Are you tired of constantly checking for the latest Oculus Quest update to “roll out” to you? You should be able now to manually force the latest firmware instead.
Reddit user kris33 seems to have discovered the URL of the firmware updates. These would normally be automatically downloaded by the Quest, but by manually downloading them you can flash them manually using a Windows PC.
WARNING: Following these instructions incorrectly could require you to have to fully reset your Oculus Quest, losing all data. If you’ve never used the Windows command line before or don’t know what a zip file is, you may not want to attempt this process. The below firmware appears to come from the official “fbcdn.net” content delivery network from Facebook, but a Facebook spokesperson warns also that “People should not download and install Quest software from anywhere except directly from Oculus, and should not update their device before the release is rolled out to their headset. We can’t guarantee quality, stability, security or support for builds from other sources, or builds that an individual installed before the official release rolled out to them.“
Enable Developer Mode
To be able to flash anything to your Quest, you’ll need to enable Developer Mode. If you’ve already done that, you can skip this section.
To enable Developer Mode, you have to be a registered “developer”. This is free.
Go to dashboard.oculus.com on your PC and create an ‘organization’. You’ll be asked to accept the developer agreement.
Now that you’re a “developer”, open the Oculus app on your smartphone or tablet. In the Settings tab, tap on the headset and tap ‘More settings’. In the list, you should now see Developer Mode.
If you don’t see developer mode, try rebooting your phone and the headset.
Install The Drivers & ADB
Install the PC driver to allow your PC to access the Quest.
Download the driver from Oculus.com. When the download finishes, extract the zip file into a folder. Now right click on android_winusb.inf and click Install.
Finally, you need to download ADB. ADB is the software which lets PCs transfer and install apps onto Android-based devices like Oculus standalone headsets.
Extract the contents of the platform-tools folder to an easy to find folder on your PC, such as C:\ADB. You’ll need to type out the path to this folder when flashing the firmware, so putting the file near the root of your drive saves typing time later.
Download The Firmware
As of this writing, the latest Quest firmware is v12: Download Firmware v12 / 4342600050300000 (134MB)
Download this firmware and save on your PC to an easy to find place with an easy to type name such as C:\FIRMWARE.zip.
Flash The Firmware
Where you see commands in bold in the following instructions, enter them in the command prompt and press enter:
- Connect your Oculus Quest via USB
- Right click on the Windows Start button at the bottom left of your screen and click Command Prompt (Administrator).
- Use the CD command to navigate to the folder you extracted the contents of the ADB download to. Example: CD C:\ADB
- Put the headset into bootloader mode: adb reboot bootloader
- Enable the headset to sideload firmware: fastboot oem reboot-sideload
- Perform the update: adb sideload “C:\FIRMWARE.zip”
You may have to wait quite some time for the update to complete, depending on your USB cable. Do not remove the USB cable until it’s fully done.
When the update is fully done, give the Quest a few minutes to be fully ready. Then restart the headset by putting it on your head, holding down the power button, and selecting Restart.
That’s it! Your Quest should now be at version 12, allowing you to use features such as controller-free Hand Tracking.
UPDATE: In response to pressing questions from UploadVR, Facebook provided a new statement for this article that we’ve posted above in place of the company’s original prepared statement regarding forcing a Quest firmware update.
