The Thrustmaster T500RS Thread

[NeoAgent]

Guys... I think my wheel has a problem. Just now it starter off centered after calibration. I tried to reconnect the usb, the power, nothing worked.
I remember this was discussed before but i couldnt find it.

I hope there no need to reinstall the firmware.

(PS3 user)

CALIBRATING THE WHEEL AND THE WHEEL’S CENTRAL VALUE
If the wheel’s central value is not perfect in games or in the Control Panel:
* FIRMWARE UPDATE
1) Verify that the wheel’s firmware is up-to-date with the very latest version (V 38).
(Once the Force Feedback drivers have been installed, your wheel’s firmware version is displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the Control Panel tabs.)
2) Update the wheel’s firmware if the version displayed is earlier than version 38.

* PROCEDURE TO PERFECTLY CENTER THE WHEEL
1) Once the wheel is connected (and after the wheel has calibrated itself), turn the wheel completely to the left and then completely to the right.
2) Next, move the wheel to its perfectly centered position.
3) Simultaneously press and then release the “START + SELECT + MODE” buttons.
4) The wheel’s new central value is automatically and permanently saved in the wheel’s internal Flash memory

(note: do not repeat this procedure each time you reconnect the wheel).

IMPORTANT: Be sure not to not use this procedure too often, since there are a limited number of times that changes can be written to the wheel’s internal Flash memory.
= This procedure must be used only to modify the factory setting of the wheel’s central value.

 

[NeoAgent]

Is there a definitive game list that both the T500 and TH8 shifter work with on PS3?
Even Thrustmaster don't know, all they keep saying is only GT5!

The T500 works with the downloadable Daytona USA but doesn't support the shifter! wtf they could've added shifter support if they were supporting the T500..would make the game another 100% better
It so damn annoying not knowing which game will support this set together, and which will only support the wheel.

From the Thrustmaster website:

T500 RS

Your racing wheel is Force Feedback-capable on PlayStation®3 with:

- GRAN TURISMO® 5 – PS3

- DIRT® 3 - PS3

- NASCAR® 2011 THE GAME – PS3

- F1 2011 – PS3

- NEED FOR SPEED™ THE RUN – PS3(*)

(*) In this game, the “PS” button is non-functional.

- WRC 2 – PS3

- Many other games coming very soon

TH8 RS

On PlayStation®3, the TH8 RS shifter is compatible with:

- GRAN TURISMO® 5 (*)

(*) The latest available game updates must be installed (using your PlayStation®3 Internet connection) for the Thrustmaster shifter to work correctly.
(*) Compatible only with the T500 RS
(*) Compatible only with the H-pattern (7+1) shift plate
(*) Compatible only with one TH8 RS, even in 2 player mode
(*) “Manual Clutch” is enabled as soon as you press the clutch pedal while driving (each time you shift gears with the TH8 RS, you must then press the clutch pedal at least 2/3 of the way down its physical range of travel).
(*)“Automatic Clutch” is enabled if you never press the clutch pedal while driving, or if you use the sequential paddle shifters on the T500 RS.


- Compatible with many forthcoming releases

Notes:

On PlayStation®3, when using the Thrustmaster shifter with the T500 RS racing wheel, we recommend that you connect both devices (the racing wheel in particular) directly to your PlayStation®3's USB port. However, if you are using a USB hub, connect the T500 RS racing wheel to the PlayStation®3 and the TH8 RS to the hub.

 

[playnthru]

The truth is Thrustmaster Tech Support is hit and miss..I was very nice and polite with them..They did not treat me the same..They blamed me, and where down rite rude at times..I had to E-mail headquarters in France..I had say enough, fix it or return my money after a month of B.S, to get any resolve..

Enough Thrustmaster Excuses please..Jeez 👍

 

[Whitestar]

Thankyou very much Energizerrr I will do this as soon as I get home. I will post how it goes once complete. 👍 👍

EDIT: this worked 1st time 👍 thanks again Energizerrr

Can I ask: What exactly happend when you did this? Did you get some kind of feedback from the wheel? Did you feel that something changed? Did your wheel immediately turn to center to the new position, and could you feel this?

I did this first 3 times when I was hooked up to my PC (after upgrading to V38) and nothing happened.

Then I hooked it up to my PS3, booted, let the wheel calibrate and did it again.

