Fanatec Beta Driver V312 for CSL and CSW Bases (all wheels/rim) - experimental

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  • Joseph GossenJoseph Gossen Member, Moderator
    Quick update: Driver 312/314 didn't provide any FFB for me on Horizon 4? I had to uninstall and roll back to 311 before I could get Horizon 4 games to deliver any FFB? I'm not sure if there was a change after 311 that would cause this, but it's reproducible on a fresh Win10 install, with the FH4 demo and driver 312/314. The base etc will function, as will pedals etc, but you will get no FFB. Additionally, I noticed that FH4 maps button 15/16 as the same button in the game menu.
    Thanks for the update Natalie. I wonder if this is the same on console?
  • Natalie BNatalie B Member, Moderator, Betatester
    edited October 2018
    Quick update: Driver 312/314 didn't provide any FFB for me on Horizon 4? I had to uninstall and roll back to 311 before I could get Horizon 4 games to deliver any FFB? I'm not sure if there was a change after 311 that would cause this, but it's reproducible on a fresh Win10 install, with the FH4 demo and driver 312/314. The base etc will function, as will pedals etc, but you will get no FFB. Additionally, I noticed that FH4 maps button 15/16 as the same button in the game menu.
    THANKS Natalie! I tried to get FH4 working since its release and got no FFB also. Tried hundrets of workarounds which are described in the forums but nothing helped. Going back to driver v311 indeed FINALLY gave me FFB in FH4! So I can confirm that with v311 the FFB in FH4 is working and with drivers 312+ you get no FFB in FH4 so there seems to be a driver issue starting with driver 312...

    No problem, thank you for checking and confirming the issue ;)
    I spent the day downloading FH3 / FH4 and FM7 (demo and full games), re-flashed all of my bases incrementally (backward), installing each previous driver/fw revision (dual booting between windows 8 and windows 10) to figure out where and what changed, and if it affected anything else.

    Luckily it was resolved at driver 311 (only 3 revisions back for me) so I began re-flashing the firmware back up (to exclude that as a variable) and now, they all work perfectly fine.

    So for now I recommend 311 with the latest firmware for those playing Forza etc on windows 10, for windows 8 (all titles) users can continue to run with 311 or 312/314 as it's doesn't appear to affect any of the current games under those conditions.

    So whatever was changed in the 312 beta drivers, has seemingly broken FFB in Forza titles on PC.
    Quick update: Driver 312/314 didn't provide any FFB for me on Horizon 4? I had to uninstall and roll back to 311 before I could get Horizon 4 games to deliver any FFB? I'm not sure if there was a change after 311 that would cause this, but it's reproducible on a fresh Win10 install, with the FH4 demo and driver 312/314. The base etc will function, as will pedals etc, but you will get no FFB. Additionally, I noticed that FH4 maps button 15/16 as the same button in the game menu.
    Thanks for the update Natalie. I wonder if this is the same on console?

    I think the console should be ok (I haven't tested my consoles yet, but I may do that tomorrow) However my belief is that they should be fine, as the FFB issue seems to be specifically related to the windows driver (not FFB as all revisions I tested worked fine) and as the driver isn't used on the consoles, I suspect they will be peachy :smile:

