Controller selection..Level UNLIMITED!!!

...or as an alternative title, How to use a Non-PS4 wheel with PS4 to Avoid Dropping a Ton of Money.

Well I have a PS4 and a PC. For my PC I have a driving wheel, the Logitec Momo Force Feedback Wheel. (Yes its old. I'm old. I have had this thing for like 10 years, and I like the feel of the wheel. It is a gear reduced motor drive and is solid. No belts)

It was bloody expensive then, and new wheels haven't got any cheaper.

The new for PS4 and PC Logitech G29 (one of the few decent supported wheels for the PS4) is the Easy button personified. But it's expensive. Like a G29 with no shifter is more than a PS4 is right now ($299 vs $249) expensive.

That's crap.

Enter the world of aftermarket controller converters.

I found the Titan One and soon to be Titan Two.

This is the second easiest button to smash being it is almost completely plug and download drivers and play.

But being the epic El Cheapo, I am not paying $50 to $100 for an adaptor for my wheel. (not to mention a rediculous shipping charge! Where is this thing coming from Perth, Australia??? (The furthest city with more than 100k people away from me))

Enter the GIMX (Game Input MultipleXer or Game Input MatriX)!

So I need two chips, (don't have, but I found a short and cheaper cut) some USB cables, (do have, or do I?) a PC or Raspberry Pi, (I have both, one will be donated by my youngest mini-me for short-term use) and the willingness to follow YouTube and written instruction to say down with the over-priced man!

I will post all the gory details on here as they unfold. Stay tuned.

GIMX Phase 1 - El Cheapo Menace

First the chips that I don't have.

I need a AVR USB developement board, either Teensy or Ardunio and a USB to Serial TTL converter.

Ok, so now with those two boards before shipping I am at $27. Humm. Ok.

Remember I am El Cheapo!!! Refuser of spending money! (mostly because I don't have any but that is beside the point)

Enter the TIAO GIMX GBoard, this all in one Teensy and USB Serial TTL converter board, with two brand new USB cables for $18 at my door (On sale for $15 (instead of $30) with $3 shipping). How cool is that?!?!?!?!

It also has the added benefit of not needing a USB standard to mini USB converter because it uses mini USB on both sides. Sweet!

Now El Cheapo is getting somewhere.

So I pulled out the almost maxed out credit card and spent $18.

A few days later I got this in the mail.

Ooooh, Orange flat USB cables. Those are subtle, needs more carbon fiber.

For those that havent figured it out yet the thing is small. Like really small. Amazing what you can get these days if you keep searching the net.

So back to the thing. First, lets get it to work before phase two.

I read the GIMX for dummies and found a video on YouTube. (I am convinced that all of humanities knowledge will be on YouTube in the next 4-6 weeks)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/oXdocjF0c8c

This is it!!!!

So after watching I know there are some differences, first I am not using the same board so I must substitute his firmware updates for mine.

TIAO Development Board Tutorials

There are three links with a big NEW sticker next to them. I read them and follow them. Easy Peasy.

After installing Atmel Flip and the latest and greatest GIMX firmware

I install the PC software (mine was 64 bit, yours may vary). I installed the Logitech Gaming Software

Followed the video twice and....

GRRR!!!! Back to the Google machine! Specifically I was getting a "PS4 joystick not found (0)" error.

(For those that aren't tracking down the links in the post, PS4 has an annoying little hardware security feature to keep people like me from doing stuff like this. This solution circumvents that by using a PS4 controller attached to the system send the validation response the system is looking for from an authorized controller. Suck it Sony.)

Search search search...Then when I am about to spike a $50 controller like TO after a touchdown but before a hidden sharpie autograph, I found this.

USB cable the problem? Nooooo. Change USB cable, the same issue. Damn....but both of those USB cables were sent in packaged to just charge. Could it be? No...maybe. Try SWMBOOTH's (She Who Must Be Obeyed Or Takes Half) tablet USB, I know it does data....

BOOM!!! It works! We have a winner!!!

I now have the living room covered in wires but I have a 10 year old wheel running Project Cars on PS4 with no issues (well I had to assign the buttons correctly, but it worked.)

The force feedback changes with each car, just like on the G29, and you hit something it will almost yank out of your hand, the Momo is known for having a strong motor.

Also, I have played PC with a controller way too long and need to work on my driving skills.

So that is it.

So TL;DR Use proper USB cables that you know work, follow video with substituting your parts where required, assign correct control buttons in the game you are playing.

Now for the sequel - Gimx Phase 2 - The Raspberry Pi Awakens. Stay tuned.

I commend your commitment.

When faced with a similar predicament and debating how to go next gen with my "outdated" wheel......I said berkeley it and built a PC. (I was kinda going to do that eventually anyway)

No ragrets. It wasnt exactly cheap though.

failboat wrote: I commend your commitment.

This.

I would have just bought Project Cars on the next Steam sale for $10

In reply to failboat:

The beauty of this is my controllers are no longer locked to a system. Xbox on PS4? No problem. PC on PS4, done (as above). PS4 on Xbox, easy peasy.

Just load the appropriate drivers up and go. I wished I had known about this sooner because I would have done this years ago.

Just make sure you have working USB cables.

What kind of wheel do you have?

ProDarwin wrote: I would have just bought Project Cars on the next Steam sale for $10

I have Assetto Corsa on my laptop that I use my wheel with it. It struggles to run the game. Gets HOT!!!

