T500 RS is turning itself off

[Tom]

Well, yes - that's practically it. It never did when I played F1 2011 on my PS3 but it does on my PC. Not after a set time but pretty much random. Just 15 minutes ago it decided to turn itself off in lap 38 of the Malaysian GP. Not so great, an hour down the drain.

I can, however, unplug it and plug it in again and it's up and running again. Sadly, F1 2011 doesn't deliver FFB effects anymore after doing so. Once I restart the game it's working fine tho.

I have to say, I'm using a 3m USB extension cable (USB 2.0) since my PC is a bit farther away than my PS3. Also, the F1 rim has been attached - not the GT rim. It's set to normal mode, not advanced. Any ideas? :/

 

[Senad Subasic]

I'd try a different USB port. Especially if the one you're using now is at the front of the case; go for the ones at the back.

 

[Devil_Dog]

Have you updated to the latest firmware?

http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=view_files&gid=1&fid=2&pid=316&cid=15

 

[Tom]

It's a port on the back but I'll try a different one anyway since it's one of the ports located below the "primary" ports - and yeah, I'm having the V38 firmware installed since I got it.

 

[Randy Wagner]

I have had mine for a while now and have never had that issue and also use an extension cable. Do you think it might be an over heating issue? I have noticed mine after a long stint I get that funny smell when the fan turns on and if its got a firmware it's got something that heat can cause issues with


I will do a google and see what I find.

 

[Tom]

My fan sounds weird when it's starting but I've never had an issue so far. I have the replacement right here, so it's only a matter of putting it onto the base. This, however, is complicated so I'd rather avoid that - especially since it doesn't happen when playing with my PS3. Could it be that the PC drivers interact differently and thus cause the FFB motors to be more stressed and that might cause an issue with the cooling?

 

[Randy Wagner]

I will say that the wheel itself does act different from ps3 to pc. To make matters even worse it gets even more apparent when you slap on the F1 rim. In some games it's as if the team the wrote the firmware came from 2 different companys is it night and day. If you say it's not happening on your ps3 but is doing so on your pc I would say your getting some type of driver conflict and not the wheel itself.

I have a special hard drive just for my racing games to ensure this does not happen but even then I have had certain games cause me issues so good luck

 

[Scott Stephens]

I have the same issue. I only use on PC and have tried different usb outlets. I contacted Trustmaster regarding the issue and they have asked that i remove/uninstall the drivers and re-install from there website. I did this and made sure my drivers/firmware was 38.

i played now for approx hour and it did it again. Its like it resets itself. I have contacted TM about this and waiting on an answer back.

I will keep you all posted from there reply's.

 

[Tom]

I will say that the wheel itself does act different from ps3 to pc. To make matters even worse it gets even more apparent when you slap on the F1 rim. In some games it's as if the team the wrote the firmware came from 2 different companys is it night and day. If you say it's not happening on your ps3 but is doing so on your pc I would say your getting some type of driver conflict and not the wheel itself.

I have a special hard drive just for my racing games to ensure this does not happen but even then I have had certain games cause me issues so good luck

You mean like a second installation of Windows just for your games?

 

[Randy Wagner]

You could do that but I use an entire hard drive for racing I will switch over to an ssd for I had one b4 and the transfer rates they run are simply incredible. On windows it's easier to either do a partition for racing or add a user profile and name him Speedy or something like that. I wanted to say ty for letting me know I'm not the only one noticing the ffb difference between pc and console versions of the same game. I try to pc as much as possible for the graphics are much better but the ease of use with the consoles is needed at times for I'm old.

 

[Tom]

Ah, I see. I'll build a new computer (from scratch) next month and the plan, for now, is to get 2 SSD and 1 3TB HDD. Should be sufficient, I hope. Racing games onto the SSD and all the other games onto the HDD.

 

[Randy Wagner]

Tom you can BUT this system I showed you retailed for 6300.00 usd (poor rich folks) a poor man like myself had to wait for the model to get discontinued and then steal it for 1299.99 usd. They have a few left and all I can say is the video card and the processor would have cost me more than I paid for the whole darn thing. I work on pc as a job so trust me If I could have built it cheaper I would have but there was simply no way to do so.

When you get ready we can set your system up for whats called a dual boot so that way when it starts up you have a choice of work or play.

 

[Tom]

Oh, no worries - I know about that, working in IT. I'm just hesitant since I prefer to have all stuff in one box. I might set Ubuntu up on one of my older HDDs. Cheers for the offer tho.

On a side-note: my wheel just did it again. I changed the USB port but to no avail. Luckily only 12 laps or so in the Malaysian GP (of 56 laps) but it's annoying since I'm always doing 100% races. Gotta give TM a call tomorrow, that's just plain bad.

 

[Randy Wagner]

Ok so does it do it on the ps3 or the pc only? If the pc only I say delete the wheel in device manager as well as any and all drivers run a reg clean program to get anything left over reboot and re install. Hell man you being in IT you know as well as I do you might want to delete your usb's as well and start over.

I say it's a driver issue either the wheel or your usb's some kind of conflict maybe?

 

[Tom]

Yeah, I tried. Then again, I gave TM a call and they insist that it's related to the USB extension cable...I'll give them the benefit of doubt and try that, too.

Apparently it's really the extension cable, I haven't had a problem to play around 1.5 hours non-stop whilst the wheel was plugged into the USB plug directly. Might be related to my mainboard being old and barely delivering enough voltage for the wheel. Will see how it's working once I've set up my new computer - hopefully in around one week.

 

[Scott Stephens]

any new updates on this as TM are asking to send me a new circuit board and fit it myself. Not sure how that hold up on warranty to be honest.

Im not happy that they are having these issues and not really doing anything about it to help fix the issue.

 

[Reto Christiani]

any updates and fixes on this annoying issue?
I am in the same boat with my T500 RS which is unpredictably restarting itself.
destroyed me several races already and I would love to finally fix this!
did already de&reinstall all Thrustmaster related drivers and software, tried all available USB-ports and adding an active USB repeater cable ... but nothing helped so far : (
sincerely hoping that some of you found a working solution?!?
BIG thanks for sharing it in advance!

 

[Scott Stephens]

only solution so dar is a new circuit board that TM sent me and i had to fit/install it myself. So far no issues.

 

[Roadster-2]

My fan sounds weird when it's starting but I've never had an issue so far.

Hi Tom. I'm thinking that this may be an indication of the problem. I work with PC's and this is a common problem with the processor cooling fan. The bearings of the fan are failing, indicated by the wierd noise on startup that probably goes away after a minute or two. However the fan is not running at full speed, therefore the processor runs hotter and worsens the fan bearings etc. etc. Eventually the processor protection circuit will cut in and shut itself down. This may be what's happening to your T500 ?

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom. I'm thinking that this may be an indication of the problem. I work with PC's and this is a common problem with the processor cooling fan. The bearings of the fan are failing, indicated by the wierd noise on startup that probably goes away after a minute or two. However the fan is not running at full speed, therefore the processor runs hotter and worsens the fan bearings etc. etc. Eventually the processor protection circuit will cut in and shut itself down. This may be what's happening to your T500 ?

Thanks for your reply but plugging it directly into the back of my PC (without extension cable) fixed it. I have a new cover (including a new fan) at home, so it's all down to motivating myself to install it. I'm just hesitating to install the cover since it's the same fan and I'd probably be better off to buy a high quality one instead.