    Now I'm off to enjoy a little arcade action in Forza Horizon 4, and I'm looking forward to the BIG FM7 FFB / physics patch in the coming weeks too XD
  • Joseph GossenJoseph Gossen Member, Moderator
    Thanks. Agree definitely very good news that Forza has taken FFB seriously now and looking to do a rebuild.
  • brett morobrett moro Member
    edited October 2018
    Quick update: Driver 312/314 didn't provide any FFB for me on Horizon 4? I had to uninstall and roll back to 311 before I could get Horizon 4 games to deliver any FFB? I'm not sure if there was a change after 311 that would cause this, but it's reproducible on a fresh Win10 install, with the FH4 demo and driver 312/314. The base etc will function, as will pedals etc, but you will get no FFB. Additionally, I noticed that FH4 maps button 15/16 as the same button in the game menu                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Thx Natalie!! I am on Pc, windows 10  in FH4 csw v2.5, i still have zero ffb? In the demo the ffb worked. In deluxe version FH4 i had much better ffb for about 20min until i tried to map buttons in custom settings. Settings saved, buttons work, wheel turns but absolutely O ffb. Tried my older t300 but that won't even register as controller, no buttons, no turning, nothing.      Game is opimzed and upto date invida drvers, game looks fantastic in 4k, handbrake works . Latest v windows 10? I must be missing something?                                                             Driver v311 beta, Firmware 474, Motor Firmware 18.      Great job trying to pinpoint issues though Natalie.
  • Emuwheel software fixed all my problems. I finally have ffb and my buttons map properly. I am almost pc illiterate lol.         Helpful setup tutorial  youtuber (TheBlue028... Forza horizon 4 Pc Fix wheel issues with Emuwheel)                                                                                                     
  • interesting to compare linear test log 2 (wheelcheck 1.82) drivers 310 instead 311 on base 2.5
    v 310 linear have with FOR 120 and DRI -4
    v 311 linear have with FOR 120 and DRI 0
    Formula RIM of course
  • after two months of testing my conclusion is:

    Thank god v3.12 exists


    On v3.11 if there was a sudden force applied on exiting a corner whilst applying acceleration in Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizion which caused oversteer (e.g. hit inside curb) if I kept the accelerator on which maintained a side force it would keep this force down the entire straight even when I regained traction. This meant I would have to drive down the straight with the wheel at an angle.  After braking or applying a force in the opposite direction the wheel would be back to normal until the next time I "hit the inside curb".

    On v3.12 the wheel is behaving as expected.

    Note - This same effect has happened to two CSL Elite PS4 wheels on PC and can also be turned on/off by toggling between the two drivers.  During this time there was also a clean install of Windows 10 64bit.

    Additional Note - v3.11 and v3.12 firmware only updates correctly if the pedals (with Load Cell) are not attached to the base unit.  I now have my pedals via USB and are on the same driver version.

    Hope this feedback helps and makes sense. 
  • I still have problems with loosing center position on my CSL base. I tried to calibrate it several times and always the same thing happens. I had a race yesterday in Lemans Series in iRacing and during one lap the wheel would go off center by a bit after random corner but then going back to being normal after couple of another corners. Basically it happens randomly and goes away randomly lol. Never happened on 293 driver and firmware. I will try to flash the older fireware again and see if it goes away. I will report later in the evening.
    Hi piotr did you found any solution for this issue? Im having the same centreing issue had to roll back to 293 drivers but they are a bit clunky. I wish to jump into 312 . I am sure this is a firmware bug/issue not the wheel base itself.
  • Armin HabermannArmin Habermann Member, Administrator
    @ Fabian & Piotr
    If there is ANY firmware which does not cause decalibration...then there is no hardware issue. If you wheel base is still decalibrating with the very latest firmware, but not with an older FW, PLEASE let our support guys know. They might send you an alpha version of FW/driver to see if the problem is still there. If yes, they will have to do a deeper research. If no, then the issue in software will be finally resolved. Please make 100% sure that your feedback is realiable. So if you mention that no decalibration is happening with a certain FW....please make sure that there is absolutely no doubt. 

    THX!
  • Steven HallSteven Hall Member
    edited October 2018
    I still have problems with loosing center position on my CSL base. I tried to calibrate it several times and always the same thing happens. I had a race yesterday in Lemans Series in iRacing and during one lap the wheel would go off center by a bit after random corner but then going back to being normal after couple of another corners. Basically it happens randomly and goes away randomly lol. Never happened on 293 driver and firmware. I will try to flash the older fireware again and see if it goes away. I will report later in the evening.
    Hi piotr did you found any solution for this issue? Im having the same centreing issue had to roll back to 293 drivers but they are a bit clunky. I wish to jump into 312 . I am sure this is a firmware bug/issue not the wheel base itself.
    This sounds like what was happening to me with v3.11 (you have used more elegant words). going to v3.12 solved it but I had to plug my Load Cell pedals via USB and update both the wheel and pedals separately else the Firmware update would not install correctly.

