My DD1 just died, only hours after this post - and just in time for the XMAS holidays. I was away from my PC, not even driving and heard an alert chime. Came back to see what it was and found the wheelbase had shut off and now it won't power up again. (Insert continuous stream of swear words and extremely sad face here.)
EDIT: I've been to the website to lodge an RMA, but have discovered that none of the products I've bought in the last year of more are listed in the 'My Products' list in my account, so... I currently can't lodge an RMA on my DD1. (All the products I'm referring to are visible in my 'Orders' page, dated from 23rd Nov 2018 through until 18th July 2019.)
Could somebody from Fanatec please advise me how to progress from here... and more importantly, how I can get this sorted before everyone at Fanatec goes on their XMAS holidays.)
I really like your post as you give us a professional opinion on a very important matter, so I'm really not dismissing in any way what you are saying on the hardware part.
But I really believe the risk of beta software is related to "stabilty", "missing features", "not working as intended" and so on. Bricking the hardware has nothing to do with using a beta. Also, "not USA" law is very different in the rest of the world, keep that in mind, no way they can get away with it (and who will ever buy a fanatec product again after that?)
That said, there's a really simple fix to this situation: a statement from Fanatec.
Oh noes. 😯 I'm really sorry for you and I really hope it's not firmware related.
I checked my account and my DD1 is not in my purchases too, I believe they didn't properly transfer every information when switching to the new website.
I guess you have to manually add your product, then you can open the RMA procedure [EDIT: I tried to manually register my Podium DD1 PS4 edition, it's not a selectable option, standard DD1 and DD2 only. Could please fanatec fix that?].
Unfortunately I believe chances of having it fixed before Christmas are less than meeting the real Santa.
I can't believe it isn't firmware related as I've been running the previous version for months without any issue whatsoever. I literally just did the whole update today (drivers/firmware/Fanalab) and then just a couple of hours later... Bang! DD1 dead.
When I rotate the steering wheel now (with the base off) I can also feel extreme notchiness, which has never been there before at all. And when I try to power the unit up, it only flashes on for about 1 second, makes one loud 'clunk', then shuts straight off again.
Merry XMAS holidays? Not for me at this point. I've been so looking forward to having extra time to drive, but that's not looking promising at this point, it it?
I just hope someone from Fanatec will respond to my request for assistance very soon (and hopefully organise a replacement DD1 ASAP), otherwise I'll have to look for a part-time job playing 'Grumpy Santa' over the holiday break !
I had only played Assetto Corsa after the updates, nothing else. But I wasn't even driving when the wheelbase died – and hadn't been for about 20 minutes, though my whole rig was still powered up.
The INT setting was on 4 and the FEI on 80, which are the settings Dominic suggested earlier in this thread. My FFB was at 45. Force at 90.
What's so sad and frustrating is that I was really excited about how the new updates felt – and was really looking forward to having a big drive later in the day – and over the XMAS holidays. (insert river of tears here)
With my first DD1 I had exact the same issue immediately after unpacking and installing. RMA request and three days later I could enjoy a brand new other DD1. I'm located in the Netherlands and transport time was just 24-48 hours. So hopefully also your DD will be replaced asap so you can enjoys XMAS holidays with simracing. Good luck!
From my knowledge but could be wrong they ship new units as a result of a RMA from a DC in the UK. Again I'm in doubt so not sure!
--
With regards to the 352. I like the new better total 'feeling'. FEI 70/80 (R3E). With 80 I get a constant 'low vibration' through the wheel as it is road surface. But I guess this is the thumb we're talking about?
Thanks for sharing your postive experience Brian, but unfortunately, I'm in Australia where 3-day shipping is a miracle even at times other than XMAS ! I'll be very happy if they just get a replacement unit in the post before the XMAS break starts... but it's hard when you can't lodge an RMA because customer accounts on the website haven't been updated to list your purchases for well over a year :-(
I emailed the service agent in Australia, but he's already on holidays. Thankfully he was helpful anyway and has forwarded my email to Fanatec HQ, so now I just have to hope they get back to me with some sort of quick solution.
I managed to break the v352 driver/OS. Installed it, updated FWs, started experimenting with ffb settings. One of profiles got corrupted after switching on/off linearity mode, after which the whole driver stopped responding. Reinstalled it, but it stopped recognizing a wheel. Reinstalled, uninstalled, installed again with numerous times - windows senses the wheel (usb device), but driver won't recognize it.
