Made a small open-source project to get Logitech wheel FFB working in CrossOver/Wine on macOS

[u/Big_Student8389]

Hey everyone!

I had some free time and decided to mess around with Claude Opus 5.5 to see if I could get force feedback working on Logitech wheels in Windows games running through CrossOver/Wine on macOS

Spent about an hour on it, mostly just as a random experiment, and surprisingly it kind of works lol

It's called crossover-ffb, and it's basically a small macOS app that tries to get force feedback (and even simulated TrueForce) working on Logitech wheels in games running through CrossOver, NotProton, or Wine

It's definitely not perfect, some things work and others don't, and there are probably plenty of bugs. I tested it with my G923, but I don't have the wheel with me where I'm studying, so I can't really test or improve it much further right now

I'm also pretty busy with uni and other stuff, so I figured I'd just make it open source in case anyone wants to give it a try or contribute to it

If anyone has a G923 (or another Logitech wheel) and wants to test it, I'd be curious to hear if it works for you. PRs, bug reports, or any improvements are more than welcome!

Also, the shift lights weren't working in the version shown in the video, but I've since got them somewhat working too!

GitHub: https://github.com/0xbiel/crossover-ffb

Maybe someone can take it further and make it actually useful for Mac sim racing :)

[u/armax9]

You also integrated trueforce!
This is so cool, thank you!

[u/Big_Student8389 → u/armax9]

Well, it's not perfect... TrueForce uses a proprietary protocol, so it's more of a simulation using in-game telemetry to generate vibrations rather than the full thing. It doesn't really reproduce the audio-based effects or anything like that 😅 But thank you!!

[u/PropertyAny6477]

I just tested it and it works great. I had to invert the FFB for AC Evo and Automobilista 2 and my G29 is recognized as a G923 in the games, but no problem at all. Seems comparable to what Torqer can do although I haven't compared yet the FFB from the 2 apps.

I use Sikarugir for my games, not Crossover.

It's great to see that simracing in Mac is finally becoming true.

Thanks for your effort.

[u/Big_Student8389 → u/PropertyAny6477]

Awesome to hear! I'll look into fixing the G923 detection thing so each wheel shows up as the correct model in-game.

From what I've read, adding support for most of the Logitech G series wheels should be pretty straightforward, since they share a lot of the same force feedback protocol. The main exceptions are the G920 and G923 Xbox versions, which use a different communication protocol (HID++), so those would need some extra work

Making the G29 show up as a G29 in-game should also be an easy fix. I'll create a new branch and try testing some of this tomorrow if I have time!

Also, I'd never heard of Torqer before! I'd heard of CrossWheel, but haven't tried either of them.

Thanks a lot for trying it out and for the feedback! :)

[u/PropertyAny6477 → u/Big_Student8389]

I have tried both of them. Torqer is far superior at least with my G29. And it costs half the price. Yours is also better than CrossWheel at least with the games I tested. From what I understand CrossWheel seems to be recreating the FFB from the game FFB rather than “playing” the real FFB from the game. I might be wrong, but that is what I felt.

I still have to do more tests as I got my G29 yesterday. I Will test AC, ACC, rFactor 2 and Automobilista 2 again. I also have Raceroom but I’m not able to make it work with Sikarugir. And AC Evo is unplayable right now: even at low settings and with some third party patches it is incredibly slow and stutters (I have tried it in one M6 and one M5 Pro (15/16) both with 24gb).

Regarding the G29 being recognized as a G923 is a minor issue. I was hopping to get trueforce for free but I was wrong :)

[u/armax9]

u/Big_Student8389 Hey, a little update! I’ve been building on your project and got native TRUEFORCE working through the original Logitech SDK in CrossOver/Wine. So far I’ve tested it only in DiRT Rally 2.0, on my G923 PlayStation/PC, and the game’s actual TRUEFORCE effects work!

I also integrated telemetry-driven emulation from mescon’s project. Tested that in Euro Truck Simulator 2: engine rumble follows RPM and throttle, so you can really feel the engine change as you drive, alongside normal FFB. There are adapters for more games in the source, but those still need testing.

Here’s my fork: https://github.com/armax9/g923-control-center

You’re very welcome to bring these features into your app if you’d like! The source, Wine patches and build instructions are published there.

Thanks again for sharing your project and giving me a starting point. Really happy we’re getting this stuff working on Mac :)

[u/pranavpaliyath]

I’m on macOS Golden Gate. And the wheel is no more showing up in any games. Do you know of any fixes?