v21.07.04 Discussion Thread

Sim-plicity Dev

Status: Beta
Download Location: https://github.com/sim-plicity/SW-firmware-beta/releases/tag/v21.07.04
Supported Wheelbases, Control Units & Control Boards: 16

byAGM

@sim-plicity-dev Collisions still lock the forces on GT Legends. FFB works perfect but when there´s a contact (or even a high "jump") the forces keep working but with a "echo force" still there...

byAGM

Confirmed that this still happens in the upgrade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc-QIFbXxlA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGu4OB6e-y0

I must restart FFB (alt+F in GT Legends) everytime I have a contact or even a high kerb.

byAGM

@sim-plicity-dev Any news on the GTL impacts solution?
TY

Sim-plicity Dev

@byagm

Still investigating.
It has been noticed that the further away from a 1:1 the steering rotation is, the easier it is to trigger. Your configured wheel rotation looks to be 180 degrees from your videos. Is that the default for the car in question?

byAGM

@sim-plicity-dev Thanks for the info update.
Just in case it helps: The force with which you want to keep the steering wheel to the left is directly proportional to the force received in the impact

My wheel rotation is setting up at 280º (wich I compensate with 14º steering lock on the car setup) just to match the visual rotation of the game with what I'm actually doing (basically thats the way my viewers can see how much rotation I´m doing).
Its like set the wheel rotation at 680º with the normal maximum steering lock. 280ºto14º its like 680ºto34º.

Anyway rotation degrees does seems to do anything with the issue. 1 minute before writing this, I´m testing with 700 degrees and same happens.

AJW78

All running mostly perfectly with SW20v3.

One issue I have is with Automobilista (the original). I can only run in game mode. Sim mode produces no ffb.

Not sure if this makes any difference to the detail etc in the ffb?

tjohansen

@Sim-plicity-Dev
I had some problems with my SW20V3 loosing connection in rfactor2 when pc was busy or hitting a wall etc. I was running v.21.07.02.

Now I have upgraded to v21.07.04 but now it shows "green error". I have tried reinstall v21.07.04, but still the same.

Can I downgrade again?

Sim-plicity Dev

@tjohansen

You can downgrade, however there should not be a correlation between the "Green Error" and the firmware version as no changes were made in the initialization section of the firmware between both versions.

I would expect the issue to persist in v21.07.02 as the error is caused by readings that are out of spec during the initialization phase.

Can you power down the unit & disconnect and reconnect motor power & encoder cables (at both ends) then power on to see if that improves things?.

tjohansen

@sim-plicity-dev
It worked, unpluged cables on power unit and repluged it.
Thx for your quick reply.

byAGM

@sim-plicity-dev Any news after 7 weeks?
GTL bug...

Pablo_uk

I've just updated my firmware to 20.07.04 and now the wheel is showing not connected and is only showing as Unspecified "SW20 Firmware Loader" in control panel devices and printers. Can anyone help?

I've been putting off updating the firmware for this very reason.

Pablo_uk

All working now, i think! ran the updater again and now the wheel is connected

Sim-plicity Dev

@byagm

Unfortunately, no externally reportable progress.

We have ascertained the wheelbase is reproducing what is sent by the sim and not adding artefacts by itself.

For reasons we are yet to identify, GTL sends the "force on" command on collision events over a certain threshold but does not send the corresponding "force off" command to end that specific instance.
This leaves the wheelbase playing the force until the next instance on that specific force channel (there are multiple different channels) triggers. This instance & subsequent instances below the threshold are started & stopped as expected.
All other channels also start & stop as expected

To further understand why this is occurring within GTL, communication traces between sim & wheelbase are being captured, filtered and manually examined.
With 120,000 entries per 60 second sample to process, we unfortunately do not have an estimate for when this will yield actionable results.

Sim-plicity Dev

@pablo_uk

As the firmware update occurs over the shared USB bus, we err on the side of caution and keep the wheelbase in "Firmware Loader" mode if every checkpoint in the update process is not successfully reached.

As you've already discovered, re-running the installer will complete the firmware update.

byAGM

@sim-plicity-dev Perfectly understood what you say, when I receibe similar impact it gets the info of the new one.
The point is: why this issue doesnt happens with the other wheelbases that I have test on GTL? ...
ty

Scoops

Updated and had trouble connecting wheel needing to restart software and losing connection with rF2 mod game.
Re-ran the installer and all seems good now. Odd as installer didn’t show any errors etc only that connection was an issue.

Just for feedback in case it happens elsewhere

byAGM

@sim-plicity-dev The point is: why this issue doesnt happens with the other wheelbases that I have test on GTL? ...

That wasnt a rethoric question. I really would like to know if possible. I have try Lgtech Fntec Thrstmaster, all of them work, and they receibe the same "force on" info but they dont get stuck waiting for a "force off".
Its been a lot of time since that tests...

Thank you

Sim-plicity Dev

@byagm

Historically (pre 2013), sim titles have varied in the their level of support for DirectInput (DI) FFB as the major manufacturers did not utilise this in their devices. Logitech, Thrustmaster & Fanatec each implement FFB though a custom protocol which each title separately integrated.
With the rise of Direct Drive wheels using DirectInput based FFB (SimSteering, Accuforce, MMOS IONI, SC1 etc) support has improved within the titles that are continuously developed.
RaceRoom Racing Experience is an example, its FFB was unusable on a DI DD wheel circa 2016 but updates to the title changed the behaviour.

F1 2016 would crash after 2 corners with a DI DD wheel but by F1 2018 these issues were ironed out within the title

Our initial FFB implementation (Sim Mode) was aimed at squeezing out maximum FFB resolution from the most popular sim titles.
"Game Mode" was introduced as a stripped down implementation that would run on titles outside our original core focus. It provides a 14-bit data interface rather than the 16-bit interface provided by "Sim Mode".
It is entirely possible that a lower resolution interface would widen the compatibility pool further but that is very much a background task at the moment

byAGM

@sim-plicity-dev So thats why my previous MMOS didnt have any problems with it. So 12-bit (or less) resolution shouldnt have problems. Thats why Fnatec DD doesnt have that problem? its works in less bits than Sim-plicity?

As you say, a implementation of a less-bit data system could be nice. At the moment I have a button in my wheel as alt+F to restart the ffb in the middle of the race after an impact (tracks like Macau are horrible to drive with this error...)