Need an idiots guide for updating Fanatec drivers

[Yard_Sale]

....even your own personal summation will do.

I have a brand new HP Laptop. I have a CSL DD. I bought this laptop almost exclusively to update drivers with. I'm a console player. What do I need to do? I watched some of the boosted media vids on the youtube's, but its all honestly a foreign language to me.

So I've gathered that I need to install FanaLab, and I need to install a driver. Both of those things are separate I'm assuming? Do I need to have the base plugged into my PC while I install fanalab? Then I download a driver and install that?

Where can I adjust pedal travel? Mainly the clutch as its implementation in GT7 sucks.

Please help

 

[FA_Hayes]

You only use fanalab if your racing on PC. Dont even install it. It will do nothing

As for updates. Yes. You need to plug the base into the laptop. Switch the base to PC mode then launch the driver. It will tell you if firmware needs updating and is actually pretty intuitive. I've always just followed the prompts and never had an issue.

For pedal travel it depends on the pedals and things have changed in later versions. On my DD1 I can do them through the base now instead of connecting just the pedals to the laptop. The driver also prompts you for that as well. That's with V3 pedals. Not sure what you have.

 

[Yard_Sale]

You only use fanalab if your racing on PC. Dont even install it. It will do nothing

As for updates. Yes. You need to plug the base into the laptop. Switch the base to PC mode then launch the driver. It will tell you if firmware needs updating and is actually pretty intuitive. I've always just followed the prompts and never had an issue.

For pedal travel it depends on the pedals and things have changed in later versions. On my DD1 I can do them through the base now instead of connecting just the pedals to the laptop. The driver also prompts you for that as well. That's with V3 pedals. Not sure what you have.

Thanks for the reply!

So if I got this straight, I go to the Fanatec website and download their latest driver onto my laptop. Plug base into laptop, turn on base, switch to PC mode, follow prompts. No need for fanalab.

I have the old CSL elite load cells. I guess I’ll figure that one out separately.

Edit: do I need to uninstall the previous driver and then unzip the new driver? Honestly I don’t even know what unzipping it is… other than boosted mentioning it

 

[FA_Hayes]

Thanks for the reply!

So if I got this straight, I go to the Fanatec website and download their latest driver onto my laptop. Plug base into laptop, turn on base, switch to PC mode, follow prompts. No need for fanalab.

I have the old CSL elite load cells. I guess I’ll figure that one out separately.

Edit: do I need to uninstall the previous driver and then unzip the new driver? Honestly I don’t even know what unzipping it is… other than boosted mentioning it

Yep, you got it. Download latest driver. Open folder no need to unzip it. Click on the install. If you haven't installed a driver on your laptop just install.

I always install over the old one with now issues on my laptop. If you're talking about the wheelbase it uses firmware. Once you open the firmware manager in the driver it will prompt you to update the base. Follow the prompts from there and you should be good.

 

[Yard_Sale]

To anyone that knows..

Do you adjust deadzones/min/max settings for the pedals via Fanalab? And what lol said deadzones work in GT7?

I have a DD pro with last-gen CSL elite load cell pedals

 

[super_gt]

The dead zones of the pedals are adjusted via the driver.

 

[Yard_Sale]

The dead zones of the pedals are adjusted via the driver.

Copy, so no need to download fanalab for console players?

 

[super_gt]

Copy, so no need to download fanalab for console players?

No, FanaLab is only for PC.

 

[Goonie75]

From fanatec youtube page, go to time mark 3.45

 

[Rob Brown]

....even your own personal summation will do.

I have a brand new HP Laptop. I have a CSL DD. I bought this laptop almost exclusively to update drivers with. I'm a console player. What do I need to do? I watched some of the boosted media vids on the youtube's, but its all honestly a foreign language to me.

So I've gathered that I need to install FanaLab, and I need to install a driver. Both of those things are separate I'm assuming? Do I need to have the base plugged into my PC while I install fanalab? Then I download a driver and install that?

Where can I adjust pedal travel? Mainly the clutch as its implementation in GT7 sucks.

Please help

To anyone that knows..

Do you adjust deadzones/min/max settings for the pedals via Fanalab? And what lol said deadzones work in GT7?

