Damper Bug
Picked up a CSL DD 8NM in October of 2023. Loved it, big step up from the Thrustmaster TX I had been using for 10 years prior. However, I noticed a strange occurrence within a month or so after using it…and the story goes like this:
The only game I play is ACC.
After some time of driving, I noticed the wheel would go ‘soft’…felt like it was missing something after about 10-15 mins of play…not night and day different, but just - different. Road textures would fade, curbs felt less pronounced - holding torque decreased, just a general reduction in fidelity, and it was actually severely impacting my lap times…I would lose a full second at the end of a stint…and couldn’t drive the car with confidence as the turn resistance and feel was still kind of there, but also very much absent from how it was at the beginning of the race. No, it was not set up, or overheating tires or bad tire temps. My car is configured correctly and I run pretty decent lap times (not alien pace, but about 2 seconds off from it on most tracks). I was convinced it was the base derating over time. For context - I ran very moderate settings on the base, I don’t like heavy FFB. Average temps on the base were around 30-35C (normal). It drove me absolutely nuts…so I trouble shot everything - cables, power supply, internet connection, grounding my rig…even bought two 120MM fan holders from Etsy that attach to the sides of the base to keep it extra cool (temps never got above 25C using them).
Problem of progressive FFB fade still existed though. I even opened an RMA ticket, but never acted on it. I thought for sure it was tied to Firmware - so decided to hold on. Driver 454, 455, 456 - same issue…totally bummed and at a loss. Posted here on the forum, Reddit, no one could provide any insight other than telling me to check what I already had.
I even switched from playing on Xbox, to PC to see if that would help. It was better (much), but the problem was still there. I was dumbfounded.
Fast forward to Feb. 2024 - I decided to buy the CS DD and figured that base with all the new tech, the promise of no derating and supreme thermal efficiency etc. - I had to to have it because the CSL DD was killing my mojo. Within days of playing with my new CS DD 12NM - bam - same thing. Sure the FFB felt better but the problem still existed. So…what are the odds that both the CSL DD and the CS DD have the SAME issue!? I thought this is impossible, so I scoured the web, turned it upside down for weeks Googling FFB issues for Fanatec.
Then I hit the gold mine. Ran across some juicy info about people complaining about The DD1 and DD2 having the same issue - specifically with RFactor 2. They referred to it as the Damper bug, and reportedly that game was ‘spamming’ the damper, and causing all kinds of issues but mainly what I have likewise been experiencing on ACC in that there was a progressive decline with the quality of the FFB. Leaving a public lobby and going to single player, even going to the pits in a race - the FFB was just melting away, albeit slowly but very noticeably. RF2 does have a FFB refresh option, but that still didn’t cure the ails that were plaguing Fanatec DD’s.
The solution!? People said turning the ‘Spring’ and ‘Damper’ values to zero (OFF), eliminates the phenomenon. So…I said ‘me too’, I will try it with the CS DD on ACC.
WOW. It worked…I can drive for 2 hours with the FFB feeling 98% the same. It actually feels better. Sure I don’t have Damper or Dynamic Damper from ACC now, but I overcame that with using the Natural Damper on the Fanatec base.
I run the GAIN in ACC at 55%.
Fanatec wheel settings;
FFB - 100
NDP - 15
FEI - 70
FOR - 100
EVERYTHING else - OFF.
So all to say - I am super happy I resolved this. Frankly, I can’t believe more people haven’t noticed it. There is absolutely and unequivocally an issue with the handshake between ACC and Fanatec DD’s as it relates to the damper. Perhaps some haven’t noticed, or have but chalked it up to the car losing grip at the end of a stint, but I am truly shocked it hasn’t garnered more attention. I don’t know if it is the Fanatec FW, or if ACC’s new FFB since 1.9 has changed (they added 400HZ refresh in the FFB menu), but - whatever it is, the two aren’t playing nicely together.
I sincerely hope this is being investigated, or at least acknowledged. I had to pull out all things forensic to get to the bottom of this, and Fanatec seems mute on the topic, likely because not many are talking about it? Either way, hope it helps someone else.
Sorry for the long rant but the long story was needed to validate the claim - and there it is.
Comments
funny thing is what you mean spamming the damper? that's how directx work for some effects like road that it constantly changes info or it send out multi different signals.
i know there is one issue but that is nothing todo with spam
I don’t know if it indeed spamming the damper in ACC, but in RF2 the issue was caused by that phenomenon and that is what Fanatec said about the issue. That is how they explained it and said it was not the base but rather a FFB issue with RF2 (to which end the devs at RF2 later admitted and reportedly dropped a patch for).
The take away here is that there is an issue between the damper setting in the Fanatec base, and the in-game damper settings (of which there are 2). It seems the signal gets overloaded and then after a period of time, the base cannot fully resolve the information because it is over saturated.
I've never had this problem with CSL DD. I'm more than sure, because I've heard about it before.
On RF2 I had the problem of graining, a "sand" effect on the steering wheel axis that occurred when I returned to the pits with the "esc" key. Fixed by changing some values in the game configuration file.
Noted - but it has/is definitely happening to me on both the CSL and CS DD. The above work around has fixed it…so no idea why I am experiencing it, and others are not 🤷♂️
there is as issue that effects turns into something else when app lose focus so yes issue exist but it not comes from spam.
interesting is that you tell its fix problem for you when you turn those off. well i would not call that a fix really, it just that you turn that effect off and ignoring actual issue
Perhaps then yes - but when I say fixed I am not implying I fixed the actual problem, I am saying I have found a temporary work around to avoid it.
This other problem that you speak of, how do you know about it? I have not seen anything on the forums about it. Are you an employee or involved in R&D at Fanatec?