    As I type this I have just completed over 3 hours of racing in Assetto Corsa with no issues.

    Hope this helps.
  • Steven HallSteven Hall Member
    edited October 2018
    @ Fabian & Piotr
    If there is ANY firmware which does not cause decalibration...then there is no hardware issue. If you wheel base is still decalibrating with the very latest firmware, but not with an older FW, PLEASE let our support guys know. They might send you an alpha version of FW/driver to see if the problem is still there. If yes, they will have to do a deeper research. If no, then the issue in software will be finally resolved. Please make 100% sure that your feedback is realiable. So if you mention that no decalibration is happening with a certain FW....please make sure that there is absolutely no doubt. 

    THX!
    Hi, here has been my experience with the following drivers over the last 3 months.

    All below have been tested on 2 very different windows 10 64 bit PCs (1 also had a fresh install) and have been tested on two different CSL Elite PS4 wheel bases with Load Cell pedal.

    v2.93 - Installed correctly, over 10 hours of racing with no issue
    v3.10 - Installed correctly, over 400 hours of racing with no issue
    v3.11 - Only installed correctly if Load Cell pedals were disconnected from the wheel base. over 50 hours of racing, issues all the time (though it was my driving style had changed)
    v3.12 - Only installed correctly if Load Cell pedals were disconnected from the wheel base. over 3 hours so far without any issues.

    If I install v3.11 again I can make the centring issue happen within the first two laps.

    Per game with v3.11.
    F1 2017 - not noticeable - only 360 deg setting and quick change in direction when on track which I think is masking the issue and handling feels more precise with v3.12
    Assetto Corsa + Assetto Corsa Competizion - All the time. Wheel set to 1080 deg, will have about 5 degree alignment issue.
    Automoblista - Not as much as AC but will occur at least once per 15 minutes. same settings and 5 degree alignment issue as AC.
  • Armin HabermannArmin Habermann Member, Administrator
    v3.12 - Only installed correctly if Load Cell pedals were disconnected from the wheel base. over 3 hours so far without any issues.

    If I install v3.11 again I can make the centring issue happen within the first two laps.
    Hi Steven,

    we cannot reproduce any issue here installing the firmware with the pedals connected. Can you please explain what is connected and how (mention ALL cables pls). Which firmware you are trying to install and what goes wrong in which cases. Like I said...here, everything worked fine so please give us an overview of this one issue. Thank you!

    Armin

    P.S.: Please make sure not to mix up driver and FW revisions. You only mention the driver version but we are not aware which FW versions you are using and if you're changing those with the different driver versions. You can use the firmwares within driver 2.93 also with driver 3.12 and the other way round. So we need to separate that and mention both to find clear dependencies!
  • Natalie BNatalie B Member, Moderator, Betatester
    Re: The CSL decalibration. I was able to recreate this on all drivers tested on 2 CSL bases and provided a practical demonstrable/reproducible way for the team to test it, therefore I have faith that this issue will be sorted in future driver / FW updates. While it is incredibly annoying, I'm sure it will be resolved shortly.
    Re: Forza. I still have to use 3.11 to get forza to provided FFB on windows 10 however I have also noticed that doing a driver upgrade over the 3.11 install can (but not always) provide FFB intermittently. But for me, on a clean win 10 test box playing Forza titles driver v3.11 is required. Additionally button mapping in Forza is a bit wonky. I have noticed that if you use the default wheel setup, and the game displays "press 9 to continue" if you use a custom map, the game changes those on screen button numbers, and now displays "press 16 to continue" but the actual physical button that you press is the same button? I think this is because the game has mapped the buttons on the top of the universal hub to the games inputs, and not the Ines on the actual front of the wheel (in the case of the universal hub) I would like to see this changed to allow for easier navigation, but i assume this is a forza issue, not a driver issue.
    On the windows 8 rig, I'm having little to no issues with any titles, a few minor issues that I reported back on that are insignificant really, but overall windows 8 (and 7) and super stable and working flawlessly in virtually every title I test with them, including bizarre old emulated titles from consoles that didn't even support wheel inputs :smiley:
    Windows 7/8 and drivers 3.12/3.14 are very stable, no major issues, FFB and wheel response and wheel checker values are great.
    Windows 10 and drivers 3.11/3.12/3.14 all provided me with some issues (team are aware) and give me a slightly less frustration free experience. Particularly with forza titles though.
  • @ Fabian & Piotr
    If there is ANY firmware which does not cause decalibration...then there is no hardware issue. If you wheel base is still decalibrating with the very latest firmware, but not with an older FW, PLEASE let our support guys know. They might send you an alpha version of FW/driver to see if the problem is still there. If yes, they will have to do a deeper research. If no, then the issue in software will be finally resolved. Please make 100% sure that your feedback is realiable. So if you mention that no decalibration is happening with a certain FW....please make sure that there is absolutely no doubt. 