In all cases nothing happened. Nothing at all. No LED flash to confirm, no sort of movement in the wheel. Nothing.

Do I need to press all 3 perfectly at the same time? Or do I need to keep them pressed for a certain amount of time?

My wheel still feels centered just ever so slightly to the left, and it's driving me insane.

Ingame in GT5 when I drive down the straight in Fuji, when I turn a bit on the wheel it should turn back and center perfectly (my previous T500RS did) but it just wants to center ever so slightly to the left. Aaargh!

Would highly appreciate any help on this.

 

[WildRun]

- If not already done: Install T500 PC driver
http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=view_files&gid=1&fid=2&pid=316&cid=15
- Open "T500 RS Control Panel"
- Set rotation angle at 1080°

- Check here (with values ​​that moves on the screen) if center of the wheel is perfect or not
- If not, then just simultaneously press and release “START + SELECT + MODE” buttons" (new central value for PC & PS3 will be saved in internal memory of the wheel)
- Problem solved 👍

 

[Mr. S]

Could one of you tell me if it's easy to swap the wheels? I'd use the F1 wheel for F1 2011 and the normal one for GT5, so that might be of importance for me.

 

[Whitestar]

- If not already done: Install T500 PC driver
http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=view_files&gid=1&fid=2&pid=316&cid=15
- Open "T500 RS Control Panel"
- Set rotation angle at 1080°

- Check here (with values ​​that moves on the screen) if center of the wheel is perfect or not
- If not, then just simultaneously press and release “START + SELECT + MODE” buttons" (new central value for PC & PS3 will be saved in internal memory of the wheel)
- Problem solved 👍

Well, that's what I did first, although I'm not really sure if I set rotation angle to 1080 before I tried. Guess I'll have to try again, but I'm afraid I'll "use up" the number of writes to the flash memory.

What about the other questions I asked, about feedback etc.?

 

[WildRun]

Could one of you tell me if it's easy to swap the wheels? I'd use the F1 wheel for F1 2011 and the normal one for GT5, so that might be of importance for me.

Very easy: around 20 seconds to exchange

 

[Mr. S]

Very easy: around 20 seconds to exchange

Cheers mate.

 

[mcfizzle]

My wife and I just picked up a T500 from Frys in Illinois as a Christmas present for me! She is making me wait to use it but is going to let me take a look at it before she wraps it up. I can't wait to be able to use it. I'm happy to soon be in the T500 club.👍

 

[BNGTracer]

Can I ask: What exactly happend when you did this? Did you get some kind of feedback from the wheel? Did you feel that something changed? Did your wheel immediately turn to center to the new position, and could you feel this?

I did this first 3 times when I was hooked up to my PC (after upgrading to V38) and nothing happened.

Then I hooked it up to my PS3, booted, let the wheel calibrate and did it again.

In all cases nothing happened. Nothing at all. No LED flash to confirm, no sort of movement in the wheel. Nothing.

Do I need to press all 3 perfectly at the same time? Or do I need to keep them pressed for a certain amount of time?

My wheel still feels centered just ever so slightly to the left, and it's driving me insane.

Ingame in GT5 when I drive down the straight in Fuji, when I turn a bit on the wheel it should turn back and center perfectly (my previous T500RS did) but it just wants to center ever so slightly to the left. Aaargh!

Would highly appreciate any help on this.

The wheel was fairly stiff when rotating it manually to full lock left then right, then press on hold together (no time limit on how long to hold) Start, Selcect and Mode, then once you release them the wheel goes loose and instantly firm again in the centre. The centre position is set to the position you are holding the wheel when you release the buttons, so if your out by 1mm it will think its at centre there.

The flash memory in my PCB has died and my wheel won't calibrate at dead centre after a power down or after any self calibration, so Thrustmaster are replacing the wheel under waranty for me as i'm not tech savy enough to perform the PCB swap myself.

I have been reading quite alot of posts relating to off centre calibration lately, might be something to take note of if you purchasing one of these.

 

[Whitestar]

Ok, thanks BNGTracer. I wonder if the flash memory in my wheel has died also, since nothing happens when I push those buttons.

One thing: Does it matter if I do it on my PC or on my PS3?

May have to replace it again, sigh!

 

[BNGTracer]

Ok, thanks BNGTracer. I wonder if the flash memory in my wheel has died also, since nothing happens when I push those buttons.

