As many VR flight and racing sim enthusiasts can attest, VR might as well refer to “various roadblocks,” as the path to the ideal immersive experience can take a lot of time to reach. Whether you are fine-tuning settings for your exact setup, balancing bitrate, resolution, latency, or framerate, or digging into something else in the wide world of VR, there are countless parameters to tinker with. But oftentimes, to even reach this point, you need to actually see what the headset is showing you.
This issue has appeared in reports from the Pimax Crystal user base, with some users experiencing black screens at some point during their sessions. A wide variety of fixes are available, but in this entry, we will look at some good first troubleshooting steps that might fix your problem. Let’s get started!
Solution 1: USB Port Power Distribution
As just one part of a larger sim setup, your Pimax Crystal shares USB resources with a wheelbase, pedals, shifters, handbrakes, button boxes, webcams, wireless receivers, haptic devices, and other peripherals. As a first possible solution to the blackouts, check whether too many of your peripherals are connected to the same USB controller group. A VR headset demands a stable high-speed USB connection, and other devices sharing the same USB path may contribute to bandwidth or power-delivery issues. Isolating the headset as much as possible should therefore be a first priority.
The Pimax Crystal should ideally be plugged into a rear USB 3.0, 3.1, or 3.2 port. Preferably, use USB 3.1, USB 3.2, or another 10Gbps-rated connection where available. USB 3.0 can still work in some setups, but if black screens persist, switching to a higher-rated port is worth trying. Less demanding devices, such as keyboards, mice, button boxes, or simple wireless receivers, can usually be moved to USB 2.0 ports to free up the most stable high-speed connections for the headset and other latency-sensitive hardware on the USB 3.x controller groups.
To get an overview of your motherboard layout, it is worth checking your motherboard manual or the manufacturer’s product page to identify which rear USB ports are USB 3.0, 3.1, or 3.2. The colour of the port is often a giveaway, but it is not always consistent across manufacturers, so consult the manufacturer’s guide to be sure. This can help you avoid accidentally plugging the headset into a slower port or into a USB hub already shared with several other devices. If your motherboard lists USB 3.1 Gen 2, USB 3.2 Gen 2, or 10 Gbps ports, prioritise those for the headset where possible.
Another more direct way to check this is to use the USB Device Tree Viewer app. The app gives you an on-the-go overview of which devices are connected to which USB hubs or controllers, making it easier to determine if your Pimax Crystal is sharing a crowded USB path with other devices. It gives a complete overview of the different USB controllers and what is connected to them and indicates which ones are USB 2.0, USB 3.0, or higher, ideal for troubleshooting.
As an extension to this solution, when talking about power delivery, we cannot get past the usual Windows shenanigans. USB Device Tree Viewer can also be used to locate the USB hub and controller path that the Pimax Crystal is connected through, so you can disable any Windows power-saving settings that may interrupt the Crystal’s USB connection or power delivery. Repeating this process across all different USB paths is a good house-cleaning rule, hence the emphasis below on disabling it wherever possible.
When in USB Device Tree Viewer, expand the USB controller tabs until you find the USB path used by the Pimax Crystal. Model-specific details may vary depending on your system.
For each relevant USB Root Hub, USB hub, and USB controller connected to that path, right-click the entry and open “Device Properties.”
In the window that opens, click “Change settings.”
Go to the Power Management tab.
By default, “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” may be enabled. Untick this option and press “OK.”
Repeat this process for every USB Root Hub, USB hub, and USB controller that the Pimax Crystal is connected through. As a general rule, it is also worth checking the USB paths used by your other sim racing input devices.
Taking it further, to completely kick any Windows interference out the door, you should also disable “USB Selective Suspend” in the Windows power plan. While the previous step prevents Windows from turning off the specific USB device or hub, this setting prevents Windows from suspending USB connections at the power plan level.
Press Windows Key + R, type “powercfg.cpl”, and hit Enter.
Click “Change plan settings” next to the power plan you are currently using.
Click “Change advanced power settings”.
In the new window, expand USB settings until you reach “USB selective suspend setting”.
Set this to “Disabled”. If both “On battery” and “Plugged in” are shown, disable both. On a desktop PC, you may only see the plugged-in option.
Click “Apply”, then “OK”.
Should none of these initial solutions resolve the issue, this is where a powered USB hub might be the best future-proof solution, especially on a busy sim rig.
Because it is externally powered, it can provide relief for your PC motherboard by giving your USB devices an additional steady power supply, which might resolve Pimax Crystal black screens caused by unstable USB power delivery. Other externally powered USB 3.x hubs can also work, but avoid passive hubs for the headset, as they still rely on the motherboard for power.
If you decide to use a powered hub, make sure to connect the hub itself to a stable rear USB 3.x port, preferably a 10Gbps-rated one where available (consult your motherboard manual to see details). A powered USB 3.0 hub may help if the issue is primarily power delivery, but if you are buying one specifically to troubleshoot Pimax Crystal black screens, a powered USB 3.1/3.2 or 10 Gbps-rated hub is the safer choice.
Solution 2: Runtime Management
Alternatively, you can also look into changing the runtime management for your headset. Depending on the game, you may be able to bypass SteamVR and run through Native OpenXR in Pimax Play instead. While many users launch their VR titles through Steam, running everything through SteamVR adds another runtime layer, which can increase overhead and put extra strain on your PC. In some cases, this added overhead may contribute to instability, signal dropouts, or black screens.
Aiming for a more direct runtime path through Native OpenXR can therefore help improve stability, especially in games that support OpenXR. The guide for doing this can be found here from Pimax themselves, where the location of the setting is shown.
When to Contact SimRigSupport
Going into the world of VR can initially seem like signing up for a part-time job, as there are so many pitfalls, whether software-based, hardware-based, or a mix of both. Finding the source of symptoms, such as the black screens discussed in this entry, can feel like a wild-goose chase. You find one solution that seems to work, then it does not, leading you to another possible fix that includes five more troubleshooting paths of its own.
That’s where SimRigSupport can help. Whether you are interested in getting started in the sim space or you are already firmly established and need help with a rig issue that cannot be solved through forum-crawling, we are here to help you get back on track as soon as possible.
