How to connect a steering wheel to a computer

Article

Steering wheel connection to laptop

Quite a rare situation, for the simple reason that few people have gaming laptops, capable of “pulling” modern racing car simulators at an acceptable graphics. But, it should be noted that in addition to modern games, over the past few years on the PC came out a lot of steering-supporting races, while not requiring from your PC a lot of power. These games are easy to run, even on a laptop. Examples come to mind at once: “richard burns rally”, “Dirt 2”, “toca race driver 3”, “GTR 2.

Also, in laptops often difficult to find a free USB port, simply because they are all banal busy. So, be prepared to have to disconnect some device, be it a flash drive or a mouse, to free up a slot. But this is half the trouble, most likely you’ll have to raise the laptop above the table level, so the wheel does not obscure the view when you play, because the screen diagonal is not great enough. Another thing is if the laptop is connected to a large monitor or TV with an HDMI cable, for example.

Otherwise, it’s the same as when you connect to a regular PC. Accordingly, the possible problems are the same.

How to connect the steering wheel to the computer and console

connect, steering, wheel, computer

Every gamer knows: to get the most out of the game, you need to find the right devices to pass it. You just can’t play an action game without a fast gaming mouse or win a fighting game without a quality gamepad. As well as it is impossible to get a high from driving a virtual car on the tracks of the same NFC without an excellent steering system with pedals.

It’s about these gadgets that we’re going to talk about today. or rather, how to configure the home equipment for a virtual car racer.

In fact, despite the massive and multi-component system, there is nothing complicated here. Most modern devices of this type are equipped with a single USB cable at the output, and it is through it that all data exchange takes place.

In general, all you need to do is to find a free slot on your gaming computer or laptop and connect the device to it.

The most difficult task in this whole process is to place the steering wheel and its accessories on the table so that you can really play comfortably. And software settings, if you haven’t used a device like this before. That’s why further on we will talk in detail about tuning of the software part.

What to do with the steering wheel software

Most steering systems today are automatically detected by the system. If this does not happen, you need to:

Go to Start. Control Panel. Devices and Printers;

Find the steering system in the list and install drivers for it manually;

If the steering wheel is not on the list, select Add Device and follow the step-by-step instructions on the screen.

After that, the system will see the new device, and you can control with it. Once this has happened. we can proceed to the calibration of the device

Setting by means of the system and “native” software

You can calibrate your steering wheel and pedals with the original utilities that come with the device, as well as with the built-in tools of the operating system. However, in the first case you will have much more settings available. if the manufacturer has made them available, of course.

First, let’s look at the most universal option. setting by means of the OS. To do this, do the following:

In the opened search box write joy.cpl;

After that the window with the selection of devices will appear, where you need to select the rudder;

After this you need to press the upper side buttons on the handlebar for calibration;

In some systems it is also possible to set the maximum angle of rotation.

In proprietary utilities setup is done in the same way. But they also let you calibrate pedal force, linearity, backlight, and other advanced parameters.

After calibration, you should try to run the game. Most of them also have a settings menu where you can further customize the settings. Do not neglect this opportunity. so you can achieve maximum comfort and realism of passing the game.

Steering systems for video game consoles do not come out as much as for computers, but this does not mean that you can not play with pleasure in races and driving simulators. You just need to buy a special adapter in addition to the steering wheel.

You can choose the simplest of adapters, but in this case your device will simply see the system as a gamepad, and the control capabilities will be very limited. Well, if you choose a more advanced analogue like GIMIX, then your steering system will be seen as a steering system and you will get the full range of features.

True, this is not available for all models, but only for those that are technically compatible with Playstation and Xbox. These steering wheels are from Logitech, Trust and some other major manufacturers of gaming accessories. You can independently check whether your device is suitable for the set-top box in its technical documentation or on the manufacturer’s website.

So, how does the connection process work?? First, you will need to connect your steering wheel to your computer and a gamepad from the console, installing the same drivers on it.

Next, you need to go into GIMX Config in order to simulate all the controls of the steering system. To do this, you can open one of the available profiles, expand the list with the settings, delete all components from there and set each key anew. To do this, select the button in the list, choose AutoDetect and select the appropriate key on the steering wheel. The most important thing is not to miss any of the standard controls.

After that proceed to the setting of axles, gas, brake and clutch, assign them so that the system will see the steering wheel. Depending on your model you will need to find the right settings for sensitivity, grip, brakes and other parameters.

Once you have made all the settings, be sure to save your profile. Connect your console and transfer the data to it, activate the emulation. Then you need to switch to your usual connection to the TV, and then you can control all the features of the console with the steering wheel. And, of course, it will be available to you for passing games.

Everything is simple, because the joystick, rudder, pedals, connected to the computer on the same principle as the office equipment. first they are connected to the port, then the system begins to recognize them. This takes up to a minute. After that you can start the game and race, reconfiguring some of the functions.

Connect the wire with USB-connector to an available USB-port on a notebook or a computer

This rule applies to all Windows versions.

Any device that is about to come into contact with a computer has the proper software or drivers. Or rather, they are present on the computer. This is the only way for the machine to recognize what is connected to it. If they are not present, you have to deal with the problem yourself.

