7 replies to this topic

[leon_90]

Hi lads,

as many of you may know, I drive through a Thrustmaster GPX gamepad, which uses standard Xbox 360 controller drivers. These drivers are great, expect for one big fault which is vital in racing, their triggers share the same axis. What does this mean? basically that you won't be able to press your brake and your throttle at the same time if assigned to your triggers (which is the most comfortable place to have them since you want to steer with your stick, left or right).
How this affects your driving? well you won't be able to blip or "heel&toe" (with your fingers of course). Because if you press your throttle, your brake will become unresponsive.

So, after a long time and quest for this problem to be solved, I finally found it and thought I would share it with you since I know that many others like me can't afford or don't have the space or time to have a wheel. All this, in name of a more immersive and "realistic" experience with the old cars depicted in sims like GPL or PnG (should work fine also with other sims with the exception of Assetto Corsa which has the triggers separated by default, Kudos to them for it!).

Please note that this guide will work for Xbox and Xbox 360 controller, maybe even One, but I have no certainty it will apply to other brands. It SHOULD, but search for more info. I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS, MAKE A RESTORATION POINT BEFORE VENTURING BEYOND PILLARS OF HERCULES FOR YOUR SAFETY. ALSO, A MINIMUM OF COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE IS REQUIRED FOR THIS GUIDE. IF YOU FEEL NOT SURE ABOUT THIS, THEN DON'T TRY IT.

Point 1) You will need to disable enforced driver signing. Use a guide like these for it


http://www.howtogeek...signed-drivers/

https://sabrent.com/....php?article=14

Point 2) So, first, plug your controller. Then, from your control panel, open the device manager. Now, if you have a third party controller which is not supported by the drivers we will install later (got to point 3 for a quick check), open your controller tab and check for properties, then from details select ID hardware and copy to a note the ID you'll find with ctrl+c and ctrl+v. Close everything and leave it plugged in!! If you have a standard or supported controller then skip this.
 UO0001.jpg   91.44K   46 downloads

Point 3) Now, download these drivers XBCD 0.2.7 (I'm sorry you have to google it as it does not allow me to link the specific page) check the compatibility list for your pad, and install them with admin priviliges.

IF YOU HAVE A THIRD PARTY CONTROLLER NOT MENTIONED IN THE COMPATIBILITY LIST, STOP WHEN PROMPTED FOR THE SECOND INSTALL, WHICH ARE THE NEW PAD DRIVERS. CLICK NO AND END JUST THE FIRST INSTALL. NOW GO TO YOUR XBCD INSTALL LOCATION AND OPEN THE "DRIVER" FOLDER. NOW AGAIN OPEN THE "XBCD.INF" AND ADD YOUR PAD ID HARDWARE YOU SAVED BEFORE. YOU HAVE TO ADD A NEW STRING FOR BOTH X86 AND X64 SECTION IN THE APPROPRIATE STRING SEQUENCE DEPENDING OF THE NATURE OF YOUR PAD. READ CAREFULLY THE INF TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS.
IF IT WON'T LET YOU SAVE THE MODIFIED INF FILE, CLOSE IT. COPY IT TO ANOTHER LOCATION LIKE YOUR DESKTOP, SAVE IT AND THEN COPY IT BACK TO THE INSTALL FOLDER.
 UO0002.jpg   170.94K   57 downloads

Now, proceed with the second install. If you had to follow the instructions for the unsupported third party controller, then run solely the "dpinst.exe" file.
In both cases it will tell you that you are installing unsigned drivers. Do it.

Point 4) If everything went fine, and install of both parts is green and done. Open your control panel, again device manager. Now select your pad and click update drivers. Now tell him to search locally and at the second window to select it manually from a list. You should have a XBCD Driver Certificate now avalaible. Install it.
 UO0003.jpg   89.71K   56 downloads

Point 5) Now open with admin priviliges the XBCD Setup Utility. If your pad is being recognized, you're good. On the lower part of the utility you should see a drop down list. Open it and select Triggers as Split Axes. Now open your control panel and from devices and printers check your pad if is correctly calibrated, otherwise do it from setting.
 UO0004.jpg   90.72K   51 downloads
 UO0005.jpg   82.87K   41 downloads

That's all. Now you should be able to blip and heel&toe with your fingers. Happy racing!

