April 21Apr 21 Hi all, I've been working on a side project for a while and want some feedback. (TLDR: Video Below) I wrote a small Linux program that makes a Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 work again in modern flight sims. It reads flight state from MSFS 2024 (running under Proton) or X-Plane 11/12 (native Linux), and drives the stick's motors through the Linux kernel's evdev force-feedback interface. No plugin needed in either sim. It should also work for other old FFB joysticks, I just don't have any others to test. This is coded in C# (Dotnet 10) and Avalonia for the UI. Have posted in the MSFS forums as well, but guessing more people run XP on Linux and it works great for XP 12. Havent' tested 11 yet, but should work. I'm about to open a small beta if there's any interest. I want to be sure the app doesn't fall over on hardware and distros I haven't touched. I've only tested on my own machine (CachyOS + KDE Plasma 6). If you fly on Linux (Fedora, Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS, openSUSE, Arch, anything with systemd) and you've got an FFB2 or even any other force feedback joysting sitting in a drawer, I'd really appreciate you trying it. If you're interested, leave a comment here and I'll come back to you with how to get it. It really makes flying XP 12 fun.. FAQ 1. Is this free -> YES. The version I'm showing will be released as a totally free version. This is a super niche product.. if it takes off, I could perhaps build a version with cloud saves, profile sharing and other value added features, and maybe charge 5 bucks. but that's far away, and this version will be free. 2. Will the source be released -> Maybe, haven't decided yet. 3. YOU ASKED FOR ROOT!! -> Yes, many people are new to Linux. If you know what you're doing, just create that one file yourself and you don't need root. 4. AI SLOP!! -> Yes, I used Ai to help me build this. Yes, I tested it and read the code.. I do know some programming. Feel free to ignore this if you hate it. Demo video covering Mock mode, MSFS 2024, and X-Plane 12: (it's not a polished marketing demo, just a quick demo) Three screenshots: t Edited April 21Apr 21 by JonathanC 9800X3d, 4090, 64 GB DDR5 6000 RAM, 4 TB NVME (2x2), 4K Ultra + Framegen
April 21Apr 21 Hey! What's happening here? In the space of a week we have seen too FREE additions / contribuitons of great interest to our community 🙏 I never owned a MS Sidewinder Force Feedback v2 stick, although I did try to find one in good shape once, but now maybe I have good reasons to search again 🙂 Flying gliders since 1980 Flightsimming since 1992 AMD Ryzen 5600x, 32GB RAM, GPU Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB, 1 TB and 500 GB nvme2 SSD drives, HP 27" 60Hz LED monitor @ 1920x1080, T16000, Hotas from old X52 Pro, Saitek Combat Rudder Pro (2010 model)
April 21Apr 21 Author I wish Microsoft didn’t remove support in windows 11! The app is cross platform and works great on Windows .. but Windows no longer talks to the force feedback the hardware itself. If they had left the old driver, this would have worked… 9800X3d, 4090, 64 GB DDR5 6000 RAM, 4 TB NVME (2x2), 4K Ultra + Framegen
April 21Apr 21 The Sidewinder FFB2 is the B-52 of joysticks. It just keeps going and going and going and going and going... 7950X3D + 7900 XT + 64 GB + Linux | 4800H + RTX2060 + 32 GB + Linux My add-ons from my FS9/FSX days
April 21Apr 21 Just now, JonathanC said: I wish Microsoft didn’t remove support in windows 11! The app is cross platform and works great on Windows .. but Windows no longer talks to the force feedback the hardware itself. If they had left the old driver, this would have worked… Oh 😞 I'm on Win 11 (for now..., but still considering moving Linux one day, although not possible right away because I wouldn't be able to play Aces of Thunder...) Flying gliders since 1980 Flightsimming since 1992 AMD Ryzen 5600x, 32GB RAM, GPU Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB, 1 TB and 500 GB nvme2 SSD drives, HP 27" 60Hz LED monitor @ 1920x1080, T16000, Hotas from old X52 Pro, Saitek Combat Rudder Pro (2010 model)
April 21Apr 21 Author 2 minutes ago, jcomm said: Oh 😞 I'm on Win 11 (for now..., but still considering moving Linux one day, although not possible right away because I wouldn't be able to play Aces of Thunder...) Hold that thought - I have conflicting reports of whether this works or not in Windows. Looks like I'll have to install Windows 11 on a separate drive to test. I used a VM for a quick test, but didn't go much further. Let me see if it is ACTUALLY removed, or they just said it was removed. Who knows with MS these days.. 9800X3d, 4090, 64 GB DDR5 6000 RAM, 4 TB NVME (2x2), 4K Ultra + Framegen
April 21Apr 21 3 minutes ago, JonathanC said: Hold that thought - I have conflicting reports of whether this works or not in Windows. Looks like I'll have to install Windows 11 on a separate drive to test. I used a VM for a quick test, but didn't go much further. Let me see if it is ACTUALLY removed, or they just said it was removed. Who knows with MS these days.. Don't worry with that Jonathan, sooner or later, sooner more than later, I'll be in Linux again, after a short test about a month ago... Flying gliders since 1980 Flightsimming since 1992 AMD Ryzen 5600x, 32GB RAM, GPU Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB, 1 TB and 500 GB nvme2 SSD drives, HP 27" 60Hz LED monitor @ 1920x1080, T16000, Hotas from old X52 Pro, Saitek Combat Rudder Pro (2010 model)
April 21Apr 21 Author 35 minutes ago, Bjoern said: The Sidewinder FFB2 is the B-52 of joysticks. It just keeps going and going and going and going and going... Yeah, and this program apparently will work with ALL force feedback joysticks that talk to Linux in the same way.. lots of old sticks do that. I just have no way to test which is why I'll be opening up a beta soon. 9800X3d, 4090, 64 GB DDR5 6000 RAM, 4 TB NVME (2x2), 4K Ultra + Framegen
April 21Apr 21 Author Update : Windows port is starting to work! Looks like we can have this across Linux and Windows. Maybe Mac next ? 🙂 9800X3d, 4090, 64 GB DDR5 6000 RAM, 4 TB NVME (2x2), 4K Ultra + Framegen
April 21Apr 21 Author Update: Confirmed working on Windows 11 as well (and Windows 10)! Just got it working on Win 11 Pro, latest version, all updates applied. 🙂 This is really nice for anyone with a force feedback stick. I'll be launching the beta this week, just cleaning up stuff. Edited April 21Apr 21 by JonathanC 9800X3d, 4090, 64 GB DDR5 6000 RAM, 4 TB NVME (2x2), 4K Ultra + Framegen
April 23Apr 23 Author Coming up real soon! 9800X3d, 4090, 64 GB DDR5 6000 RAM, 4 TB NVME (2x2), 4K Ultra + Framegen
April 23Apr 23 Author And here you go -> https://ffb-bridge.com 9800X3d, 4090, 64 GB DDR5 6000 RAM, 4 TB NVME (2x2), 4K Ultra + Framegen
April 26Apr 26 Just to reiterate how good this app is. If you've got a MSFFB2 Sidewinder laid up in a cupboard somewhere, now is the time to dig it out and give this a go!
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