Thus, if the user has connected a steering wheel or joystick and is about to “drive”, but the PC does not accept the connected hardware, it often means that the corresponding software is not available on the computer.

The system will let you know with an error message or “Device not recognized”.

If the system does not see the device, it will indicate the corresponding message with recommendations

It is possible to solve the problem manually, even without much experience. Drivers are always included on the disc that came with your gaming device.

CDs with drivers that come with the game device

Anyway this is how respectable and reputable manufacturers who care about their reputation and are responsible for quality do it. Game drivers or the program downloaded from the official portal of the company that released the game, or from another trustworthy source.

How to connect the steering wheel to the computer with Windows?

If after plugging into the USB port nothing happens, or the steering wheel does not work as we would like it to, we need a set of drivers or special software. As a rule, you can find it on the website. It also does not hurt to read the user manual for your device, which often gives detailed answers to all your questions. Find the drive, insert it into the drive and run the installer. If after the previous step the steering wheel does not work, it may not be detected by the system. To check this guess we go to the “Start” menu, open the “Control Panel” and click on “Hardware and Sound”. In Windows 7, just below is the sub-item “View Devices and Printers”, which will be marked all the connected gaming devices, including the steering wheel. If the steering wheel is not there, in the upper left corner look for the “Add” button, press it and give the system time to find the available devices. When a device is found, select it and click “Next”. To calibrate the gaming wheel, again go to “Start”. “Standard”. Run” and enter the command “joy” in the corresponding line.cpl”. A list of active devices will appear in the window that will open. To configure them, right-click on their names and select the “Properties” item. Similarly, the rudder is calibrated through the “Control Panel”. “Hardware and Sound. In the section with the game devices we choose the appropriate one, press “Properties” and we receive a dialog box with the tab “Settings”. There will be a button “Calibrate”, which we will use. In calibration mode, the user specifies the normal position of the rudder (joystick, gamepad) and its maximum deviations in all axes, as well as special positions, the response of buttons and other control structures. Since the screen will show all the information about the testing process, make sure that the rudder reacts as you need it to. Here is a small list of games with the use of the steering wheel and pedals:

  • Euro Truck Simulator 2 ;
  • Auto Club Revolution;
  • Race.Driver.GRID.;
  • Driver Parallel Lines;
  • Test Drive Unlimited;
  • rFactor ( mods from different years);
  • Colin M’cray Rally series;
  • Richard Burns Rally;
  • Live For Speed;
  • Toca race driver 3;
  • F1 challenge 99-02;
  • BMW M3 Challenge;
  • Truck Drivers 2;
  • NFS Undergraund and Most Wanted;
  • GTR series.

If you still have problems, check the compatibility of the steering wheel with the game, its minimum and recommended requirements. It is also not recommended to store such devices under direct sunlight, drop them on the floor or twist their cables. Any liquid penetration will have a negative impact on the steering wheel functionality.

In this article we will talk about a budget version of the gaming manipulator. steering wheels of Defender family. The main advantage of Defender models is a reasonable price. With good quality of the device its price is several times less than the price of other popular manufacturers. Considered manipulators quite realistically convey the behavior of the vehicle on the track, vibrating during collisions, and the intensity of vibration corresponds to the degree of damage.

How to connect the steering wheel to the computer

We will tell you about a new way, which is even better and more accessible: to use your phone as a joystick, a steering wheel and, based on the gyroscope, FPS navigation / shooting mode.

Monect allows you to remotely control your PC and play games, using an Android device via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. With Monect your Android device becomes a joystick, a steering wheel powered by an accelerometer and even a device that allows you to aim in a 3D FPS shooter powered by a gyroscope.

How to setup a Logitech G29 steering wheel on a PC

Monect turns your phone/tablet/fablet into a keyboard/mouse/joystick all in one. The Android device can also act as a wireless mouse or keyboard, like most other applications of this kind. The best part of this app is that it can be used as a controller for different types of games, such as racing, FPS, RPG and others. The app uses all of Android’s sensors (accelerometer, G-sensor, gyroscope, and others) to provide full, lag-free play. For example, FPS mode allows you to exercise the gyro sensor while aiming, or race mode uses the G-sensor to engage the steering wheel.

RaceMode play races on your computer, such as NFS and control the steering wheel with your phone using the G-sensor

The joystick is an imitation joystick, so you can play adventure games like Street fighter, Prince of persia, etc.ะด.

FPS mode using a gyroscope to aim, just like a real gun in your hand, excellent support for Call of Duty!

TouchPad touchpad simulator on your phone with gesture support, like Apple’s trackpad

My Computer explore computer files on your phone

Keyboards simulator alphabetic and numeric keypad, function keys

Text transfer type text on your phone and transfer it to your computer with one tap

PPT mode when you need to attend a lecture or meeting, this mode will help you make it happen

Browser, Media Control easily control your browser and media player

Monect can be downloaded for free from Google Market, and Windows server client for your computer you need to search.

In this article you’ll learn another way to turn your phone into a joystick or mouse.

