Logitech RS50 Linux Driver

Warning This driver is under active development and may contain bugs or incomplete features. Use at your own risk. This disclaimer will be removed once the driver reaches a stable release.

Linux kernel driver for the Logitech RS50 Direct Drive Wheel Base (USB ID 046d:c276).

This is a patched version of the hid-logitech-hidpp driver that adds RS50 support with force feedback (FF_CONSTANT) and exposes all G Hub settings via sysfs for runtime configuration.

Note: This driver replaces the in-kernel hid-logitech-hidpp module and continues to support all other Logitech HID++ devices (mice, keyboards, other racing wheels like the G29, G920, G923, etc.).

G Pro Racing Wheel Note: The G Pro (046d:c272) is a direct-drive wheel like the RS50, but its FFB architecture is not yet confirmed. It may use either the standard HID++ Feature 0x8123 (like G920/G923) or dedicated endpoints (like RS50). If you own a G Pro and want to help, see our USB Capture Guide for instructions on capturing the protocol data we need.

Features

• Force Feedback

  • FF_CONSTANT: Constant force effects (used by all modern racing games)
  • FF_GAIN: Master gain control

• Complete Input Support

  • All 17 buttons mapped
  • 8-direction D-pad
  • High-resolution wheel axis (up to 2700°)
  • 16-bit pedal axes (throttle, brake, clutch)

• G Hub Settings via sysfs

  • Mode switching (Desktop vs Onboard profiles)
  • Rotation range (90-2700°)
  • FFB strength, damping, TRUEFORCE
  • Sensitivity (Desktop mode) / Brake force (Onboard mode)
  • FFB filter level and auto mode
  • LIGHTSYNC LED colors, effects, direction, brightness

• Pedal Customization

  • Response curves (linear, low sensitivity, high sensitivity)
  • Configurable deadzones
  • Combined pedals mode for older games

Button Mapping

Buttons use sequential indices matching Windows DirectInput for cross-platform compatibility.

Index	Button
0	A
1	X
2	B
3	Y
4	Right Paddle / Gear Right
5	Left Paddle / Gear Left
6	RT (Right Trigger)
7	LT (Left Trigger)
8	Camera/View
9	Menu
10	RSB (Right Stick)
11	LSB (Left Stick)
21	Right Encoder CW
22	Right Encoder CCW
23	Right Encoder Push
24	Left Encoder CW
25	Left Encoder CCW
26	Left Encoder Push
27	G1 (Logitech logo)

D-pad reports as hat switch (ABS_HAT0X / ABS_HAT0Y).

Note: Indices 12-20 are gaps in the HID descriptor (unused).

Requirements

• Linux kernel 5.15+ (tested on 5.15, 6.8, 6.12, 6.18)
• Kernel headers for your running kernel
• Build tools: make, clang or gcc

Installation

Step 1: Build the Driver

git clone https://github.com/mescon/logitech-rs50-linux-driver.git
cd logitech-rs50-linux-driver/mainline
make

Step 2: Install with DKMS (Recommended)

DKMS automatically rebuilds the driver when you update your kernel.

# Install DKMS if not already installed
# Arch: sudo pacman -S dkms
# Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install dkms
# Fedora: sudo dnf install dkms

# Copy source to DKMS directory
sudo mkdir -p /usr/src/hid-logitech-hidpp-1.0/build
sudo cp mainline/* /usr/src/hid-logitech-hidpp-1.0/build/
sudo cp dkms.conf /usr/src/hid-logitech-hidpp-1.0/

# Register and build with DKMS
sudo dkms add -m hid-logitech-hidpp -v 1.0
sudo dkms build -m hid-logitech-hidpp -v 1.0
sudo dkms install -m hid-logitech-hidpp -v 1.0

Step 3: Blacklist the In-Kernel Driver

The kernel includes an older hid-logitech-hidpp driver without RS50 support. You must blacklist it:

echo "blacklist hid-logitech-hidpp" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-hid-logitech-hidpp.conf
sudo depmod -a

Step 4: Load the Driver

# Unload old driver if loaded
sudo rmmod hid-logitech-hidpp 2>/dev/null

# Load new driver
sudo modprobe hid-logitech-hidpp

# Verify RS50 is detected
dmesg | grep -i "rs50"

You should see: RS50: Force feedback initialized (FF_CONSTANT only)

Quick Test (Without DKMS)

For testing without permanent installation:

cd mainline
make
sudo rmmod hid-logitech-hidpp 2>/dev/null
sudo insmod ./hid-logitech-hidpp.ko
dmesg | grep -i rs50

Usage

Test Force Feedback

# Find your device
ls /dev/input/by-id/ | grep -i logi

# Test FFB (requires linuxconsole package)
fftest /dev/input/by-id/usb-Logitech_RS50*-event-joystick

Configure Settings via sysfs

Settings are exposed at /sys/class/hidraw/hidrawX/device/ (where X varies by system).

