Nvidia confirms 'open issue' with Varjo Aero VR headsets and RTX 50-series graphics cards after affected users ask for help

Varjo Aero
(Image credit: Future)

Last week we reported that Varjo Aero VR headsets seem to not be working with RTX 5090s, but at the time there was no official response from Nvidia other than asking to fill out a driver feedback form and give more info. In the latest 572.83 driver announcement, however, Nvidia has acknowledged the problem as an 'open issue'.

Under the 'open issues' section, the Nvidia driver forum announcement post says: "Varjo Aero VR headset may fail to establish connection." (The reason I'm referring to the forum post rather than the Release Notes [PDF] is because this particular issue, amongst others, is mysteriously absent from the official document.)

That's potentially good news for Varjo Aero VR headset owners with an RTX 50-series graphics card, then—though of course we'll only be sure once the issue is moved to the 'fixed' column hopefully in one of the upcoming driver releases. Though Nvidia does point out with its driver issues section that these aren't always its fault.

The problem is that the headset just doesn't seem to work with some users' RTX 5090 cards at all, at least not without hacky workarounds. Users have been trying all sorts, including plugging the headset into a Thunderbolt expansion card, essentially cutting the monitor out entirely.

The RTX 50-series hasn't exactly been issue-free thus far, either. Black screen issues have been the main bugbear, and previous driver releases have claimed to fix these black screen problems.

Varjo Aero

(Image credit: Future)

It's noteworthy, however, that the announcement for this new driver release states "GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs crashes with black screen" has been fixed… again... which means more fixes for more black screen bugs.

It does appear to be Nvidia that's responsible for fixing this particular Varjo issue, though that's not yet confirmed. A user in the original forum thread regarding the issue said: "Varjo Support informed me that they are awaiting a driver to release to resolve these issues, but at this time this is outside of their control and can only be fixed by Nvidia."

Well, at least Nvidia seems to be recognising this now and is considering it an open issue for its own drivers. Fingers crossed there's a fix in the pipeline.

Best CPU for gamingBest gaming motherboardBest graphics cardBest SSD for gaming


Best CPU for gaming: Top chips from Intel and AMD.
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game first.

TOPICS
Jacob Fox
Hardware Writer

Jacob got his hands on a gaming PC for the first time when he was about 12 years old. He swiftly realised the local PC repair store had ripped him off with his build and vowed never to let another soul build his rig again. With this vow, Jacob the hardware junkie was born. Since then, Jacob's led a double-life as part-hardware geek, part-philosophy nerd, first working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN in 2020, then working towards a PhD in Philosophy for a few years (result pending a patiently awaited viva exam) while freelancing on the side for sites such as TechRadar, Pocket-lint, and yours truly, PC Gamer. Eventually, he gave up the ruthless mercenary life to join the world's #1 PC Gaming site full-time. It's definitely not an ego thing, he assures us.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Read more
Varjo Aero
Varjo Aero VR headsets seem to be not working on RTX 5090s, and its community is opting for strange solutions while waiting for an Nvidia driver release to fix it
MSI RTX 5090 Suprim in an open test bench
RTX 50-series black screen issues should finally be fixed this week in an official Nvidia driver update
Nvidia RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics card from different angles
Nvidia says it really has sorted RTX 50-series black screen issues this time around as yet another driver fix finds its way to release
Nvidia RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics card from different angles
Latest Nvidia Game Ready drivers fix various black screen issues that left gamers staring at their sad reflections
Nvidia RTX 5080 Founders Edition graphics card from different angles
Nvidia is 'investigating the reported issues with the RTX 50-series' cards after RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 owners (and some RTX 40-series folk) report black screen problems
MSI RTX 5090 Suprim in an open test bench
The unwelcome workaround for Nvidia's RTX 50-series black screen issues is to hobble your gaming monitor with a 60 Hz refresh rate
Latest in VR Hardware
Varjo Aero
Nvidia confirms 'open issue' with Varjo Aero VR headsets and RTX 50-series graphics cards after affected users ask for help
A "sensor-actuator–coupled gustatory interface chemically connecting virtual and real environments for remote tasting," or essentially a virtual reality tongue in an artificial mouth
Would you like to taste fish soup in VR? Me neither, but this electronic tongue does it anyway
Varjo Aero
Varjo Aero VR headsets seem to be not working on RTX 5090s, and its community is opting for strange solutions while waiting for an Nvidia driver release to fix it
A still from a YouTube video showing The Swedish Maker cutting a piece of wood with power tools while wearing a Meta Quest 3 VR headset.
YouTuber The Swedish Maker wears a Meta Quest 3 VR headset for his entire woodworking project and miraculously emerges with all fingers intact
The HTC Vive XR Elite front three quarter angle
Google is bulk buying HTC Vive engineers to help Android XR become a platform that can rival Meta's VR/AR dominance
Meta Horizon OS on a box.
The upcoming Asus VR project is rumoured to have eye and face tracking, yet the thing I'm most excited about is its OS
Latest in News
Varjo Aero
Nvidia confirms 'open issue' with Varjo Aero VR headsets and RTX 50-series graphics cards after affected users ask for help
Nvidia RTX 4090 Founders Edition graphics card
A single RTX 4090 managed to brute force crack an Akira ransomware attack in just 7 days
Luna the self learning robot dog
Meet Luna, the new AI robot dog who teaches itself using a digital nervous system and software 'that allows any machine to learn like humans and animals do'
Union organizers and game developers gather at GDC 2025.
Game dev union marches through industry event to demonstrate that it's about 'taking action and organizing change'
The jester from Balatro, portrayed in unsettling detail in real life, wears an uncanny smile and stares at the viewer.
Balatro's LocalThunk isn't 'trying to pull a Banksy', he just 'wanted to be left alone to make his game'
Two characters from Warframe 1999 lounging in a bar.
The warframe with a guitar that shoots fire is out today alongside a bunch of metalcore-inspired skins, cementing Warframe's spiral into Y2K madness