Logitech G29 - Stiff wheel, ETS2 force feedback no longer working

[tripecac]

I've been playing ETS2 with my G29 wheel for a week or so now, with no real problems.

However, today ETS2's force feedback settings seem to be getting ignored by the wheel.

This morning, when I started ETS2, I found the wheel very stiff, too stiff to comfortably turn. It's as if the force feedback "stiffness" and "centering" were maxed out... even though they weren't.

I tried a bunch of things:

- disabled force feedback in ETS2
- restarted ETS2
- plugged the wheel into different USB ports (3.0, 2.0)
- unplugged the wheel's power
- rebooted the computer

None of that helped.

When I try to drive in ETS2, the wheel remains stiff. The wheel seems to be ignoring ETS2's force feedback settings.

American Truck Simulator, on the other hand, seems fine; when I start ATS the wheel moves easily, and then when I start to drive, the wheel obeys ATS's force feedback settings.

When I exit ATS and return to Windows, the wheel becomes "slightly stiff"; it moves easily for a few degrees, but when I move it past a certain point, it tries to re-center itself.

When I then try ETS2, it remains "slightly stiff". Again, it's as if ETS2 has no influence over the wheel's force feedback settings.


Observations:

1) If I unplug the wheel's USB, it turns very easily.

2) As soon as I plug in the USB, the wheel turns back and forth and then becomes VERY STIFF.

3) If I run ETS2, the wheel remains VERY STIFF, regardless of the ETS2 force feedback settings.

4) If I run ATS, the wheel becomes easy to move, and obeys force feedback settings.

5) When I exit ATS, the wheel is SLIGHTLY STIFF (it tries to center itself).

6) If I run ETS2 again, the wheel remains SLIGHTLY STIFF.


So, it's as if ETS2 has no control over the wheel's force feedback. It was working fine until this morning, but for some reason now the wheel and ETS2 aren't on speaking terms.

Suggestions?

[Ryu]

Both games use the same control setup. If you have it working in ATS you can copy the controls.sii file from the working ATS profile directory over to the non-working ETS2 profile directory.

[metpei]

Did you try reset in game options wheel page?
If not still working, unplug wheel, start ETS2, select use keyboard only, drive few meters and quit.
Then plug wheel, ignore setup wizard, go to options wheel page and set up as you prefer.

[Ryu]

Originally posted by zm4r:

I do not agree with the above method.
This is more like fighting a symptom of a disease and not the disease itself, after that the behavior of the G29 remains unpredictable.
Copying controls.sii is also just a workaround to get around the real problem.
Every time I create a new profile, the setup / input wizard does exactly what I expect, it finds my G29 every time.

You could run the wizard every time you set up a profile, which takes time, or, you could copy the controls.sii, as well as the config.cfg and config_local.cfg files, and not have to take the time to set up the game every time you create a new profile.

And for cases like this one, where the OP has somehow not got it working on one profile but it is working on another, it is by no means a "workaround" to copy the controls file. It's a solid solution.

[tripecac]

I did some more testing yesterday and discovered something.

In Logitech Gaming Software, when you select a profile and go to Axis Properties for the steering wheel, there is a setting called "Centering Spring Strength". This setting controls the wheel stiffness in ATS and ETS2, both in-game and after you exit the game.

For some reason, ETS2's "Centering Spring Strength" is getting ignored (bad)

However, there is a workaround which lets me play ETS2 with a loose wheel:

1) In LGS, make sure ATS's "Centering Spring Strength" is 0%

2) start ATS - this loosens up the wheel

3) exit ATS - the wheel remains loose

4) start ETS2 - the wheel remains loose


Now, obviously having to start ATS each time I reconnect the wheel is a bit of pain, so it would be nice if ETS2 itself could loose up the wheel, but for whatever reason that's not happening.


How can I get ETS2's profile working again with Logitech Gaming Software, so that ETS2 itself can loosen up the wheel?

Also, is your wheel stiff immediately after you plug it back in? And does starting a game loosen it up? And does it remain at that level of looseness even after you exit the game?