# Find your RS50's hidraw device
RS50_DEV=$(ls -d /sys/class/hidraw/*/device/rs50_range 2>/dev/null | head -1 | xargs dirname)
echo "RS50 found at: $RS50_DEV"

# Example: Set rotation to 900 degrees
echo 900 | sudo tee $RS50_DEV/rs50_range

# Example: Set FFB strength to 80%
echo 80 | sudo tee $RS50_DEV/rs50_strength

# Example: Set LED slot to CUSTOM 1 (slot 0)
echo 0 | sudo tee $RS50_DEV/rs50_led_slot

# Example: Set custom rainbow colors for all 10 LEDs (hex RGB triplets)
echo "ff0000 ff7f00 ffff00 00ff00 00ffff 0000ff 7f00ff ff00ff ff0080 ffffff" | sudo tee $RS50_DEV/rs50_led_colors
echo 1 | sudo tee $RS50_DEV/rs50_led_apply

Available sysfs Attributes

Mode and Profile:

Attribute	Range	Description
rs50_mode	desktop/onboard	Operating mode (Desktop or Onboard profiles)
rs50_profile	0-5	Active profile (0=Desktop, 1-5=Onboard profiles)

Force Feedback:

Attribute	Range	Description
rs50_range	90-2700	Rotation range in degrees
rs50_strength	0-100	FFB strength percentage
rs50_damping	0-100	Damping percentage
rs50_trueforce	0-100	TRUEFORCE audio-haptic level
rs50_sensitivity	0-100	Wheel sensitivity (Desktop mode only)
rs50_brake_force	0-100	Brake pedal load cell threshold (Onboard mode only)
rs50_ffb_filter	0-5	FFB smoothing level
rs50_ffb_filter_auto	0-1	Auto FFB filter (0=off, 1=on)

LIGHTSYNC LED Control:

Attribute	Range	Description
rs50_led_slot	0-4	Active custom slot (CUSTOM 1-5)
rs50_led_slot_name	string	Slot name (max 8 chars, stored on device)
rs50_led_slot_brightness	0-100	Per-slot brightness (applied when slot activated)
rs50_led_direction	0-3	Animation direction (0=L→R, 1=R→L, 2=In→Out, 3=Out→In)
rs50_led_colors	hex	10 space-separated RGB hex values (LED1-LED10)
rs50_led_effect	5-9	LED effect (5=custom/static, 6-9=built-in effects)
rs50_led_brightness	0-100	Global LED brightness percentage
rs50_led_apply	(write)	Apply current slot config to device

Pedal Configuration:

Attribute	Range	Description
rs50_combined_pedals	0-1	Combined pedals mode
rs50_throttle_curve	0-2	Throttle response curve (0=linear, 1=low sens, 2=high sens)
rs50_brake_curve	0-2	Brake response curve
rs50_clutch_curve	0-2	Clutch response curve
rs50_throttle_deadzone	"L U"	Throttle deadzone (lower% upper%)
rs50_brake_deadzone	"L U"	Brake deadzone
rs50_clutch_deadzone	"L U"	Clutch deadzone

See docs/SYSFS_API.md for complete API documentation with examples.

Oversteer Compatibility

The driver exposes standard wheel attributes for Oversteer compatibility:

• range - Rotation range (up to 2700°)
• gain - FFB strength
• autocenter - Autocenter strength (stub - see note below)
• combine_pedals - Combined pedals mode
• damper_level - Damping level

Note on autocenter: The autocenter attribute is a stub that stores values locally but doesn't communicate with the device. G Hub doesn't expose an autocenter setting for the RS50, and modern direct-drive wheels don't need hardware centering - games calculate their own centering forces using FF_CONSTANT effects.

Note: Oversteer requires a patch for RS50 support. This patch has been submitted upstream; until merged, you can apply it manually.