Connect your steering wheel to your computer and set up your controller

Car simulators allow you to participate in races without risk to life, developing a crazy speed and leaving behind unlucky opponents. But the keyboard is not so interesting to drive the car, the steering wheel is another thing. here the realism of control is already off the scale.

But before you start racing through city streets and rough terrain, forcing your opponents to swallow dust, you need to figure out how to connect the steering wheel to the computer.

Solution 2

If the first solution did not help and the steering wheel still does not work on the computer, then make additional settings:

  • Uninstall and reinstall the Logitech software as described in the first solution.
  • Go to “My Documents” folder, then open the iRacing folder.
  • Run a search for all the controls files.cfg, and then delete each of the listed controls files.cfg.
  • Search for joyCalib files.yaml, and again delete each of the.
  • Authorize on the members website.iRacing.com.
  • Press “Test” and select “Steering wheel calibration”.

Done! Now the steering wheel on your computer should work.

If there are difficulties in studying the instructions that come with the purchased set of the device, it is recommended to study the following steps.

Connecting the device

The box should contain the cables you need for connection with the computer together with the rudder and the pedals. There are usually 2 cables in the box. One is needed to connect the steering wheel and the other for the pedals. You need to connect them, and then insert the other end into a free USB connector.

Sometimes the kit includes a gearbox, which must be connected to the steering wheel with a separate wire. As a rule, this task is not difficult when using the manual.

Warning! If there is an additional power supply, it also needs to be activated before starting the gameplay.

Installing the Drivers

Ordinary simple devices without additional features are most often detected in automatic mode. A few seconds after connecting the steering wheel to your computer, it will be ready for use. But more often it is necessary to download and install additional software to make the device work.

As a rule, the manufacturer has enclosed a separate DVD with the necessary software. If you do not have a disk drive, you can simply go to the official website of the developer and open the software section. Choose a model of the purchased device and start downloading.

As an alternative, you can download additional software that will automatically find the necessary drivers. For example, DriverPack Solution.

The steering wheel tuning program is also usually supplied with the device or can be found on the manufacturer’s official website.

Adding the device to the system

Since Windows is considered to be the most common operating system, we will use it as an example. In some cases, the use of suitable drivers is not enough. The system may display an error and redirect the gamer to the Update Center or Windows bug fixes. Then it will be necessary to connect the steering wheel with pedals to a computer or laptop in manual mode:

  • Open Start and go to Devices and Printers;
  • Click on “add device”;
  • Start the automatic search for new connections. The rudder should appear in the list of active, click next;
  • It remains to wait for the automatic setup to complete.

Then you can start using the connected device, but most likely you will have to. Which means you will have to pre-calibrate.

Calibration

Before proceeding to the gameplay, the gamer must make sure that all the buttons respond to the given commands. To do this, you need to perform a calibration, which is identical in Windows 7, 8 and 10. To do this, you should perform a few manipulations:

  • press theWinR combination and enter the “joy” command in the window that appears.cpl” and confirm the action;
  • select the device which is in the active state and go to the properties;
  • open the parameters and click on “calibrate”;
  • a wizard window should appear where you need to click on “next”;
  • it remains to follow the system prompts to proceed to the next step;
  • you can observe the process yourself; any manipulations will be displayed on theXandY axes;
  • adjust axisZ and go to the final step;
  • press the “Done” button and the process is completed.

Checking the rudder for operability

Functionality check is a mandatory procedure before you start the game. Sometimes gamers find that not all buttons start to work, so it is necessary to test beforehand:

  • press WINR, type “joy.cpl”;
  • go to properties;
  • go to the check tab, where you should see all the active buttons, which will help to switch the axes of the steering wheel, pedals and gearbox;
  • If you find something wrong, you only need to recalibrate.

How to create a profile in Logitech Profiler

Often brand manufacturers have their own software to make life easier for gamers. For example, the manufacturer Logitech has a special Profiler. But other companies have similar applications and they work in a similar way. So let’s look at the use of such software on the example of Logitech.

often the program Logitech Profiler is included into the set of devices from the manufacturer Logitech. The main purpose is to create individual profiles for simulators. You can change and save settings for each game individually.

To create a new profile, you need to select “New” in the menu.

Then make up your own name.

After performing these simple steps, the profile will be automatically created and you can continue to work with it.

A little history

Many people have at least once thought about buying a steering wheel for playing computer games. Everyone wanted to play a racing simulator is not on the keyboard, and feel behind the wheel of a real racing car. Now there are many types of these devices. The very first gaming device was invented in the mid 70-ies of the 20 th century. Rudder for the PC appeared only in 1994. The company that created it was engaged in the production of joysticks for the U.S. Air Force. The very first task of developers is to bring the virtual world closer to the real one.

If you want to play not only on your computer, but also on the X-Box or Sony Playstation platform, it is worth choosing a steering wheel thoughtfully. Now most of these devices support a personal computer. You should also pay attention to the number of pedals. Most models come standard with two pedals, gas and brake, but if you want to feel completely like you’re in a car, it’s worth looking for a pedal that adds a clutch. When choosing, make sure their material is stable and not slippery on the floor.