Fanatec CSR-Elite Deadzone in GT5

[rattata]

I want to share my problem with CSR-E deadzone in GT5. I'm running 4 sim rigs side by side with 4 CSR-Elite (3ea FW721B and 1 ea FW756)
and 4 clubsport V1 pedals. I also have one CSR wheel as spare and this wheel does not exhibit this type of deadzone issues and
gives always the same thight and precise center feel after powering up the wheel.

When powering up the wheel it self calibrates, I turn it into pc mode then into PS3 mode. I continue then to start GT5 on the PS3 using the wheel.

Now I have a fairly large deadzone in-game on the straights just like an old high milage Jeep Cherokee (which I also happens to own).
When entering a corner and the force feedback loads up the deadzone is gone and will return back on the straights again.

Then to solve this (because it takes away the joy of driving), I can while in-game restart the wheel, let it do its calibration run and then just before it finishes and comes back to roughly center I grab the wheel and as quickly as possible turn it into PC mode and then PS3 mode.

If I manage to do this really fast I get no deadzone in-game and sometimes the deadzone is removed alltogether making the wheel hyper nervous on the straights where it wants to fight back and forth all the time.

So restarting wheel again, grabbing it just before finish and enter PC mode / PS3 mode and hope it will settle for a normal deadzone
which is not hyper nervous nor sloppy(+/- 15 degrees before ffb kicks in)

Sometimes I have to restart the wheel upto 10 times to get it right.

This problem have been evident on my first Elite (the first batch that came from China with FW 707) since it was brand new.

My 3 other wheels was purchased a few months later and came with FW722, these wheel did not exhibit this deadzone issue, until now.

So now all my 4 wheels have this strange problem (GT5 milage varies 20000km to 60000km between the wheels)

Currently running FW 721B on the 3 newest wheels and FW756 on the oldest (updated by Fanatec when sent for replacement of burnt out FFB motors)

I have tried to google this problem but have not yet seen anyone else with the problem, and here I'm sitting with four wheels!

Also explained the problem to Fanatec support when I sent the wheel back for FFB motor replacement, but the problem must have been ignored as
it was just the same when I received it back again (FFB really smooth again with new motors at least )

I never use it with PC or XBOX, but tested it once in FM4(XBOX360) and had no deadzone issues there.

PS 3 In-game settings:
FFB 9
Simulation
No power steering

Wheel settings:
Sense OFF(or 900) doesnt matter
FF 100
Sho 0
dri 3
ABS 68
Lin 0
dEA 0
spr 0
Dpr -3

So in short it seems like the wheel deadzone in GT5 is dependent on how fast I manage to turn the wheel on after self-calibration

Just curious if anyone else has experienced this in GT5?

 

[Caz]

Might be a stupid question but did you adjust dead zone using the onboard csr:e menu.
You list it at 0 on your settings.

 

[HBR-Roadhog]

Not sure what that dpr -3 would do. I keep mine set at 0

As for the dead zone and shake in some cars. I typically adjust the deadzone or Lin on the wheel according to the car I am driving. Most cars can be ran at 0 on both but some require a setting of 20-40 on the deadzone or a setting of -10 - -20 on Lin to avoid the shake. I have noticed that this can also cause the wheel to shift its center position a bit.

On XBox FM4 you definitely want the dead zone at 0 both on the wheel and in the game and it is still to much, a bit sloppy in the center not bad, could be better but that is the best it can do.

From the sound of the OP it seems like he is talking more about centering than dead zone. I have noticed that sometimes after a race my wheel center will be off a bit one way or the other and a restart corrects the issue. On FM4 it happens sometimes when the wheel has been turned hard to the lock, often if you are drifiting. Also on FM4 the wheel will stop responding and need to be reset.

I also have the FFB much lower than 100. I have noticed in the past that a setting of 100 can sometimes cause the wheel to overheat and kick at times after you have been racing a while. This was mostly saw on the TurboS and other wheels with that configuration but was a bit of an issue for me and dropping the FFB to 50 or 60 solved the issue. On the Elite the feedback is so strong a setting of 50 is plenty.

Of course much of this also depends on which firmware you have installed.

I forget which FW I am using. It is the first one they released which included the ACL option and I have never had any issue with a sloppy dead zone on GT unless I actually set the deadzone pretty high on the wheel.

 

[LeMansAid]

"I have a problem, I own 4 CSR Elites". Hehe, first world problem if ever I heard one.

There are some weird interactions that can occur with the game trying to read the wheel, and wheel trying to read the game. I have had very odd results with Daytona USA, where booting up the game with the wheel on say preset 1 will bare different handling characteristics compared to if I boot up on preset 2, then change to preset 1. That said, with the popularity of GT5, I would have expected all of the permutations to be largely exhausted and any huge issues well documented.

Surely unlikely that all wheels are faulty in the same way, and should not be firmware related as many others would have reported such things by now. Certainly check the settings you typed as Caz justifiably questioned the deadzone setting. Apparently sensitivity off vs 900 can make a difference as GT5 reportedly adjusts depending on the vehicle used when set to off. I spent some time balancing linearity and sensitivity to get a less twitchy feel around the centre. That could be worth experimenting with, to get the feel that you are looking for.

You really should not have to rely on the current method though. Something is wrong, it's just a matter of who the culprit is.

 

[rattata]

Regarding adjusting onboard deadzone, this has always been set to 0 on my wheel and whenever I have tried 010 or larger I found it too sloppy around center. I think a deadzone setting from -030 to 100 would solve my problem, as when I normally turn the wheel on and start GT5 and if it turns out too sloppy, then setting the deadzone to say -020 it would be dialed in perfect. I'm not saying it is the correct way to solve the problem, but rather make it easier for others to understand.