    THX!
    hello Armin, I am 100% sure that the problem still occurs in the version v311 (I installed everything properly and updated the firmware) decentering issue still occurs after a few minutes of using the steering wheel (3-5 degrees).
    then I installed the v311 beta drivers which were posted on the forum (Fanatec Beta Driver V311 for CSW V1, CSW V2, CSW V2.5, CSL E WB, CSL E PS4, CSL E RMcL), unfortunately the problem was still there but not so often, around after 20 minutes decentering issue appeared.
    I will add that I use csp v3 connected via usb not via the base. (Windows 10 pro 64)
    Currently I am using v293 drivers and the firmware which is in it, the problem of decalibration does not occur in this version.
    I wanted to ask about these Alpha drivers, which you mentioned earlier in the post. I would like to try them, unfortunately on the fanatec website they are not available anywhere, should I give my mail and someone from the support will send me these drivers. how would it take place. thanks in advance for your answer.
  • Armin HabermannArmin Habermann Member, Administrator
    edited October 2018
    Hi Fabian, 

    if you have an issue...support is always the right way to go. But if you are having no decalibration issues with driver 293 and the firmwares within. There is nothing to report. Your hardware is not defective and the next driver/fw combination should resolve the software issue again. 

    According to ALL reports we have received so far, ONLY CSL E WB (+) firmwares between firmwares 447 and 473 could be causing decalibration. Older firmwares, newer firmwares and ClubSport WB (firmwares) have not been affected.

    So if you suffer from decalibration...use some older or newer firmware and re-confirm. If the problem is still there using a firmware which is NOT affected...it might be a hardware issue and our support team will take care about the issue.

  • Hi Fabian, 

    if you have an issue...support is always the right way to go. But if you are having no decalibration issues with driver 293 and the firmwares within. There is nothing to report. Your hardware is not defective and the next driver/fw combination should resolve the software issue again. 

    According to ALL reports we have received so far, ONLY CSL E WB (+) firmwares between firmwares 447 and 473 could be causing decalibration. Older firmwares, newer firmwares and ClubSport WB (firmwares) have not been affected.

    So if you suffer from decalibration...use some older or newer firmware and re-confirm. If the problem is still there using a firmware which is NOT affected...it might be a hardware issue and our support team will take care about the issue.
    I understand, but according to my opinion, v293 drivers with the firmware that is IN it, makes wheel not that smooth especially if we're talking about drift mode,ffb feels grainy/clunky especially on cerbs but generally ffb with these drivers is not as good as in version 311 beta.
    So my question is. which newer versions of drivers and firmware should be installed so that the problem with decentering does not occur. Why the only option is to use drivers and firmware that are outdated.

    PS: I am sure that the base is not faulty because I've tested and confirmed it on two other units of the same model, both of them experiencing the same decentering problem. so it's unrealistic that both bases are faulty.

    Regards, Fabian

  • Armin HabermannArmin Habermann Member, Administrator
    Yea....agree, we know already that your hardware is fine.

