Support Didn't Fix Podium Button Module Endurance / Podium Paddles / DD1
Stu Whisson
Member
Ever since I received my DD1 and Porsche 911 GT3 R wheel, I've had nothing but problems.
1 - Downshift won't register around half of downshifts.
2 - Podium Button Module will disconnect when I crash the car (which is quite often for me!).
The Porsche wheel was sent back to Fanatec support, who claimed they couldn't replicate any of the issues I show in the videos in the link below. I have shown Fanatec similar videos.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0i4Gj2I3jvpVd_sbz278QBVaQ
Now I'm not new to putting together technical gear, have built computers and have worked within IT for over 30 years. Setting up a wheel wasn't that hard. All the drivers are correct, all the software is up to date. Everything is secure and safely, securely put together.
It took over 2-3 weeks to get my wheel back, that wasn't repaired. The above videos in the link show you how the wheel is now, after receiving it back from Fanatec. It cost me over £50 to send insured to Fanatec, because despite repeated attempts at contacting them when I got the RMA, to have a courier pick the item up from me. As currently, I'm looking after my 81 year old Mum who is in a very high infection risk category from Covid 19. As a result, I can't go out anywhere either. I never received any reply. Eventually, I simply sucked it up and sent the item myself insured.
Now I'm somewhat at a loss as to what to do now. I can't use it. Support tell me that they couldn't replicate what you see in the videos and I wonder if they really looked at it that hard.
Does anyone have any ideas/fixes/clues as to what I can try?
Thanks
Stu
Comments
Looks like a connection issue of the DD itself which probably needs to be exchanged or repaired.
Have you checked that power cable is not loose?
Can’t really see it in your video but downshift problem looks more something iRacing does. In your video it also sounds like rpm’s are to high to downshift.
Some games warn the user when it’s to early to downshift to protect the engine for too high rpm when downshifting. With an icon on screen and a beep. For example Assetto Corsa does that.
iRacing doesn’t warn the user, but it has downshift protection on many cars and doesn’t downshift when rpm is to high. The Porsche 911 cup has downshift protection, so if any of the rpm leds are on you can’t downshift, it only downshifts on lower rpm’s like lower as 6400 rpm, but it can be variable. Everything above and iRacing doesn’t downshift.
Try it when you run in second gear with the engine at 7500 rpm smash the downshift paddle as much as you can it will not downshift. Go to 6000 rpm and it downshifts right away.
So I think your paddles work fine but iRacing doesn’t let you downshift to protect the engine from to high rpm’s.
This isn’t my first fanatec wheel. I had the club sport 2.5 wheel base before it with a different rim etc. Never had any problems with shutting down in iRacing before. I don’t believe that it is an software issue. As I can be stationary and try and shift down sometimes but it won’t register. I recorded it so you could hear me shifting and the down shifts not being registered.
Thanks Maurice. Everything is rock solid and connected perfectly. It is the first things I check. Also If it was a power issue when I crashed the dd1 would go off too but it is only the endurance hub that disconnects. The dd1 stays connected.
It’s not an Hardware or software issue but it is a feature in game and real cars called downshift protection.
In your video it’s quite clear the rpm sound is too high that prevents the downshift. Almost all cars that use paddle shifter gearbox have this downshift protection. Porsche 911, Porsche 718, Audi RS3 also the new BMW M4 and a lot more cars. Even in real life this protection is there to protect the motor for too high RPM and a blown motor. So games also replicate this behavior. iRacing is one of the games that doesn’t tell you that it was not shifting because of downshift protection. Some cars it’s more noticeable then others. The new M4 is even worse then the 911 with it’s downshift protection.
If you also have it when you are stationary It can be an issue but better to make a video of that then and also record the screen so we can see the Gear number and the RPM in game etc to exclude it’s the game that doesn’t trigger the downshift.
I can replicate what you have in your video very easy with the 5 Fanatec wheels that I have. Running on the straight with 7500 rpm I can try to downshift as much as I want it will never downshift. If I drop the RPM to below 6000 rpm it downshifts immediately when I pull the paddle. If it was a Fanatec problem I would be able to shift eventually at 7500 rpm, but it never did. It does it with my DD1, but has also done this when I still had a CSL base.
I can assure you it isn’t a high rev limiter cutting in to stop me shifting down. I know what that feels like. I can be at low revs and it will do the same. The physical feel of the downshift feels less assured than the upshift. Thanks for the detail anyway.
Oke, then I’m out of ideas.
A question from my side, did you upgrade the Carbon GT pedals on the Advanced Podium Module? Do you have the option to measure the thickness of the pedals?
I did. They’re 3mm. I had this problem before I upgraded them.
Just an idea - but are you sure that the thicker paddle is not impeding it's movement? Perhaps it's not pulling back as far as it should. And have you double checked that all cables are secure inside the hub and nothing is bent / trapped / damaged?
Hi Gary
It was doing this before on the old paddles. The paddles were made especially for me by SRM whom are very skilled in this area, and they checked it on their own podium paddle set too. I have double checked the cables and also have Fanatec. The feel of the down shift is not as sure, or precise. With the upshift there is a definite clean, crisk, precise click. With the down shift, it feels different, muted. Hard to describe.
I have a similar issue. But not quite as harsh as yours. Sometimes if I want to down shift or even up shift my inputs got not recognized. That's not very often but it happens. I even had a situation where I shiftet up and milliseconds later it shifter up. So a slight delay. I don't know what it causes. Maby even the drivers? We all know that fanatecs software is kind of a problem sometimes. If I go the driver tab and Check the inputs the shifters never got misshifts. It happens in all sims. Sometimes more. Sometimes less. But not as often as yours. Maby 2 out of 200 to 300 times. Despite that. What did you do with your problems?