I have a DD pro with last-gen CSL elite load cell pedals

I’ll try to answer what hasn’t been answered.
No dead zone adjustment in Fanalab (which has been correctly pointed out as for PC. No need for console players. The possibilities are really cool for pc tho.) I’ve been only console since starting sim racing in 2014. However, I’m now 2-3 months into the PC world where I’ve tried iRacing, AC, Raceroom and AMS2. From my experience, setting dead zones are only available in some titles.
The Fanatec driver (installation and calibration) software doesn’t specifically call out any dead zone settings but I always cheat on my calibration procedure to introduce dead zones. There is a box that has to be checked to get to this calibration (regardless of what version we happen to be using). The pedals will auto calibrate by default unless you check this box. Without the Fanatec driver software open in front of me, I don’t remember the exact label. It will work (to my knowledge) for all, including GT7.
For throttle, I leave a dead zone at the top, so 98% throttle will be seen as 100%.
For brake, I put slight pressure on the brake pedal when establishing low point. This will prevent inadvertently dragging the brakes.
For clutch, I will set maximum throw to 80% which cheats the system into thinking I’m depressing fully when at 80% throw. Having said this however, I MUST tell you the Fanatec does something freaky with their clutch throw (at least for V3i pedals, I suspect for all though). Disengagement and engagement are each behaving in their own way. It seems there’s a big dead band programmed in the initial movement and when releasing the clutch vice versa is true. This defeats or diminishes what I am trying to do with my trick.

 

[Yard_Sale]

Wanted to update this thread.


After 6 weeks of procrastinating, I finally decided to try to update my firmware. Not gonna lie, I was nervous as hell. And my worst fears were almost confirmed when half way through the first flash, I got a note that something had become disconnected and I had to start over… or something like that. I checked all the wires and everything was a tidy as when I first started. Fearing o might have just bricked my wheel base, I tried it again and it took. Then Fanatec install wizard hand-held me through the entire process and eventually, I got all my peripherals reflashed.

Tried out the updated firmware and it was a huge difference! No more wonky crap of before that had me somewhat regretting my purchase.

Still not exactly happy I had to get a PC to do this, but I’ll live. Maybe if Fanatec could lean on PD a little to get support for my other rims, I’ll consider that ample payback. Besides, I got a few Hundo burning a hole in my pocket if they ever decide to fully support a podium endurance hub. I want that Porsche rim!!

 

[FA_Hayes]

Wanted to update this thread.


After 6 weeks of procrastinating, I finally decided to try to update my firmware. Not gonna lie, I was nervous as hell. And my worst fears were almost confirmed when half way through the first flash, I got a note that something had become disconnected and I had to start over… or something like that. I checked all the wires and everything was a tidy as when I first started. Fearing o might have just bricked my wheel base, I tried it again and it took. Then Fanatec install wizard hand-held me through the entire process and eventually, I got all my peripherals reflashed.

Tried out the updated firmware and it was a huge difference! No more wonky crap of before that had me somewhat regretting my purchase.

Still not exactly happy I had to get a PC to do this, but I’ll live. Maybe if Fanatec could lean on PD a little to get support for my other rims, I’ll consider that ample payback. Besides, I got a few Hundo burning a hole in my pocket if they ever decide to fully support a podium endurance hub. I want that Porsche rim!!

Glad it worked out. I had no issues with the Porsche rim and BME other than the two rotory encoders not working which isn't a big deal in GT7. Didn't bother me and I actually loved the setup, especially the shifters.

In other news I'll be posting up all my Fanatic gear including the Porsche wheel for sale pretty soon. I have a brand new leather rim to go with it as well.

 

[Yard_Sale]

Glad it worked out. I had no issues with the Porsche rim and BME other than the two rotory encoders not working which isn't a big deal in GT7. Didn't bother me and I actually loved the setup, especially the shifters.

In other news I'll be posting up all my Fanatic gear including the Porsche wheel for sale pretty soon. I have a brand new leather rim to go with it as well.

I’ll keep an eye out for your stuff 👍🏼

 

[fastone371]

Does anyone know if there is a way to disable or remove the thumb encoders from an F1 Podium? I am always inadvertently changing my brake balance when driving by bumping the right thumbwheel.
Lastly, this question is probably related to @yard-sales inquiry, is there a way to get rid of the 1/3rd stroke of dead zone on my accelerator pedal? At about 2/3rds stroke my accelerator registers WOT so the last 1/3rd of travel does nothing, I have already tried the in game calibration numerous times to no avail. V3 load cell pedals for what it is worth.

 

[super_gt]

Does anyone know if there is a way to disable or remove the thumb encoders from an F1 Podium? I am always inadvertently changing my brake balance when driving by bumping the right thumbwheel.

This is not possible in GT7, but you can put a rubber band around the thumb encoders which will make the rotation more difficult and avoid accidental activation.

Lastly, this question is probably related to @yard-sales inquiry, is there a way to get rid of the 1/3rd stroke of dead zone on my accelerator pedal? At about 2/3rds stroke my accelerator registers WOT so the last 1/3rd of travel does nothing, I have already tried the in game calibration numerous times to no avail. V3 load cell pedals for what it is worth.

You should be able to calibrate the pedals in the Fanatec control panel on a PC and reduce this dead zone.

 

[fastone371]

This is not possible in GT7, but you can put a rubber band around the thumb encoders which will make the rotation more difficult and avoid accidental activation.

You should be able to calibrate the pedals in the Fanatec control panel on a PC and reduce this dead zone.

I will give both a try, thank you very much for the help. Apparently I'm not the first person to have trouble accidentally hitting the thumb encoders.