Linux kernel module for Thrustmaster T300RS, T248 and (experimental) TX and TS-XW wheels

DISCLAIMER: The module is now ready for near-stable USE in most force feedback games, supports rangesetting as well as gain and autocentering along with most force feedback effects. While I haven't personally come across any crashes or lockups with this version, I can't promise that they won't occur under any circumstances.

Description

A Linux kernel module for Thrustmaster T300RS, T248, and (experimental support) TX and TS-XV wheels.

I've been working on enhancing the real-time updating of effects, and although it's not flawless yet, the overall experience is gradually improving. There are a couple of issues, though. First, there might be occasional inaccuracies in how the effects compare to the Windows driver. Second, in certain games, the mapping of pedal inputs can be inconsistent. This means that while all pedals should be recognized by the games, they might not be mapped correctly.

I only have access to the base editions of T300RS and T248 wheels to test with, but from reports it seems that other editions (F1, GT, Alcantara, etc.) should also work with this driver.

TX support was contributed by @davidedmundson, TS-XW support was contributes by @yassineimounachen.

Installation

You can either install this kernel module by using DKMS or manually building from source. If you're unsure which to pick, go with DKMS, it will automatically recompile the driver whenever needed.

Dependencies

Kernel modules require kernel headers to be installed. Use any one of the right command for your distribution:

sudo apt install linux-headers-$(uname -r)   # Debian-based
sudo pacman -S linux-headers                 # Arch-based
sudo pacman -S linux-neptune-61-headers      # For SteamDeck specifically
sudo yum install kernel-devel kernel-headers # Fedora-based

Manual installation

• Unplug wheel from computer
• Run

  git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Kimplul/hid-tmff2.git
  cd hid-tmff2
  make
  sudo make install
  

• Plug wheel back in
• Reboot (Optional, yet Recommended)

DKMS (Dynamic Kernel Module Support)

• Unplug wheel from computer
• Run

  git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Kimplul/hid-tmff2.git
  cd hid-tmff2
  sudo ./dkms/dkms-install.sh
  

• Plug wheel back in
• Reboot (Optional, yet Recommended)

NOTE: See INTEGRATION for install instructions for other linux distributions.

NOTE: On some systems, you will get an error/warning about SSL. This is normal for unsigned modules. For info on signing modules yourself (completely optional), see here.

NOTE: Thrustmaster TX and TS-XW wheels aren't supported by hid-tminit as of yet, meaning that the wheels have to be initialized with tmdrv. Please see https://github.com/Kimplul/hid-tmff2/issues/48.

WARNING: There have been reports that this driver does not work if the wheel's firmware version is older than v. 31. To update the firmware, you will have to fire up a Windows installation and update the firmware using the official Thrustmaster tools.

WARNING: There was a name change when adding support for the T248 from hid-tmt300rs to hid-tmff-new, and you may have to uninstall the older version of the driver.

Contributing

This project wants help from people who can contribute. If you would like to help add a wheel to this driver, please have a look through docs and/or CONTRIBUTING.md for what might need to be done.

If you have a wheel that's not not supported, but suspect it might fit into the driver, please feel free to open up an issue about it. Currently open requests for wheels:

• T500 RS
• T818
• T-GT II
• T128P (initial alpha support, needs hid-tminit tweaking)
• TS-PC

Common issues and notes

• Reportedly some games running under Wine/Proton won't recognize wheels without the official Thrustmaster drivers installed within the prefix. See #46. For installation instructions, see DRIVER.

  Note that you will still need the Linux driver, the Windows driver just installs some files needed by games to correctly recognize the Linux driver. The Windows driver itself does not work under Wine/Proton.

• Until the updated hid-tminit is upstreamed, you might want to blacklist the kernel module hid-thrustmaster. Do this with

  echo 'blacklist hid_thrustmaster' > /etc/modprobe.d/hid_thrustmaster.conf
  

• If you've bought a new wheel, you will most likely have to update the firmware through Windows before it will work with this driver.

• T300 RS has an advanced F1 mode that can be activated with an F1 attachment when in PS3 mode. The base wheel will also work in PS4 mode, but it's less tested and if you encounter issues with this mode, please feel free to open up an issue about it.

• T248 isn't as extensively tested as T300 RS, please see issues and open new ones if you encounter problems. There is currently no support for the built-in screen.

• TX support is considered experimental, please see issues (especially https://github.com/Kimplul/hid-tmff2/issues/48) and open new ones if you encounter any problems.

• To change gain, autocentering etc. use Oversteer.

• If a wheel has a deadzone in games, you can try setting up a udev rule: /etc/udev/rules.d/99-joydev.rules

  SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{idVendor}=="044f", ATTRS{idProduct}=="WHEEL_ID", RUN+="/usr/bin/evdev-joystick --evdev %E{DEVNAME} --deadzone 0"
  

  where WHEEL_ID is

  Wheel	WHEEL_ID
  T300 RS, PS3 normal mode	b66e
  T300 RS, PS3 advanced mode	b66f
  T300 RS, PS4 normal mode	b66d
  T248	b696
  TX	b669

  This should make sure that the wheel behaves like you'd want from a wheel.

• There have been reports that some games work better with a different timer period (see #11 and #10).

  To change the timer period, create /etc/modprobe.d/hid-tmff-new.conf and add options hid-tmff-new timer_msecs=NUMBER into it. The default timer period is 8, but numbers as low as 2 should work alright.