Hi Christian
At the moment Fanatec now have both the wheel base and the entire wheel rim, hub and endurance module and paddles. With regards the shifting down, they are stating it is due to the game refusing to shift down due to high revs on the car, but given I've been driving for 35 years, it assumes I'm a worse driver than I thought I was if I can't figure out those basics. It would happen to me around 1 out of 8-10 shifts, very annoying and never had any problems with the prior hub and wheel. Even Fanatec suggested it could be a software/driver glitch.
With regards to the complete disconnection issue on the endurance hub, which is why they have the entire base and wheel rim setup with them as I write this, we will wait and see. If they return it and say there isn't a problem, then I will have to request they take the items back, as they're not fit for purpose. When I sent it to them, I couldn't get the endurance hub to connect at all. It appears to be the pin connectors not sitting properly within the connection on the hub, everything is connected properly but we will see what they say.
Wow that's really bullshit there. I mean you even say everything was fine with your shifting with your last equipment. Also I can clearly hear that you are not down shift when the game dosnt want it. Plus. I also have the problem rare but still. That's not the way to treat a costumer who paid that amount of money.
Any news from your problems?
Sadly no news. Support have now had everything back to test, they have had it now over 2 weeks and no word, nothing. I've reached out to them a couple of times but no one responds to me. I got a confirmation 2 weeks ago today that they have received everything and that was the last I've heard. I'm now at a complete loss. Having purchased the DD1 and Porsche podium setup, out of the last 2 months, I've used it about 1 week. The other times it simply didn't work or was with Fanatec.
Fanatec need to work hard on their communications. I get better support from much much smaller companies.
I agree. They ate not a small company and they charge a lot of money for they're products... So we can expect a lot more costumer support
Finally received the DD1/Endurance hub/Wheel back. The good news is that it is fixed, but there was some issues, issues that I thought for about an hour at least, that it wasn't fixed and was worse than before.
Upon opening the box, it looked as though the DD1 hadn't been cleaned at all. It was covered in greasy finger marks and dust. When I sent it out, I cleaned it thoroughly with Alcohol because of Covid 19. It certainly didn't seem to be the case when I opened it up. Looked like someone had eaten a bag of chips/crisps and then decided to work on the unit. The same can be said for the other items. I spent an age cleaning them, before testing them.
Once it was on my rig and I turning everything on. The Fanalab software couldn't see the hub, it kept flashing on and on and the display on the DD1 and Endurance button module was doing the same. Disconnected, reseated everything and tried again. Eventually, after Fanalab kept crashing, the last resort was to reflash the firmware on everything. This seemed to have done the trick.
Fanatec didn't explain what they fixed, or anything with regards the work carried out. The email I received later on Monday saying that it was shipped out, was one sentence, stating it was repaired and being sent back.
It is worth considering that the first time I sent DD1, they said nothing was wrong and basically saying it was me! What company blames the user. After refusing to accept that, I returned everything. Several weeks later, without any updates, and several emails from me chasing them, it gets fixed, finally.
It really shouldn't be this hard to get support or something fixed. Given the cost of the units, support should be on point and first class. A companies reputation is marked by the support they give their existing customers. Given that I have previously spent over £1200 on other Fanatec equipment before moving to the DD1 and then spending in the region of £2000+. To provide a support that is crazy slow, inconsistent, rude and lacking in communication is too much. If I hadn't managed to get everything to work again, and I was half expecting Fanatec to have not fixed it, I was going to return everything and demand a refund.
If you're reading this and considering dropping your hard earned money on Fanatec, think again. I certainly wont be buying anything more from them in the future and I just hope that the DD1 will last long enough, before I go elsewhere.
Well you can sell it for a good price and get simucube. I think about this option at the moment because of new problems of my own with the dd1.
It's always an option. I may look into that.
OK an update. After only completing one race in ACC, the display on the button module would cut out, on and off. Then sometimes the buttons would work, then they wouldn't. Combine that with the gear paddles working then not on both the upshift and downshift. Tried all the usual suspects; reconnecting the usb cable, the cable connecting the button module, restarting fanalab, the DD1 and the PC. Nothing works. It is now completely unusable.
Once again, as suspected, it wasn't properly fixed. As when I first connected to the PC on Wednesday it would simply cutout and Fanalab would only see the endurance hub but not the button module. You can see all the issues below in the videos:
I am totally fed up now with Fanatec. As a result, I am going to request that they refund me. I've had the DD1 now almost 3 months and have only managed to play it about 2 weeks in total. Out of those two weeks I've had to deal with issues. Now having the item back, it is worse than before and completely unusable. Wish me luck, as I really don't know what will happen next.
That is really a punsh in the face
What did they say about your refund?
I recorded a video on my YouTube channel that explains what's going on!
https://youtu.be/y708-oKJQD0
I really understand your feelings in this situation. I've got a new power supply from fanatec after the original one from the dd1 startet to smell like some chemicals. No problem since then but I will see if this happens again with the new one. Didn't even had to ship the old one back. That's good service right there. Like I said before. The rare shifting problem is still a thing but not to bad that I think of rma it. Maby a driver problem once again with fanatec.
After seeing your videos and other complaints from different sources I think that I never buy fanatec again. Who knows what happens with my gear in the future. To many bad things I heard. Next time I will choose me seller wisely.
And I hope for you that fanatec will finaly do something in this situation. Everyone who watches this can see that this is a problem. Fanatec didn't even checked back this forum. This is embarrassing for such a company.
Hey,
I have a similar issue but it's related to double-shifting (2 gears for 1 input). 100% nothing to do with protection - very odd:
Any ideas?
(I have auto-blip on)
Thanks,
Rajtastic
if i have heard this before i purchased mine i would have never bought it . i hope they get their act together .