Went back to v335 and it picks up the wheel just fine. Installed v352 - wheel not recognized again. Uninstalled it and installed v346 - all ok. Seems that v352 left some trace in system which prohibits it working correctly whenever it's installed. Any ideas what it is and how to get rid of it? (win reinstall is not an option)
My specs: win10 pro 64bit, dd2 base fw669, motor fw38. now on v346 drivers.
OMG. Thank you for sharing your experience with that. I have not had the issue again since last time(it was repeated for 3~4 times before I stopped playing). Hope it will just stay functional...
These thinks that feel like unfiltered FFB for a moment have happened occasionally since launch no matter what driver or firmware version.
But the base hasn’t done that when shutting down before, this version it does it every time, I’ve also had a few thunks while in use in a shorter space of time. As I really can’t detect any improvement in detail like other people I’m going to drop back to v346.
Well, as long that there's no official statement from Fanatec that this latest driver is safe for the hardware I'm rolling back to V346 which didn't seem to give any problems for me and felt better as far as I remember. I'm not risking this without knowing what's going on.
When my GT3 wheel comes in it'll have to wait in the closet until a more stable driver is available.
As you are using FanaLab, telemtry is activated and in-game Fanatec LED support is deactivated? Just in case it's not interfering when both FanaLab and the IR send data to the display at the same time. When you activate it in-game only without FanaLab running the display works normal? Then it would be an issue of FanaLab you should provide in the other discussion. I've noted this and will take a look.
After some testing at the new recommended settings within iRacing. I can report that the feel is now much better. I started with [INT]Interpolation at 6 but found the sweet spot to be at 3.
Issues :
1# Heavy "clonk" sound when turning off the wheel base.
2# Loud "Thump" just after the wheel is turned on while performing start up calibration
3# Constant low level "humming/vibration" felt in the hand grips of the formula v2 wheel. Putting my ear against the wheel results in me hearing a faint "whine". Initially i thought it was an issue with the vibration motors within the wheel rim. BUT, if i remove the wheel rim and put me ear against the wheelbase shaft i can still feel and hear the vibration and humming. This can not be normal, right?
4# Strange behaviour from the v3 pedals: When pressing the throttle (or clutch) about 1% brake input is also applied. - I'm able to fix this by creating a deadzone for the brake but this was never an issue prior to this update.
5# While taking a turn and coming back onto the gas the engine sounds like it's missing or strugging to pick up revs. - I enabled the input meter within iRacing and brought it within eye line and did some testing. Result : The throttle input is registering correctly BUT the entire throttle bar is flashing "Bright-dim-bright-dim" over and over, many many times a second. This only seems to happen when the wheel is under load and have the gas pedel pressed at anything from 80% - 100%. Hitting or driving over a curb seems to make this issue more pronounced. I will test to see if this is a pedal or wheel base issue by plugging the pedals directly into the PC via USB and report back.
Am off to work now, but with do further testing when back home. Although, as it stands, i feel i will be returning to the previous driver/FW due to the above mentioned issues.
Makes sense as the driver has to work more now with the additinal FFB detail, 6-10°C more is not a problem, the motor or driver can reach up to 120°C until the base will reduce power to safe the electronics so if they stay away from 100°C it's perfectly fine.
Did you try calibrating it again? A tip I can give for calibrating is don't do it too fast, take your time, move in the gear which is asked for, remove your hand from the knob, then press the button to proceed and so on. We didn't see anything weird with shifter calibration yet but I'll take another look now.
You've pressed only one button you've mapped in RR to change the HUD if I understand correctly? Do you know which exact button it was? Showing it on a picture or as which button number it's mapped would be great.
Comments
Oh oh.
My DD1 just died, only hours after this post - and just in time for the XMAS holidays. I was away from my PC, not even driving and heard an alert chime. Came back to see what it was and found the wheelbase had shut off and now it won't power up again. (Insert continuous stream of swear words and extremely sad face here.)
EDIT: I've been to the website to lodge an RMA, but have discovered that none of the products I've bought in the last year of more are listed in the 'My Products' list in my account, so... I currently can't lodge an RMA on my DD1. (All the products I'm referring to are visible in my 'Orders' page, dated from 23rd Nov 2018 through until 18th July 2019.)
Could somebody from Fanatec please advise me how to progress from here... and more importantly, how I can get this sorted before everyone at Fanatec goes on their XMAS holidays.)