    You can use every driver you want to use...just don't use those firmwares I mentioned previously. You can also use newer and older firmwares but not those in between the versions I mentioned.
  • Yea....agree, we know already that your hardware is fine.

    You can use every driver you want to use...just don't use those firmwares I mentioned previously. You can also use newer and older firmwares but not those in between the versions I mentioned.
    ok then, I will try to install the v312 drivers and firmware which it contains, and I will let you know whether decentering is still occurring. I will do as you wrote in the previous post. I will install v312 driver / firmware for the base and then the firmware for the pedals separately. and I will see if this will solve the decentering problem. Thanks for your help.

    Regards, Fabian
  • Noob question. I find these forums hard to navigate..But my v2.5 wheel has just started to decalibrate, I am looking for an older driver but can't find them on here. Any help would be great. Thank you
  • Noob question. I find these forums hard to navigate..But my v2.5 wheel has just started to decalibrate, I am looking for an older driver but can't find them on here. Any help would be great. Thank you
    https://www.fanatec.com/forum/categories/beta-drivers
  • Armin HabermannArmin Habermann Member, Administrator
    ;jonathan dekuysscher 
    I guess I've never heard of a decalibrating V2.5 base since it uses an absolute positioning system and no relative one which is counting steps left or right. Therefore it is hard to imagine how it could be possible that it decalibrates. Please make sure in other games etc. that it is really decalibration which is happening. But of course...nothing is impossible ;-) Testing other drivers and firmwares does not hurt...but I would first check the more obvious things. Often we hear about decalibrating units but in the end, the car was crashed, the game tried to simulate some damage on the (virtual) car or something like that. 
  • v3.12 - Only installed correctly if Load Cell pedals were disconnected from the wheel base. over 3 hours so far without any issues.

    If I install v3.11 again I can make the centring issue happen within the first two laps.
    Hi Steven,

    we cannot reproduce any issue here installing the firmware with the pedals connected. Can you please explain what is connected and how (mention ALL cables pls). Which firmware you are trying to install and what goes wrong in which cases. Like I said...here, everything worked fine so please give us an overview of this one issue. Thank you!

    Armin

    P.S.: Please make sure not to mix up driver and FW revisions. You only mention the driver version but we are not aware which FW versions you are using and if you're changing those with the different driver versions. You can use the firmwares within driver 2.93 also with driver 3.12 and the other way round. So we need to separate that and mention both to find clear dependencies!
    Hi, Sorry for the delayed response.

    TLDR; with v3.11 and v3.12 when Flashing the wheel base firmware if the Load Cell pedals are connected to the base unit the base unit lights do not go past RED and I have to unplug the unit, I then experience problems when using it.  If the pedals are disconnected during firmware update all works well during when they are plugged back in or used via USB.

    Detail:

    To sum up I have tried a number of combinations of Firmware (wheel base and pedals) and Driver from the 2.93, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12 (I no longer have v3.10 and its Firmware)

    Equipement:
    CSL Elite+ PS4 Wheel Base with Stock Wheel
    CSL Elite Pedals
    CSL Elite Load Cell Pedal

    with pedals connected to the Wheel Base I am using the provided connector (RJ45 offset) and the Wheel Base connected to the PC via a USB3.0 port using the provided cable.

    with the pedals connected to the PC I am using the provided cable connected to a USB3.0 port and the Wheel Base connected to the PC via a USB3.0 port using the provided cable.


    Issue:
    When flashing the Firmware on the Wheel base using the one in v3.11 or 3.12 (v476) if the load cell pedals are connected to the wheel base the lights on the wheel base only make it to the RED set of lights and Never make it to the BLUE and does not allow me to progress unless I turn the base off from the plug.  If I then turn the wheel base back on and repeat the process (same Firmware) "it works" but I experience various issues with the wheel and software (calibration for both pedals and wheel base, not saving settings, Fanatec controller software failing to load, to name a few).

    If I unplug the pedals from the wheel base and flash the firmware it works every time - plug the pedals back in to the wheel base after and all works well.
    If I use the pedals with USB all works well.
    If the pedals are connected to wheel base during firmware upgrade I experience issues.

