Leap motion device not working

[Momotaur]

I bought a leap motion the other day, and it has been nothing but trouble from the moment that I plugged it in. Getting straight into the issue; I have been using the device on 3 different computers trying to get it to work, 2 Windows 10, and an Ubuntu 16.04. The first device I tried was a Windows 10 computer. When plugged in, the device would light up red, but was generally useless, as one might expect. Then, after having installed the orion software, the device would not only do nothing, but would disconnect and reconnect several times a second, both annoying me and being again, generally useless. After that, I plugged it into the Ubuntu computer, which did not even light up this time. After spending the better half of a day even getting the software installed, it still did nothing. After this, I tried the other Windows 10 computer which was disconnecting and reconnecting several times a second like the first one was, but this time the second computer didn't have the Orion software installed. I installed the software and it didn't change anything. I don't know what to do , and I can't even begin to imagine what the problem here is.

tl;dr: My thingie doesn't work on anything, and I dunno what to do. Anyone have any suggestions?

[jhung]

Sorry to hear that you're having issues. You mentioned that it lights up red, are you referring to the LED on the side of the controller?

Are you hearing the rapid beeps from the Windows system from the rapid disconnects? Since you're experiencing that issue on multiple machines, it sounds like there may be a damaged USB connector or cable. Try using a different USB cable to see if that helps. If the issue persists, you'll most likely need to get a replacement. Where did you purchase the controller from?

[Momotaur]

Thank you for responding Mr./Ms./Mrs. Jhung,

The LED is the one on the side of the controller itself, and it would only light up red before I installed orion on the first computer, after which all the problems started. Now, no matter where I plug the controller into, the LED never lights up.

The windows computers do make the rapid beeps, as if I were to plug and unplug the device physically from the computer. I tried both of the provided cables with all of the computers, and I don't have any others of that type so I really don't have any way of testing if it is the cables, but I imagine that the chances of both of them being broken are rather high.

I got the controller from amazon, it was in the VR developer's bundle, if that matters. I did not try to use the controller with the usb extender that came with it, if that matters.

[jhung]

It definitely sounds like the USB connector on the device itself may be having issues. If you're still within the return/exchange period with Amazon, I would recommend contacting them for a replacement as that would be the quickest way to get a working controller.

If you're out of the return/exchange period, or would prefer to do the replacement with us, please let me know and I would be happy to make a support ticket for you to request additional information.

[Momotaur]

Thank you for your help so far, this is a real bummer, but I hope that the next device I receive works. I am going to go through amazon, and I will say something if the next one doesn't work. Again, thanks for all the help so far!

[jhung]

Sounds good. Hopefully, the replacement device will resolve the issues for you

[Momotaur]

Okay, so I'm back with more bad news, but less ambiguous than last time.

So I got the new device in, and this time the setup went smoothly, until it didn't. I plugged in the device, it lit up and everything was good, then I unplugged it and installed Orion, and that worked. I went and opened the software log and then plugged in the device. The device went through a firmware update, then after that was done, it had some kind of error, wish I could say exactly what, and then the device disconnected. That's where the software log in the app ends, no matter how many times I plug it back in that never picks it up and it does nothing else.

The good news in this is that I figured out what may be the problem. I went through the device manager and found that there is a device that keeps showing up and then disconnecting (the same as the leap motion device). I think that, for some reason, an application called Tobii eyex, an eye tracking program, has mistaken the leap motion controller as it's own device, and has done something to it, but obviously it is causing problems. I uninstalled Tobii, but I think that the damage has already been done, because the controller still disconnects and reconnects repeatedly.

tl;dr: Same issues, but I think it's Tobii eyex that has taken over the leap motion controller and is causing problems. What do I do?

Update: I was looking at the devices list during this process with it disconnecting and reconnecting and stuff, and I was right, it is a Tobii eyex device that is disconnecting and reconnecting. The problem it says it is having is that there are "no drivers installed for this device", so if I could do that manually, maybe I can get this to work? I went into the device manager and found the device, but I don't know where to find the drivers for the Leap motion controller, any suggestions?