[tripecac]

Any idea how I can get ETS2's profile to affect the wheel, in terms of the stiffness? ATS can, but ETS2 cannot at this point. It's not a show-stopper (since I can run ATS and then ETS2) but it would be nice to get the wheel working like it was before.

[tripecac]

This morning, the problem was even worse: now ATS does not change the stiffness either. So I am stuck not being able to turn the wheel at all. :(

[metpei]

Originally posted by zm4r:

If the force feedback does not work, the game log will indicate this ...
I find it very strange that you do not have this problem with ATS ...

Game log won't tell any wheel settings that user have done

Originally posted by zm4r:

Copying controls.sii is also just a workaround to get around the real problem.

Real problem here is PEBCAK issue, op likes to wright, not to read

[metpei]

Originally posted by zm4r:

I no longer have the full game.log of October 2019 but I have saved this.

0: 00: 29.282: [di8] Cannot create type 11 FF effect (error code: 0x80004001)
00: 00: 29.282: [di8] Cannot create type 8 FF effect (error code: 0x80004001)
00: 00: 29.282: [di8] Cannot create type 4 FF effect (error code: 0x80004001)
00: 00: 29.282: [di8] Cannot create type 4 FF effect (error code: 0x80004001)
00: 00: 29.282: [di8] Cannot create type 3 FF effect (error code: 0x80004001)
00: 00: 29.282: [di8] Cannot create type 4 FF effect (error code: 0x80004001)

Doesn't that tell about bad drivers or wrong driver installation?

[RunnyPilot]

Well I own a G29 so let me try and help.

The best fix I did is uninstall any driver related to the G29 and the software for it. Then head to the logitech's official site and download the Logitech G Hub with the wheel unplugged. This fixed all of my issues in-game.

And I suggest you download a plugin called Real G27 Force Feedback. I recommend this since the game's FFB sucks ass. It works for ATS too! (Yes obviously it works with the G29)

[metpei]

Originally posted by zm4r:

The error codes refer to the ffb sliders in the game.
Every time you move one of the ffb sliders you get the same error codes in the game.log time after time.

You have bad driver or multiple drivers that aren't uninstalled properly. I can change sliders and it never gives any errors.

Originally posted by RunnyPilot:

Well I own a G29 so let me try and help.

The best fix I did is uninstall any driver related to the G29 and the software for it. Then head to the logitech's official site and download the Logitech G Hub with the wheel unplugged. This fixed all of my issues in-game.

This! I've done this and no errors!

[tripecac]

I did some more testing yesterday, and found a workaround, which doesn't require ATS.

If I start ETS2, the wheel stiffness does not change.

However, if I then go into the ETS2 control settings, and move the force feedback GAIN slider (which I had set to 0), the wheel immediately loosens up!

So, all I need to do in order to loosen up the wheel is "nudge" the GAIN slider. And this can be done in ETS2 itself, with no need to load up ATS. :)

Is there a page somewhere which explains what the various force feedback sliders do?

[tripecac]

Oh wow, I just found something else out...

This time when I started ETS2, I didn't even need to fiddle with the gain in order for the wheel to loosen up. I think this is because the last time I ran ETS2 I left the gain a tiny bit higher than 0.

I wonder... if ETS2's gain (the overall strength) is 0, does the wheel ignore *all* force feedback settings in ETS2, thus causing the wheel to remain stiff?

[tripecac]

Could it be that if "gain" is all the way to the left (0%), then the other force feedback settings in ETS2 are all ignored?

In other words, could the program have logic that assumes that if gain=0 then force feedback is disabled, and if force feedback is disabled, don't send any force feedback instructions to the wheel?

[tripecac]

I installed the FFB plugin. It makes the wheel a little stiff to turn, but it's not too bad. Hopefully this will end any force feedback related issues!

[MacCekko]

On Mac (that is macOSs and Mac OS Xs), G29 gives no FFB at all. No FFB at all within Macs' environment whatsoever with any wheel (unless you use a software that pilots the FFB by its own, such as Dirt 3, for instance). I have a G29 and… even the drivers made by Logitech are almost rubbish. Just to say…