Edited by leon_90, Feb 12 2016 - 07:04 AM.

[Alter]

Hi Leon

Thank you very much for sharing your experience. I've been looking for years for a solution that works, there was a thread some years ago. Didn't succed in splitting the trigger axis up to now. Going to try your path asap and will report.
BTW: Most GPLer don't think the pad is a good input device. But I do have a G27 and still prefer the pad for a quick hotlap once in a while.

Alter

[leon_90]

let me know Alter remember to make a restoration point as first thing in case something goes wrong and you want a safe exit and to use XBCD drivers 0.2.7, this one is also very important

[Alter]

It works!!!
Interesting: The steering calibration seems to have altered.
BTW: Shouldn't we restore the Integrity checks?

[leon_90]

Alter, on Feb 13 2016 - 10:09 AM, said:

Interesting: The steering calibration seems to have altered.

As i wrote in the guide, if your sticks calibration is wrong after the driver certificate change then re-calibrate the pad from the "settings" inside games peripherals

Alter, on Feb 13 2016 - 10:09 AM, said:

BTW: Shouldn't we restore the Integrity checks?

I'm sorry I don't understand

[Alter]

1) Did recalibrating but it feels a bit different, had to decrease steering ratio from 8:1 to 6:1.

2) https://sabrent.com/....php?article=14 shows how to disable integrity checks temporalily. Restored it now.

So after all these years trying to get XBCD running with your guide finally succeded. I'm still not shure what I did wrong in the past. There are a lot of mystic steps: Disable integrity checks, enable testing mode, some resets of the PC an so on. But now it works. Thanks a lot Leon!

Alter

Edited by Alter, Feb 13 2016 - 10:43 AM.

[leon_90]

Alter, on Feb 13 2016 - 10:37 AM, said:

1) Did recalibrating but it feels a bit different, had to decrease steering ratio from 8:1 to 6:1.

check your XBCD Setup Utility it adds deadzone and different sensitivity to the pad for optimal precision. Tweak it to your liking
Happy it worked

[60fpsrookie]

Hello, thank you for the effort put into the tutorial
While I managed to make XBCD working (split axis and all, with proper feedback on the XBCD setup utility), in the CONTROLS screen inside GPL I encountered a strange phenomenon, namely that I cannot assign any other "axis" than Axis 0 (left stick left right) and Axis 1 (left stick up down)... it doesn't work for either analog triggers nor the right stick (not that I would want to use that...) Assigning buttons to the same controls, namely Throttle and Brake, works just fine.
Any ideas on what I might be missing?

edit: shoulder buttons (5&6) and D-pad don't seem to work either... only the ABXY buttons and the right stick
edit2: solved by Trial & Error... apparently everybody forgot to mention you should select "Joystick" at the top of the XBCD utility (where it writes "Gamepad" by default)

edit3: be aware that after you install this new driver, windows per default sets power saving settings "Allow this device to be automatically turned off to save power" or smth in the Device Manager; you will need to disable this because waking up the Xbox 360 Controller with this new driver is a bit of a hit-and miss. Just right click the XBCD Controller in the Device Manager, go to the last tab, and uncheck the power saving option.

edit4: I gave up on XBCD and will use the regular drivers from my Windows 10... the reason is that XBCD sometimes works, sometimes doesn't work, even with disabling the Device Manager; I can see it turn my pad on and off depending on the fact if any program solicits access to it (this is a "feature" of the XBCD driver)... but apparently my gamepad does not like it and most of the time it just sits there dead, marked as operational in XBCD or GPL but not transmitting any data; giving up split axis is a small price to pay for consistent usability.

Edited by 60fpsrookie, Jul 01 2022 - 07:47 AM.