Perhaps a big huge red warning banner on top and at bottom is a lovely add-on for the beta driver-topics.
I really like your post as you give us a professional opinion on a very important matter, so I'm really not dismissing in any way what you are saying on the hardware part.
But I really believe the risk of beta software is related to "stabilty", "missing features", "not working as intended" and so on. Bricking the hardware has nothing to do with using a beta. Also, "not USA" law is very different in the rest of the world, keep that in mind, no way they can get away with it (and who will ever buy a fanatec product again after that?)
That said, there's a really simple fix to this situation: a statement from Fanatec.
Oh noes. 😯 I'm really sorry for you and I really hope it's not firmware related.
I checked my account and my DD1 is not in my purchases too, I believe they didn't properly transfer every information when switching to the new website.
I guess you have to manually add your product, then you can open the RMA procedure [EDIT: I tried to manually register my Podium DD1 PS4 edition, it's not a selectable option, standard DD1 and DD2 only. Could please fanatec fix that?].
Unfortunately I believe chances of having it fixed before Christmas are less than meeting the real Santa.
I can't believe it isn't firmware related as I've been running the previous version for months without any issue whatsoever. I literally just did the whole update today (drivers/firmware/Fanalab) and then just a couple of hours later... Bang! DD1 dead.
When I rotate the steering wheel now (with the base off) I can also feel extreme notchiness, which has never been there before at all. And when I try to power the unit up, it only flashes on for about 1 second, makes one loud 'clunk', then shuts straight off again.
Merry XMAS holidays? Not for me at this point. I've been so looking forward to having extra time to drive, but that's not looking promising at this point, it it?
The "loud clunck" part is VERY VERY worrisome.
I hope someone from fanatec will clarify what is going on very soon.
I just hope someone from Fanatec will respond to my request for assistance very soon (and hopefully organise a replacement DD1 ASAP), otherwise I'll have to look for a part-time job playing 'Grumpy Santa' over the holiday break !
for all the complaints, I will go back to 346. no desire that because of bad software a 1600 € expensive steering wheel breaks.
🤣 for the Grumpy Santa part.
I really hope they sort the replacemente very soon.
Can I ask you what games you played and what were your INT and FEI values?
I had only played Assetto Corsa after the updates, nothing else. But I wasn't even driving when the wheelbase died – and hadn't been for about 20 minutes, though my whole rig was still powered up.
The INT setting was on 4 and the FEI on 80, which are the settings Dominic suggested earlier in this thread. My FFB was at 45. Force at 90.
What's so sad and frustrating is that I was really excited about how the new updates felt – and was really looking forward to having a big drive later in the day – and over the XMAS holidays. (insert river of tears here)
Hi Josh,
With my first DD1 I had exact the same issue immediately after unpacking and installing. RMA request and three days later I could enjoy a brand new other DD1. I'm located in the Netherlands and transport time was just 24-48 hours. So hopefully also your DD will be replaced asap so you can enjoys XMAS holidays with simracing. Good luck!
From my knowledge but could be wrong they ship new units as a result of a RMA from a DC in the UK. Again I'm in doubt so not sure!
--
With regards to the 352. I like the new better total 'feeling'. FEI 70/80 (R3E). With 80 I get a constant 'low vibration' through the wheel as it is road surface. But I guess this is the thumb we're talking about?
Thanks for sharing your postive experience Brian, but unfortunately, I'm in Australia where 3-day shipping is a miracle even at times other than XMAS ! I'll be very happy if they just get a replacement unit in the post before the XMAS break starts... but it's hard when you can't lodge an RMA because customer accounts on the website haven't been updated to list your purchases for well over a year :-(
I emailed the service agent in Australia, but he's already on holidays. Thankfully he was helpful anyway and has forwarded my email to Fanatec HQ, so now I just have to hope they get back to me with some sort of quick solution.
Xbox user do not get a lot of attention here. I didn't got any response from Fanatec related to this issue.
I think for spending 1.200 EUR for a hardware which has issues, I really serve a bit of attention (even when I use a gaming console to race).
there is actually another hardware that needs so many beta versions until finally a fully functioning one appears
. wrong post sorry
I managed to break the v352 driver/OS. Installed it, updated FWs, started experimenting with ffb settings. One of profiles got corrupted after switching on/off linearity mode, after which the whole driver stopped responding. Reinstalled it, but it stopped recognizing a wheel. Reinstalled, uninstalled, installed again with numerous times - windows senses the wheel (usb device), but driver won't recognize it.