[jhung]

Yes, you are correct. It's the eye tracking software that is causing issues with the Leap Motion. We've had reports of similar results from other users. For whatever reason, the eye tracking software is detecting the Leap Motion sensor as their hardware. I believe the other users had to uninstall the other software before they were able to get the Leap Motion sensors working.

You can try running dpinst64 located in c:\Program Files (x86)\Leap Motion\Core Services\Drivers to see if that works for you.

[Momotaur]

I tried that, and it didn't work, sadly. I also looked around on this website but, probably due to my lack of search skills, I didn't find any helpful articles. Right now I am playing around with the registry to see if I can't force the controller to conform, but I highly doubt it is going to work. I think it is probably worth mentioning that I also tried to use the firmware reset tool, but due to the device constantly disconnecting when plugged in, the tool didn't find the device, much less work. It was a long shot anyways. I won't be posting again until I receive a response unless, if by some miracle, I get it to work in which case I will lay out the steps in detail so no one else has to go through this.

Thanks for all your help thus far jhung, I am very much looking forward to getting this to work. Especially now more than ever.

Update: While I was playing around with the device info, I saw that some of the dates associated with the device information for my controller were from when I installed the first one, which means that windows sees both devices as being essentially the same, which is to be expected. I would have though that deleting the device information between these would have stopped this, but that probably would have been too easy. Anyways, what that means to me is that no matter how many times I try to get this problem fixed, unless I perform a complete wipe of my system and do a fresh install, I will never be able to use a Leap Motion controller on this computer. I do have yet another computer I can try, but I am hesitant to try with one that has already been "tainted." I also don't want to order another replacement, unless it becomes the only option. I'm fairly certain though, that even if I get it working on another computer, I won't be able to bring it to this one because I might ruin it for all computers.

tl:dr, I think i'm pretty much screwed.

[jhung]

The other person that was running into this issue had 5 controllers. 3 of them had firmware issues and had a red LED on the side of the device. The other 2 controllers had the same rapid disconnect/reconnect issue you're experiencing. We ended up replacing the 2 controllers for them and it seems that the issue was resolved for them.

[Momotaur]

So what you're telling me is I should go for another replacement?

[jhung]

The other user said they needed to wipe the eye tracking drivers from the computer before the Leap Motion sensor was detected correctly so it appears that you won't be able to use the eye tracker with the Leap Motion as the drivers conflict with each other.

It depends on what you're planning on using the Leap Motion sensor for and/or if you have a separate system to use the Leap Motion with.

[Momotaur]

I have had the drivers for the eye tracking software wiped for a few days now, I think, ever since I figured out it was the problem. I don't need it, because I just want to use the Leap Motion controller with a vr headset. I can get the Leap Motion to work with another computer possibly, because I have never had that eye tracking software installed on that machine, however this computer that I am having the issues with is the only one capable of handling vr, and thus if I can't get the controller to work with it then it becomes practically useless to me. I am hesitant to try to order another replacement because I am afraid that I haven't fully wiped every trace of that device from my system. As things stand, these devices that I have had are being treated as part of that eye tracking device regardless of how much I fudge with the device properties. It's like the information is baked into it, and will never come out, and I am afraid of getting yet another replacement bricked just because it came into contact with my system.

[jhung]

Where did you purchase the controller from? If it was purchased from us or another authorized reseller, we can replace the controller for you under the warranty.

[Momotaur]

I purchased the controller from amazon.

[jhung]

Did you want to go ahead with a replacement with us? If so, I can go ahead and open up a support ticket to request for more information from you

[Momotaur]

What is the benefit of going through you vice going through amazon?

[jhung]

None really. The turnaround for the replacement would most likely be quicker with Amazon so if you're still within the return period, Amazon would probably be more convenient for you

[Momotaur]

Alright, I will do that again then. Hopefully this time everything goes smoothly and I don't end up having to get more help.

[jhung]

I'm not certain exactly what causes the controller to brick and rapidly reconnect. From what I've seen, it may be from the failed firmware update process. To minimize the chance of bricking the replacement device, I'd recommend doing the initial firmware update on your non-VR machine first and verify that everything works there before testing on your VR-capable machine in case you missed some files from the eye tracking software.