Oculus Rift owners are no longer embracing the virtual reality revolution today after the Facebook Inc.-owned VR headset company failed to update a security certificate, turning the headsets of its entire user base into expensive bricks.

The screwup, and that’s putting it politely, relates to the OculusAppFramework.dll file, a file required to operate the Rift headset, having an expired security certificate that prevents Windows 10 from running the Oculus software.

“We are aware of and actively investigating an issue impacting [the] ability to access Rift software,” Oculus said in a status update. “Our teams apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing you and appreciate your patience while we work on a resolution.”

A further update confirms that issue is related to an expired certificate and that Oculus is looking at a few different ways to resolve the issue. “We’re in the process of integrating an updated cert,” another update read. “Unfortunately, pushing the update out to affected users has some added complexity, as the expired cert blocks our standard software update path.”

The last part is notable as the expired certificate means that Oculus simply can’t pump out an update to the software as users are unable to run the software that will install the update to begin with.

There is no solid workaround for the issue, since reinstalling the software still causes the same problem. Some users have managed to get the Oculus software working by changing the date on their Windows install, but The Register said that “this is not recommended as it can cause a number of other problems.”

“I expect this sort of mistake from some fly-by-night Chinese company that operated for a few weeks and no longer exists. Not Oculus,” one user wrote on the Oculus support forum. “You don’t forget things that brick all your products.”

Oculus Rift sales numbers are reported to have risen recently following a price cut in July, making it the most popular VR headset as of February, according to numbers from Steam.

The Oculus Go, a new standalone headset announced in October by Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, is set to be released March 28 for $199. It’s expected to drive VR adoption, presuming, of course, that Oculus remembers to keep the security certificates for the device up to date.

Photo: 121483302@N02/Flickr