There are two issues with this line of thinking.

First, is you need to have a stout enough system to play. My Toshiba struggles with newer games, and as time marches on, won't be able to handle them. It wasn't built as a gaming laptop to begin with either. So double whammy.

Second, costs. Peripherals have become obnoxious not to mention competent gaming towers. I would need a new monitor too. So the cheapest I would be out is $300 for the G29. To get a lower end gaming rig with quality monitor, let's shoot for everything on sale at $800 for the tower and $150 for the monitor. Then $10 for PC. That is a whole Challenge class's budget.

If I could afford to run new equipment I would. I can't so I don't.

Think of this as Challenge Sim Racing.

My "outdated" wheel is a Fanatec CSR, built for last gen consoles. For better or for worse I bought it about a year before the world went next gen, so I have been holding out till now refusing to buy into a platform that wouldn't support my wheel. That and other financial commitments preventing me from getting a PC earlier.

Im running the PC at 720p, all games pretty much maxed out, on a 34" LCD 720p tv. Its either the sim rig or a recliner I am sitting in so a TV is more conducive to my use.

I would love a Fanatec.

According to Fanatec their wheels work on PS4 they just don't have the security bypass and as they have recently (like in the last 6 months) finally reached an agreement with Sony, they won't be supporting their old wheels on a new system.

They openly admit that each console maker wants sole-use peripherals for their console systems. No XBOX on PS4 and vice versa. Gotta have a logo.

If funds weren't the issue I would have probably gone for a Titan 2 with a CSR Base V2.5 with load cell pedals and a BMW GTR wheel. But that by itself is a grand before I put it on any system.

I enjoy PC gaming but there are some things consoles do better. (World of Tanks on PS4 is a great example) plus you have certain games PC won't get (I am excited about Gran Turismo and it is one of the reasons I went with Sony).

Not to mention they are really convenient and you don't have to deal with Windows. Console gaming does have its perks.

I don't want to derail your thread too much... I only made the comment thinking that if you had a wheel for your computer it was up to the task of running games.

If you really were totaling up costs... Your current wheel should still work on PC. That's the beauty of PC peripherals... their lifespan is usually significantly longer than any console. Unless you use some conversion magic like you've done here .

(Same thing for your TV/Monitor)

FWIW, used gaming computers are quite cheap on Craigslist

Good work. There are at least a few people using wheels in GT6 that have been wondering what they will do when GT7 comes out in a few years (! ).

The locking out of old wheels is total BS! As you mentioned, they are quite pricey. A full refresh of PS, game and wheel could push towards $1000!!!

I'm kind of surprised there are still work arounds to make this stuff work. Since Sony decided that you don't own your own console with the PS3 they've really been cracking down on this kind of stuff.

That said, I really like the looks of this setup, and might have to look into something similar for my Xbox.

On a side note... would such a thing allow a keyboard and mouse to be used on a console?

Edit: Yes. Fascinating.

Another question... does this require a PC running the whole time to manipulate the inputs? Or do you only connect to your PC during the setup/configuration phase?

In reply to ProDarwin:

Yes. Yes it would.

It requires computing power to run. Wait till Phase 2

Is there any possibility that Sony could block this work around? Or is it a firmware thing that they cannot update?

In reply to aircooled:

That is a question above my knowledge of the security protocol, but as I understand it, no.

What is essentially going is a merging of two controllers, with an emulator simultaneously running on one and a stock Dual Shock 4 being the other. I have two X, O, +, ect and all the other buttons. What doesn't work is the analog sticks and triggers on the DS4. Everything else works on the DualShock4 as normal. So what is being seen by the PS4 is just the inputs from a controller as it is being all done before it gets to the system.

Now is there a way to ping the system in a manner that would allow the system to know what is going on? Probably. But that would take some time and research for something that may or may not be there.

I would say Sony's PS team has more important things to worry about, and at $18 (which is more like $8 if you count the normal cost of those swanky USB cords) I am not worried.

The way I looked at it, no matter what I did, going next gen was going to be expensive, so I put it off for several years. If I did go console + new wheel, I would still have an old PC with a hard drive on its last legs.....also Assetto Corsa and the modding community was really the final straw that pulled me towards PC. I started buying games on steam sales a year before I had a PC that could play them.

Clearly you understand once you get into racing with a wheel its really hard to give up.

failboat wrote: Once you get into racing with a wheel its really hard to give up.

In reply to failboat:

What about the modding community bothered you?

Schrödinger's Flight Service wrote: In reply to failboat: What about the modding community bothered you?

Probably that there are no mods available on PS4, and there are tons of mods for it on PC.

Edit:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/oOCHk3JoSps

Ohhhhh. I am all in on this.

In reply to ProDarwin:

Soo many user made cars and tracks on pc. Pretty epic.

In reply to ProDarwin :

I think that was my bus driver Thursday

In reply to FlightService :

Nice tutorial, @FlighService!

Did you ever figure out and post phase 2 on how to do this on the Raspberry Pi, or are we still staying tuned? ;-)

Br,Vegard

In reply to Schrödinger's Flight Service :

Now for the sequel - Gimx Phase 2 - The Raspberry Pi Awakens. Stay tuned.

Has the Raspberry Pi awakened, @FlightService?