Went back to v335 and it picks up the wheel just fine. Installed v352 - wheel not recognized again. Uninstalled it and installed v346 - all ok. Seems that v352 left some trace in system which prohibits it working correctly whenever it's installed. Any ideas what it is and how to get rid of it? (win reinstall is not an option)
My specs: win10 pro 64bit, dd2 base fw669, motor fw38. now on v346 drivers.
OMG. Thank you for sharing your experience with that. I have not had the issue again since last time(it was repeated for 3~4 times before I stopped playing). Hope it will just stay functional...
Had that since launch on other drivers.
These thinks that feel like unfiltered FFB for a moment have happened occasionally since launch no matter what driver or firmware version.
But the base hasn’t done that when shutting down before, this version it does it every time, I’ve also had a few thunks while in use in a shorter space of time. As I really can’t detect any improvement in detail like other people I’m going to drop back to v346.
Disappointing.
You mean the flag LEDs did turn on in specific colors even though they are not supported by GT Sport yet?
Well, as long that there's no official statement from Fanatec that this latest driver is safe for the hardware I'm rolling back to V346 which didn't seem to give any problems for me and felt better as far as I remember. I'm not risking this without knowing what's going on.
When my GT3 wheel comes in it'll have to wait in the closet until a more stable driver is available.
As you are using FanaLab, telemtry is activated and in-game Fanatec LED support is deactivated? Just in case it's not interfering when both FanaLab and the IR send data to the display at the same time. When you activate it in-game only without FanaLab running the display works normal? Then it would be an issue of FanaLab you should provide in the other discussion. I've noted this and will take a look.
Wheel Base Model : DD1
Steering Wheel Model : Formula V2
Driver Version: 352
Base FW Version: 669
Wheel FW Version: 28
V3 pedals connected to the wheelbase
After some testing at the new recommended settings within iRacing. I can report that the feel is now much better. I started with [INT]Interpolation at 6 but found the sweet spot to be at 3.
Issues :
1# Heavy "clonk" sound when turning off the wheel base.
2# Loud "Thump" just after the wheel is turned on while performing start up calibration
3# Constant low level "humming/vibration" felt in the hand grips of the formula v2 wheel. Putting my ear against the wheel results in me hearing a faint "whine". Initially i thought it was an issue with the vibration motors within the wheel rim. BUT, if i remove the wheel rim and put me ear against the wheelbase shaft i can still feel and hear the vibration and humming. This can not be normal, right?
4# Strange behaviour from the v3 pedals: When pressing the throttle (or clutch) about 1% brake input is also applied. - I'm able to fix this by creating a deadzone for the brake but this was never an issue prior to this update.
5# While taking a turn and coming back onto the gas the engine sounds like it's missing or strugging to pick up revs. - I enabled the input meter within iRacing and brought it within eye line and did some testing. Result : The throttle input is registering correctly BUT the entire throttle bar is flashing "Bright-dim-bright-dim" over and over, many many times a second. This only seems to happen when the wheel is under load and have the gas pedel pressed at anything from 80% - 100%. Hitting or driving over a curb seems to make this issue more pronounced. I will test to see if this is a pedal or wheel base issue by plugging the pedals directly into the PC via USB and report back.
Am off to work now, but with do further testing when back home. Although, as it stands, i feel i will be returning to the previous driver/FW due to the above mentioned issues.
Makes sense as the driver has to work more now with the additinal FFB detail, 6-10°C more is not a problem, the motor or driver can reach up to 120°C until the base will reduce power to safe the electronics so if they stay away from 100°C it's perfectly fine.
Did you try calibrating it again? A tip I can give for calibrating is don't do it too fast, take your time, move in the gear which is asked for, remove your hand from the knob, then press the button to proceed and so on. We didn't see anything weird with shifter calibration yet but I'll take another look now.
Thanks a lot for taking a closer look I think this information will be very helpful to find the root cause.
Agree, honestly a good idea which I just thought about before reading your comment.
You've pressed only one button you've mapped in RR to change the HUD if I understand correctly? Do you know which exact button it was? Showing it on a picture or as which button number it's mapped would be great.
is this recommended for CSL Elite base or just DD bases?
Please everyone keep it nice and friendly here and don't insult each other, thanks.