One thing: Does it matter if I do it on my PC or on my PS3?

May have to replace it again, sigh!

Thrustmaster instructed me to perform the manual calibration in either PC or PS3 mode. Even though my flash memory won't hold data after a power down, it kept its manually entered centre value until I unplugged the power supply, so yeah I would contact Thrustmaster about it and see what they say. They initially wanted to send me the PCB to replace myself but as I said I'm not technically minded enough to do such things.

Good luck with your problem and I hope it all works out. Such alot of money to have to replace the wheel twice!!!

 

[zenkis14]

Does anybody know if I'll have any issues running the wheel/updating firmware if I'm booting Win7 x64 w/AHCI (running SSD) on my PC. I would think not, but then again there seems to be some people having issues with firmware updates and so forth. I don't have it yet, just doing homework before I buy it =)

 

[Whitestar]

Does anybody know if I'll have any issues running the wheel/updating firmware if I'm booting Win7 x64 w/AHCI (running SSD) on my PC. I would think not, but then again there seems to be some people having issues with firmware updates and so forth. I don't have it yet, just doing homework before I buy it =)

I installed the driver/firmware on Win7 x64 and with SSD. I had no problems with that.

My problem seems to be that I keep getting sent defective V2 wheels.

 

[Whitestar]

Thrustmaster instructed me to perform the manual calibration in either PC or PS3 mode. Even though my flash memory won't hold data after a power down, it kept its manually entered centre value until I unplugged the power supply, so yeah I would contact Thrustmaster about it and see what they say. They initially wanted to send me the PCB to replace myself but as I said I'm not technically minded enough to do such things.

Good luck with your problem and I hope it all works out. Such alot of money to have to replace the wheel twice!!!

Yeah, it's not exactly free to send 17,7 kg by mail.
Thanks for helping out, BNGTracer.

 

[BNGTracer]

Yeah, it's not exactly free to send 17,7 kg by mail.
Thanks for helping out, BNGTracer.

I'm very lucky in that regard as the Australian distributor is only 100km from me so I am able to drop the old one off and pick my new one up for about 1/3 the cost in petrol.

 

[Schwartz]

How can I get the T500 RS without paying $500 for it?

 

[Strainer79]

Hello!
After years of actively reading the forum, I´m posting my first post

I have had the T500RS for couple of months now, and some issues have surfaced.
The fan noise for example. I, like so many others, have a loud noise when the fan starts. Not every time fortunately.

The other one is something I don't recall that anyone else has reported about.
When I turn the wheel slowly counter clockwise to the center (barabolica @ monza e.g.) and after centering, when I turn slightly left (counter clockwise), the wheel seems to be llittle "stuck" and like there's some sort of "step". And it feels little bit like dead zone.

Has anyone else had this sort of problem?

Let's hope someone understands what I'm trying to say

-J

So, an update to the situation.
The notch problem I had, was because of four internal screws getting loose on the wheel base. I was instructed to remove the rim from the base and tighten the screws, now it works perfectly.

The fan problem will be solved by them sending me an replacement fan set.
I can change the fan by myself, and the warranty will not be void.
When I bought the wheel, they said it would have a 1 year warranty,
but in the mail from TM support, it says 2 years. Not complaining at all

I have to say that everything went great with TM support.
Good answers and a professional approach at my problems

-J

 

[mykem]

How can I get the T500 RS without paying $500 for it?

You can get it here (in Canada) for $485.

 

[Whitestar]

The wheel was fairly stiff when rotating it manually to full lock left then right, then press on hold together (no time limit on how long to hold) Start, Selcect and Mode, then once you release them the wheel goes loose and instantly firm again in the centre. The centre position is set to the position you are holding the wheel when you release the buttons, so if your out by 1mm it will think its at centre there.

The flash memory in my PCB has died and my wheel won't calibrate at dead centre after a power down or after any self calibration, so Thrustmaster are replacing the wheel under waranty for me as i'm not tech savy enough to perform the PCB swap myself.

I have been reading quite alot of posts relating to off centre calibration lately, might be something to take note of if you purchasing one of these.

Hey, I tried one last time and now it suddenly worked. Must have done something wrong before. Hope I haven't written to flash memory too many times already. Oh well, it works now.