    I forget the firmware numbers but basically I have used the ones supplied within each of the driver packages. (note - after a Firmware update of the wheel base for each driver package I have always performed a pedal firmware before doing any further firmware changes.)
    (also note - I also decided to performed a fresh install of windows to see if there was any obvious conflicts, I then took an image of windows after it updated itself but before anything except motherboard system drivers were installed and performed a number of combinations "resetting" windows after every Fanatec driver install to make it "Pure" - the same issue is still present.

    Combination - pedals attached to wheel base:
    v2.93 to v3.10 = no issues
    v2.93 to v3.11 = issues
    v2.93 to v3.12 = issues
    v3.10 to v3.11 = issues
    v3.10 to v3.12 = issues
    v3.11 to v3.12 = no issues

    v3.12 to v3.11 = no issues
    all other "downgrades" = no issues.

    Combination - pedals not attached to wheel base. = no issues

    Current Drivers = v3.12, Wheel base Firmware 476, Motor Firmware v18, Pedals Firmware v1.9

    Final Note:
    Thank god for driver v3.12 I have used it a lot now because v3.11 was driving me crazy loosing calibration by 5-10 degrees in certain conditions only to regain it back again if opposite force was applied.

    Everything I have said is to provide information for your consideration on an couple of issues I have experienced to aid the development.  I am very happy with the products and they have increase my enjoyment of driving simulators a lot.  Keep up the great work and hope this helps.

    Thanks.
  • Armin HabermannArmin Habermann Member, Administrator
    Thx for the great report Steven! We're happy that everything is fine now and that the very latest driver version brought the best results to you ;-)

    Have a great weekend!
  • I had an issue with v3.11 on my CSW v2,0 where the windows utility does not save the wheel range, despite the steering wheel setting set to Aut.

    If i change from 900 degrees to say 430, then reboot the simulator, it reverts back to 900 degrees.
    The setting does not save.


  • Just wanted to come back on my earlier posts about driver and firmware combinations. It turns out that the problem I had with my wheel losing calibration were happening on all driver and firmware combinations (293 with 335, 311 with 476, 312 with 476 and 314 with 476). And with 312 the update issues I encountered at first were solved once I unplugged the pedals before the update (thank you for the tip Steven Hall).

    But to make a long story short, it's probably hardware related and I now have an RMA number from the support desk. Hope to be racing again soon.
  • Natalie BNatalie B Member, Moderator, Betatester
    I'm still quietly confident that the decalibration issues will/can be resolved via a FW/Driver update, it's reproducable, the team are aware of it, So im sure it will be resolved/mitigated over time :smile
  • Joseph GossenJoseph Gossen Member, Moderator
    Any updates on new firmware?

    Which current FW are you finding the most stable?
  • Natalie BNatalie B Member, Moderator, Betatester
    Hey Joseph, It depends on what base and OS and game for me at the moment but the most current is indeed very stable and functioning well (Forza on windows 10 gives me a few issues here and there depending on driver, but overall the latest is indeed working really well) :)
  • Joseph GossenJoseph Gossen Member, Moderator
    I’m running 312 on Xbox One X. Mostly PCars 2 and Forza 7. For some reason it feels like my ffb is muted but it’s been since the last alpha update so not sure what it is.
  • Armin HabermannArmin Habermann Member, Administrator
    For some reason it feels like my ffb is muted but it’s been since the last alpha update so not sure what it is.
    Hi Joseph,

    we had a similar feeling an ran some comparisons with competitor products and it turns out that they are affected 100% the same way. Not sure what is going on but we'll try to dig deeper. It seems to be something within the XBO ffb communication protocol. Then thing is...we have no chance to interfere with any of the details within the FFB. It is one stream of code which is sent to our wheels and we cannot adjust parts of the signal. So the wheel can only give you what it gets. 
    Of course, we'll never settle and try to optimize things. Like always...but if it is not within our hands, we cannot make any promises.
This discussion has been closed.