Fanatec - Problems with firmware

Good afternoon all.

As a few of you know, I use the wheel rather than the pad. As such i wanted to get(at the time of purchase) as good a wheel as possible to enhance my gamer experience to what i hoped it should be. I had owned 3 microsoft wheels before deciding to invest in a full Fanatec setup.

I bought the GT2 wheel, and when if works its a great product, but it is shocking for the amount of problems it gives me. As most of the people i race against can vouch for, the number of times the bloody thing has switched off during a race is unreal!!

However, this MAJOR problem aside, i have another issue i would like to raise. Firmware.

My wheel came with the standard 681 setup, which in itself works fine, but then as time passed, new wheels were lauched, and the promise of new firmware began from the "thomas blog" site. This gave new and exciting promises of things like better FFB, more adjustment, plus ACL, which would further transform the gaming experience for the better.

However, each version of their firmware is plagued with faults, issues and bugs and as such am about ready to throw the towel in.

Regardless, am trying to find out what other peoples experiences have been with these wheels. Is life better with the CSR? or is it just a case of a good product messed up by careless aftercare regardless of the base its on.

My experiences of fanatec aftercare can be found on this thread, and quite a few others with a little looking.

http://www.911wheel.de/?q=node/8947#comment-25780

I feel its kinda unreal how any company can get away with behaving like this. Shocking. If there was another firm makiing decent wheels for the xbox i would chuck mines in the skip and happily never use Fanatec again, but alas there is not. This is why i fear this company gets away with such complacent behaviour.

Greg

if you do throw yours in the skip Greg is it ok if I fish it out and use it?

WizardOfScoz wrote:if you do throw yours in the skip Greg is it ok if I fish it out and use it?

ur welcome to chief but i would not wish the hassles on anyone

just fedup with feelin like a chump after spending all the dosh to get shabby aftercare. Big letdown to say the least

G

What exactly are the other troubles that you've had Greg, I've seen mention of headphone issues in your posts?!?

Have you actually contacted Fanatec direct - everyone that I've spoken to that has done so recently has been impressed by the response they've received.

i will tell you on XBL, as i just typed a huge response, went to make a cuppa quickly and my workmate decided to use my pc to check something and closed the bloody browser before i could finish it

i should lock my pc.

G x

Sorry Greg, I shouldn't but............................

I must admit I've been lucky, touch wood (Jono runs off to slap the skirting board behind his office chair!!), with my CSR. The only tiny irritation I've had is that the alcantara hand grips have come away - although a quick e-mail to Fanatec will see replacements in the post.

I know there is an inherent issue with Fanatec wheels and headphone connectability - however this is not really down to Fanatec, it's caused by the equipment they have to use which is supplied by our friends at Micro$oft

I'm sure a lot of you were on the end of the feedback issues I had when I 1st got my wheel - it was causing feedback through my headset when chatting. I had to sell my lovely Turtle Beach's and revert back to a Micro$oft wireless headset as I could not connect anything through the wheels mic port. It's a known issue and completely out of Fanatec's hands - they know how to fix it but are tied to a binding contract to use chat/sound equipment supplied by Micro$oft.

The only way to use a stereo headset with my CSR is by using a set of these:-



Tritton Warhead

They are the 1st and only completely wireless stereo headset for the Xbox 360 - the advantage being that you can use chat functions without connecting via your wheel

The downside - they are only compatible with the 360 and they cost over £200

Thankfully, I was in a position to get myself a set and they are impressive but so they should be!!

its not just the headphone bit my microsoft thats the issue for GT2 owners,,,the firmware update DOES NOT SUPPORT HEADPHONES AT ALL

shocking state of affairs, i mean to give out firmware that does not even do the basics,,,not good enough.

ACL support works with 750b and the feedback is better(732, 740, all of them have big issues with rumble strip feedback/curbs etc for GT2 owners) but ACL does not work with any other firmware upgrade

Contacted support several times (johannes if memory serves) and totally ignored.

Contacted Thomas dozens of times via the site, still awaiting a simple answer fomr ALL my threads

Deadzones all to cock on ALL firmware upgrades for GT2.

I could go on. but i owuld lose the will to live.

The wireless headphones are great, however, i have been supplied with a headphone port on the wheel i paid a shit load of dosh for,,,what right minded person would release a firmware update where they think its no needed anymore,,,,priceless.

And my voice is not alone in this. The thomas blog is full of people asking for the same information,,,when will a working version of the firmware be here. They have had 3 attempts that i know of,,and still cant get it right.

If you were the boss at fanatec,,,would this be good enough for your customers?

Sorry,for rant,,but am pissed about this. Impressed i am FAR from.

G

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't all of the released firmwares since 681(?) BETA versions? As such they are WIP and not officially Fanatec supported.

Don't get me wrong Greg - I never condone poor customer service, it's something I detest. However, as ACL was not a supplied feature of the wheel surely Fanatec are under no obligation to find a way of implementing it.

I know Thomas is a bit of an eccentric who can't help but 'fiddle' with his products - as such he has produced various, unofficial, FW's in an attempt to give people what they want. These FW's have been, as far as I know, always been labelled as BETA versions and to be installed at the owners discretion.

I'm not trying to argue Greg - just looking at the situation from another point of view

If I were the boss of Fanatec I would run things differently - however, if I were the boss of Fanatec the products wouldn't even exist - they are Thomas' brainchild!!

I can understand your frustration..............but I did always tell you that you had the inferior wheel

jono,,,i fart in ur general direction.

And pretty muvh disagree with all your points, on so many fronts that i fear i have not the energy to type them.

So let us disagree and be happy there CSR boy.

G x

Fair enough.....

you have your view (the wrong one) and I have my view (the right one)

Maybe now you'll realise you should have listened to me in the 1st place and got rid of your crappy GT2 and bought a decent wheel

go away jono, ur about as helpful as a fart in a space suit.

G

Can you imagine Felix letting one go just before he jumped - that's a long time to be trapped with that sort of smell

Ahhhh farting in a confined space or in the aisle at a department store. One of my favorite pastimes.

Deuce VR wrote:Ahhhh farting in a confined space or in the aisle at a department store. One of my favorite pastimes.