No he is not.
He just thinks that he knows some things which even actual employees dont know because he got access to the SDK.... ;)
Ok well if he is just a random dude who got access to an SDK, that’s weird also!?
Maurice, do you have any knowledge of the issue I mention? Just curious whether or not Fanatec is aware of such a thing and if so if there is a plan to address in forthcoming FW updates.
Chris Eastwood, yes Fanatec is aware off this issue. but by looking current situation at them. and Maurice Böschen
been multi times tell in forum that they not have recurses. i have feeling that this is not be fixed
by the way this is nothing todo with SDK. funny that he tell this.
Every game developer could tell them that where this issue may come from. if they would test. but thing is usually game developers not care either if some company have issue in they drivers or in frimware
the only reason why i talk about this is because im at in same situation as i own the fanatec hardware as well. other way i would not care either like rest off game developers
its not end off world bug tho. otherwise allot more people would scream in here
No not end of world bug, but it should not be happening. FFB should not change over the course of a race, I paid $1000 my Clubsport DD specifically to have consistent non-degrading FFB, and that is not the case.
I wound very much appreciate if Maurice or Fanatec could at least acknowledge the issue and perhaps provide some insight on a timeline for a fix - or at least confirm it is being investigated 🤷♂️
Atm it is not being investigated as the issue is completely unknown and the first time I read about it. So a possible fix will take some time as currently most likely there are no ressources available to investigate this.
It could be that i talked about other damper issue because that what you descripte is little different.
Perhaps its even hardware issue what you talking
As you talk about it slowly reduses the ffb, that issue what i talked not acts like this.
I don’t believe it to be a hardware issue. The same phenomenon occurs on my CSL DD, as the CS DD…so what are the odds I buy 2 bases within 6 months, and both are hardware related problems? I doubt it.
There is a very slight/gradual decline in fidelity over time. I thought maybe it could be the Clubsport Universal Hub V2, but upon reflecting on that thought more - the Hub doesn’t control haptic feedback, it’s only connection to the base is to support all the button functions, shifting etc.
Like I mentioned in my original post, it’s as though once the base is warmed up after a period time, the ‘sharpness’ and super fine details start to go missing, the car starts to feel like it’s under steering more because I cannot sense the grip (or lack thereof), as well as when I first turn the base on.
I realize this is inherent to all motors, they lose a little power over time, but I guess what I find disappointing is the fact that the Clubsport DD was marketed specifically as NOT being prone to this issue, when in fact it clearly is. Unless, this is a firmware issue and will be corrected…but Maurice is saying it’s the first he has heard of the issue, and that the Clubsport DD doesn’t lose any FFB over time. I am starting to find this really hard to believe, and I am shocked more people haven’t noticed the issue - or if they have, they didn’t bother reporting it because the drop off in performance is not a huge one 🤷♂️
Hi Chris Eastwood i have a similar issue after a few days driving the same car my ffb starts to get inconsistent close to what u described. Could you please share settings that u use in ACC as well please? And is youre CS DD plugged to usb port 3.0 or 2.0? Thank you
I posted some of my settings in the original post. I have since gone back to running it how I did previously. I find running Fanalab in the background helps. I believe the issue I am having is related to firmware…456 seems inconsistent. At the moment of start up (5 mins or less in to playing ACC - sometimes road feel and vibration is crazy (over-saturated), other times it feels soft and muted. The soft and muted feel sometimes also comes after playing for 30-40 minutes, or when leaving a multi player lobby and going to single player etc.
For context, I am using USB 3.0, you must do so for the CS DD’s to function properly.
Here are all my settings as I have them now;
ACC (I use the Porsche 992)
Gain - 55
Damper - 10
Minimum Force (or whatever it’s called) - 0
Dynamic Damper - 100
Road Feel - 0
Frequency - 400
Steering Rotation - 800
All other values (gear shift denouncing etc.) - DEFAULT values.
CS DD
FFB - 100
Full Force - 0
NDP - 0
INT - 0
NIN - 0
NFR - 0
Spring - 0
Damper (this is what allows ACC damper settings to function) - 100
FEI - 60
Thank you for sharing you re settings i have driver 455 installed and i have same problem as you i can go with great force feed back for a few days then ill join multiplayer room and force feend back will be weaker and not the same. Hopefully this issue will be fixed with next Fanatec driver as it is very anoying. Thanks again for taking the time to respond to my message i really appreciate it. I found a video on youtube that if u experience weak ffb with a certain car you can go to : Documents, ACC, Config and take out ffbUsersetting.json file and go back in the game and it should bring back ffb back to normal. Tried it i think it worked but the problem keeps reapearing all the time.
Yes that is true...I do that a few times a week, delete the Controls.json and FFB.json folders in the Config file folder.
It does help but then the issue come again. Seems to happen more often after a big accident, like a jolt to wheel where the FFB signal gets oversaturated.
Another thing that seems to help is running Fanalab in the background, this way the FFB settings keep 'focus' as there is a settings for all the FFB in Fanalab.
I agree...it is weird tho, and hopefully driver 457 makes this issue go away...it should not be happening to CS DD which is a high end base and cost me over $1000!!!
Yes i agree, i also seem to have a problem sometimes when i leave my wheel on my base for a long time and i want to take it of its stuck and i have to apply more force then needed to pull on it so it comes off the wheel base. Do you have this problem? And then when i put the wheel on the wheel base and take it off it comes off with no force required. Its like the Qr2 gets stuck on the QR2 shaft of the wheel base. I hope this is not damaging the shaft the extra strength that i have to apply to pull wheel off the CS DD wheel base.