 

[BNGTracer]

Hey, I tried one last time and now it suddenly worked. Must have done something wrong before. Hope I haven't written to flash memory too many times already. Oh well, it works now.

I thought that about mine also then the very next day when I turned it on, it went straight back to about 2* off centre to the left, so rather than play the guessing game if it will work today or not I convinced TM to swap it for a new one go and pick it up on Friday so I hope its a newer version than the V1 there replacing

 

[battie83]

Problem with my T500RS, I have read the thread but, can't see a mention of this problem!

I suffer a loss off power when I have a crash!!! or when the wheel is trying to produce an effect!

PS3, GT5, Simulation, Power Steering Off, FFB 10

It seems to be the power supply as the blue led goes out! if I unplug the power supply after about 5-10min plug it back in and all works fine again. It could last 30min before I hit something and powers off again.

Anybody else had this issue??

Thanks

 

[NeoAgent]

Problem with my T500RS, I have read the thread but, can't see a mention of this problem!

I suffer a loss off power when I have a crash!!! or when the wheel is trying to produce an effect!

PS3, GT5, Simulation, Power Steering Off, FFB 10

It seems to be the power supply as the blue led goes out! if I unplug the power supply after about 5-10min plug it back in and all works fine again. It could last 30min before I hit something and powers off again.

Anybody else had this issue??

Thanks

I've had an issue with the wheel not starting a couple of times and when I looked at the power supply the blue light was not on. Seems the plug that plugs into the power supply is a little lose, but I did not have to wait, on each occasion I just pushed it in firmly and everything worked just fine. Haven't had the same problem in a while now so I guess I finally got it seated.

One other time my wheel stopped working, checked the power supply and the blue light was on, checked the SVHS type plug at the base of the wheel and it had worked itself lose, push it in and all has been working well since.

 

[battie83]

I've had an issue with the wheel not starting a couple of times and when I looked at the power supply the blue light was not on. Seems the plug that plugs into the power supply is a little lose, but I did not have to wait, on each occasion I just pushed it in firmly and everything worked just fine. Haven't had the same problem in a while now so I guess I finally got it seated.

One other time my wheel stopped working, checked the power supply and the blue light was on, checked the SVHS type plug at the base of the wheel and it had worked itself lose, push it in and all has been working well since.

Thanks for reply but, really don't think it's that. It's more like the power supply has an auto shut off when overloaded. I have reduced FFB in GT5 to 5 rather than 10! and fingers crossed it's not done it since. About 2 hours playing.

I'm hoping thats sorted it but, I should be able to have it set at FFB 10 and not have my power supply cut off shouldn't I? so can't help feeling like something is wrong!

 

[LogiForce]

Thanks for reply but, really don't think it's that. It's more like the power supply has an auto shut off when overloaded. I have reduced FFB in GT5 to 5 rather than 10! and fingers crossed it's not done it since. About 2 hours playing.

I'm hoping thats sorted it but, I should be able to have it set at FFB 10 and not have my power supply cut off shouldn't I? so can't help feeling like something is wrong!

Does the fan kick in at all during gameplay and does it noticeably with your hand displace air? If not then the fan might have kicked the bucket.

 

[battie83]

Does the fan kick in at all during gameplay and does it noticeably with your hand displace air? If not then the fan might have kicked the bucket.

Na man the wheel runs fine, the fans do come on after a while but, nothing major. The blue LED on the power brick goes out!! and after a few minutes unplugged, you plug it back in the LED comes on and all is good for a while!!

Is it a problem with power supply or the wheel?

Cheers

 

[LogiForce]

Na man the wheel runs fine, the fans do come on after a while but, nothing major. The blue LED on the power brick goes out!! and after a few minutes unplugged, you plug it back in the LED comes on and all is good for a while!!

Is it a problem with power supply or the wheel?

Cheers

Sounds like the power brick is overheating then. It normally does get warm but it shouldn't feel hot. Might want to contact TM to have them replace the brick.

 

[Carson79]

Na man the wheel runs fine, the fans do come on after a while but, nothing major. The blue LED on the power brick goes out!! and after a few minutes unplugged, you plug it back in the LED comes on and all is good for a while!!

Is it a problem with power supply or the wheel?

Cheers

Contact Thrustmaster, you might just need a replacement power pack

 

[WildRun]

Nice setup :

Update with TH8 RS Shifter (found on iRacing forum):