VirtuaTilt Wiki › Switching Profiles Without Powering Off

Switching Profiles Without Powering Off

From firmware v8.0.18 you can change profile while the cabinet is on, without the PC:

• A slot: hold the joystick DOWN together with that slot's button (the same buttons you hold at power-on) for 3 seconds.
• The default profile: hold the joystick DOWN alone for 5 seconds.

The cabinet stops all feedback, restarts into the new profile, and the centre LED shows the slot's colour (off for the default profile). On a Wireless cabinet the Bluetooth module restarts too and comes back with the new profile's Bluetooth identity: as after any profile change, pair it again on your Quest or PC if the new profile uses a different name.

Watch the centre LED: it shows the new slot's colour for about a second, then goes dark while the Bluetooth module restarts and checks for a firmware update. About 10 seconds later it comes back on and stays on (after a couple of seconds if the cabinet's Wi-Fi is not set up). The short flash and the dark pause are normal. Once the LED stays on, the new profile is ready, Bluetooth included. With the default profile the LED stays off.

Why the wait: the Bluetooth module starts the new profile from scratch, just as at power-on, so your Quest or PC always finds the right name and controller type. While it starts, it also checks over Wi-Fi whether the VirtuaTilt Updater is offering a firmware update. The LED lights steadily only when all of this is done, so you know exactly when you can play.

Good to know:

• Nothing happens for an empty slot or for the slot that is already running.
• Pressing the joystick down for less than 5 seconds — scrolling a menu, for example — does nothing. Avoid holding it down longer than that, or the cabinet switches to the default profile.
• In the console profiles (Xbox, PlayStation, iOS-Android, VR Classics / Star Wars VR, Switch, Switch2) the Blue button is the Reset button: its 2-second reset fires first, so from those profiles the Blue button's slot can only be chosen at power-on.
• It also works from Safe Mode and Factory Mode, and it is a quick way out of the Xbox-exclusive and Switch profiles.

The interactive VirtuaTilt wiki adds a 3D model, a theme gallery and a built-in AI assistant — open the wiki.

Last updated: 2026-10-28

VirtuaTilt is designed and manufactured by 3DPTronics — see the Wireless VirtuaTilt controller. Diagnose your own cabinet with the free VirtuaTilt extension for Claude.