Valve Index Controllers with HL:A in Stock on Steam - $279

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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Grabbed me a set. Looking forward to giving these a go.



Estimated Delivery: 4-8 Business Days
Includes two Controllers and Half-Life: Alyx.
Requires Vive, Vive Pro, or Valve Index Headset, Base Stations, and PC.

our hands, in VR.
Valve Index Controllers have been designed from the ground up to enable natural input, high fidelity hand presence, and comfort in VR.
Half-Life: Alyx - Appearing in your Steam Library March 2020
Half-Life: Alyx is yours, whether you've had your Valve Index for a while, or are just about to take the plunge. Owners of Valve Index controllers also get Half-Life: Alyx for free.

main_capsule.jpg


Gun skins, SteamVR Home environments, and more
Customers who have purchased Valve Index hardware by the end of 2019 will have access to unique bonuses starting early next year:
  • Explore environments from Half-Life: Alyx in your SteamVR Home space
  • Alternate gun skins to embellish Alyx's arsenal
  • Special Half-Life: Alyx-themed content for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Compatible with Valve Index or HTC Vive Headset + Base Stations.
Valve Index Controllers are compatible with any Headset featuring support for SteamVR Tracking including the Valve Index Headset, HTC Vive Headset, and HTC Vive Pro Headset.

Valve Index Controllers can be used with any Base Stations featuring support for SteamVR Tracking including Valve Index Base Stations, HTC Vive Base Stations, and HTC Vive Pro Base Stations.
 
Very tempting. I can’t decide if I should upgrade just my controllers, headset or replace the whole thing (Vive).
 
Well, this is just what I was looking for. I have been wanting a set of knuckles, and I do not intend on trading in the Vive Pro until something significantly better, and wireless comes along. Can't go back to being tethered.

Edit: Well, crap, out of stock already. Booooh.
 
I got put on the notify list, got an email today with a notification that they will be on sale Monday:

Thank you for your interest in the Valve Index.
Valve Index VR kits will be available for purchase this Monday (March 9th) starting at 10 AM PDT (5 PM UTC).
Visit this page to order
Due to high demand, we expect available stock to sell out on Monday. All purchases beyond this initial quantity will be fulfilled in the order in which they are received, as supplies increase over the coming months.
 
Everybody knows now as it's plastered on news sites everywhere. Good luck!
 
They probably wont even put the controllers by themselves up lol going straight to the combo pack for 1k
 
They probably wont even put the controllers by themselves up lol going straight to the combo pack for 1k

Yeah I'm going for the kit as I don't own any VR set though. Tried the index out at a bar in Atlanta last week and had a blast, so I'm in if I can snag a kit when it restocks Monday.
 
Tried for controllers only - 8 weeks out, i.e. after HLA is released 😢
 
Just updating this old thread. Went to use my VR system after a while and my right index controller doesn't work anymore. I have a flashing blue LED like in this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/ValveIndex/comments/xwtpqs/index_controller_blinking_blue/

It looks like a bad battery as the controller works when plugged into a power source. Strangely I hooked up my old original vive wands and they work fine. Not sure what's the best move here though, searching through the net it seems replacing the battery is messy due to glue, not to mention the fragile ultra thin ribbon cables, but dam it's $149 for a new one makes me want to try to do it but it would be a waste if I break those cables.

Just placing these links here for myself and anyone else that might be interested in what it takes to replace the index controller batteries:



Update: OK after some testing and net searching nothing really stuck out as a fix other than to replace the battery. But I have done some attempts at resetting the controller but so far I can't figure out if the reset worked or not. Still I have found a few interesting things to note.
  1. The battery according to steam is fully charged. I found out after running steam vr and having the controller hooked up to the PC via USB wire.
  2. It won't charge the battery because it thinks the battery is full. I plug in the controller to the charger and it turns amber then white in less than 15 seconds.
  3. It seems to charge if the steam vr setup is off, but the controller is plugged in to the charger but turned on (ie blue light solid).
So I am going to keep it at part 3 for a few hours and see if I can get it to work again.

Update 2: It didn't do a thing. Still having the same issue again. Don't know why it sort of charged a bit earlier maybe it's last bit of charging capability was used up. So I am certain it's the battery. I even forced a firmware flash to initiate a real reset of the controller using valve's instructions here: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Valve_Index/Updating_Controller_Firmware

So it looks like I am left with 2 choices, change out the batter, it's really inexpensive to do less than $20 (though a bit of a pain to do) but shipping from China means it won't get here till Feb 2023 (estimated on the site) if ordered today. Or spend $149 + tax and get a new controller by next week. Link to the compatible battery : https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804437097656.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US (not sure if this link is OK so mods delete it if it's not good).

Some tips for those trying to do the firmware update. Leave the base stations off and don't connect any controllers. To get your controller serial number use SteamVR and from the drop down menu go to the Developer->Web Console menu item. Now plug in your controller in question to the PC via a USB cable. Now in the Web Console you should see one listed there with a line that says : "Attempting HID Open VrController : LHR-12345678" That LHR-12345678 is the serial number you will need for the firmware software -s parameter. Just open a command prompt and follow valve's instructions on the developer wiki link above.
 
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So I got 2 batteries from aliexpress a couple of days ago and decided to finally get to installing it. And now all is running again. :)

Still it was a pain to do. Definitely check that you have all the tools. The T5 torx screwdriver you have can't be part of those multi tip sets because it won't fit in the hole on the index controllers. I recommend a magnetic tipped one to make it easier to retrieve and put back the screws. The fat ribbon cable with the clasp does take a while to put back properly, but for me the hardest one was the battery connector. Make sure you watch the video carefully for that part, you have to put it on top of the connector then push down. I didn't re-watch the video and thought it was like most connectors that look like that, a slide in kind of connector. That assumption caused me to break the connector on one of my new batteries. I had a spare battery so I re-watched the video and did it right (yeah I felt like a moron after I watched it). I did the controller test and charged it up and everything is good.

I did fix the battery connector I broke. So I do have one spare battery for when the left index controller starts to act up. What I did was take off the broken connector from the new battery and put the old battery connector onto it. If anyone has to do similar just be aware that the new battery pins are slightly longer so you might want to put some shrink tubing around each wire before putting the connector on to avoid any possible shorts. I didn't do this because taking apart the connector is very difficult cause they are fragile and I already put the old connector on. I got the original one off by basically NOT prying the plastic locking tabs on the connector upwards, but pressing the metal locking tabs of the useless original battery down with the sharp tip of some tweezers that they kind of deformed enough that they could kind of slide out. The pins on the original battery now won't lock in place properly on the connector but that doesn't matter because the battery is useless. The new battery connector was easy to remove because I used sharp curved tweezers to pry up the tiny plastic tabs locking in the pins. The connector was broken so it didn't matter if I broke it some more :).

Overall the longest part was carefully removing the glue on the battery connector. I used a heat gun on the lowest setting (250 c) to heat up the blade of long retractable utility knife and cut through the glue bit by bit till I could grab it with tweezers. Then used the gun to heat up the glue and gently pull the glue off the connector. Taking out the battery that was glued in was easy since I did that after the battery connector it was warmed enough that it didn't take long to remove it.

One thing I did forget was to add some tape on top of the battery connector before reassembly. I just hope it doesn't come out, I didn't remember till after I reassembled and tested the controller, but I was in no mood to take it apart again lol.
 
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