, which points at hardware, not software. - Next stop is opening it up to look for corrosion, and knowing when a used replacement makes more sense.
- Rice does nothing.
My Quest 2 went into water. Not a splash, a full dunk, and yes, it was the toilet. It sat drying for a good while, got cleaned with isopropyl alcohol, and came back... partly.
Which in some ways is worse than not coming back at all, because now you have to decide how much time to throw at it.
These are my notes. I haven't got a clean fix to report, but if you're staring at the same set of symptoms, this should save you a few evenings.
What it's doing
Boot. It powers on and shows the loading animation, but the dot sticks in the center and never moves on. Sometimes it gets far enough to draw bits of UI, like the controller icons, which tells me the display and at least some of the software are alive.
Display. The screen works while I'm wearing it. Take the headset off and I get a black, backlit panel instead of the display going properly to sleep.
Controllers. The headset sees them, but they buzz every couple of seconds, over and over. The system keeps trying to update their firmware and failing, so they seem stuck in an update and pairing loop. Fresh batteries made no difference.
What I tried
- A factory reset from the boot menu.
- Reinstalling firmware through USB update mode with
adb sideload. - New controller batteries.
- Lots of reboots, and a few long power-button holds for luck.
For anyone who hasn't been in there: hold Power + Volume Down with the headset off to get to the boot menu. From there you can factory reset or pick Sideload update, which lets a PC push an update package over USB:
adb devices
adb sideload update.zip
Warning
Meta doesn't publish Quest firmware for download. The packages floating around are community-archived OTA files, so be careful where you get them, and match the build to your headset.
What the symptoms probably point to
I'm not a board-level repair tech, so take these as educated guesses.
| Symptom | What I see | Probably points to |
|---|---|---|
| Boot | Loading dot sticks in the center; sometimes bits of UI appear | Corrosion on the main board or around the storage chip |
| Display | Black, backlit panel when the headset is off my face | Corroded proximity sensor or its connection |
| Controllers | Buzz every couple of seconds, stuck updating and re-pairing | Flaky headset wireless, or the headset crashing mid-update |
The longer version:
The stuck boot dot. Firmware reinstalls and resets didn't change it, which points away from a corrupted OS and toward hardware. Corrosion on the main board or around the storage chip can let the system get partway through boot before something it needs doesn't answer.
The black screen when I take it off. The Quest uses a proximity sensor between the lenses to know when it's on your face. When that sensor or its connection is corroded, you get odd sleep and wake behavior like this. It's one of the more exposed parts of the headset, too.
The controller loop. Controller firmware updates go over Bluetooth from the headset. If the headset's wireless hardware is flaky, or the headset itself is crashing partway through, the update never completes and the controllers keep getting told to try again.
Resetting the pairing is worth a shot. Unpair them in the Meta Horizon app on your phone, then put each one in pairing mode (hold Menu + Y on the left, Meta + B on the right until the light blinks) and pair again. It didn't break the loop for me, but it's cheap to try.
Where I'd go next
- Open it up. Two months after the dunk, any corrosion is already there. The only real fix is getting the board out, looking for green or white crust around connectors and chips, and cleaning it with high-percentage isopropyl and a soft brush. iFixit has teardown guides for the Quest 2 if you've never been inside one.
- Check the battery. Lithium batteries and water don't mix. If it's swollen or getting warm, stop there and dispose of it properly.
- Get the board looked at. Some repair shops will do microsoldering on consoles and headsets. It's worth a quote if you're attached to the thing.
- Know when to stop. A used Quest 2 doesn't cost much these days. At some point the smart move is a donor headset for parts, or a replacement.
Note
And for the record, rice does nothing. Just so we're clear.