The patch (oversteer-rs50-support.patch) adds:

• RS50 device detection (USB ID 046d:c276)
• 2700° rotation range support
• Correct pedal axis mapping
• udev permissions for non-root access

Applying the Patch

Option 1: System package / pip install

# Find where Oversteer is installed
python3 -c "import oversteer; print(oversteer.__file__)"
# Usually: /usr/lib/python3.x/site-packages/oversteer/__init__.py

# Apply patch (adjust path as needed)
cd /usr/lib/python3.x/site-packages/
sudo patch -p1 < /path/to/oversteer-rs50-support.patch

Option 2: From git source

git clone https://github.com/berarma/oversteer.git
cd oversteer
git apply /path/to/oversteer-rs50-support.patch
sudo pip install .

Option 3: Flatpak

Flatpak apps are sandboxed, so you need to extract, patch, and reinstall:

# Export the installed Flatpak to a bundle
flatpak build-bundle ~/.local/share/flatpak/repo oversteer.flatpak \
  io.github.berarma.Oversteer

# Unfortunately, Flatpak bundles can't be easily patched.
# For Flatpak users, the recommended approach is to:
# 1. Uninstall the Flatpak version
flatpak uninstall io.github.berarma.Oversteer

# 2. Install from source with the patch applied (Option 2 above)

# 3. Or wait for the upstream patch to be merged and Flatpak updated

udev Rule (Required for non-root access)

Create /etc/udev/rules.d/99-oversteer-rs50.rules:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="046d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="c276", MODE="0666", TAG+="uaccess"

Then reload:

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

Game Compatibility

The driver works with any game that supports Linux force feedback:

Game	Status	Notes
Native Linux	✓	F1, Dirt Rally 2.0, Euro Truck Simulator 2
Proton/Steam	✓	Assetto Corsa, ACC, iRacing, etc.
Wine	✓	Most racing games via Proton

Games detect the wheel as a standard Linux joystick with FF support. No special configuration needed beyond setting up controls in-game.

Proton Tips

• Enable "Steam Input" → "Gamepad with Joystick Trackpad" for some games
• Some games may need SDL_JOYSTICK_DEVICE=/dev/input/eventX environment variable

Technical Details

The RS50 is a multi-interface USB device:

• Interface 0: Joystick input (30-byte reports) - No HID++ support
• Interface 1: HID++ 4.2 protocol (configuration, settings, feature discovery)
• Interface 2: Force feedback output (64-byte reports on endpoint 0x03)

Architecture Difference: RS50 vs G920/G923

Aspect	G920/G923 (Belt-driven)	RS50 (Direct-drive)
FFB Protocol	HID++ Feature 0x8123	Dedicated USB endpoint
FFB Commands	Via HID++ FAP messages	Raw HID output reports (01 XX)
Interface Layout	Unified	3 separate interfaces
Max Rotation	900°	2700°

Critical Implementation Detail: The RS50 driver must initialize FFB only on Interface 1 (HID++), not Interface 0 (joystick). Interface 0 lacks HID++ support and attempting FFB initialization there causes joystick input to fail. The driver uses HIDPP_QUIRK_RS50_FFB to differentiate from the standard G920 code path.

See docs/RS50_PROTOCOL_SPECIFICATION.md for complete protocol documentation.

Troubleshooting

"Invalid code 768" messages during boot

These are harmless warnings from the HID descriptor declaring more buttons than physically exist. The driver patches the descriptor to prevent them during normal operation.

FFB not working

1. Verify the driver loaded: lsmod | grep hidpp
2. Check dmesg for errors: dmesg | grep -i rs50
3. Ensure you're testing with a game/app that supports FFB

Settings not persisting

sysfs settings are volatile and reset on driver reload. For persistent settings, add commands to a udev rule or startup script.

Wine/Proton claiming the device (no FFB or double input)

Wine can access USB devices directly via its HID backend, bypassing the Linux driver. This causes:

• No force feedback (Wine doesn't understand the RS50 FFB protocol)
• Double/ghost inputs (both Wine and Linux see the device)
• Wheel not detected at all in some games

Solution 1: Disable Wine's direct HID access (Recommended)

Create a file to hide the RS50 from Wine's HID layer:

# For Steam/Proton games, add to your game's launch options:
PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW=0 %command%

# Or disable globally by creating:
echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="046d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="c276", MODE="0000"' | \
  sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-hide-rs50-from-wine.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

Solution 2: Use SDL instead of Wine's dinput

Some games work better with SDL's joystick handling:

# Steam launch options:
SDL_JOYSTICK_HIDAPI=0 %command%

Solution 3: Check hidraw permissions

If Oversteer or sysfs settings don't work, Wine may have grabbed the hidraw device:

# Find your RS50's hidraw device number
ls -la /sys/class/hidraw/*/device/rs50_range 2>/dev/null

# Check who has the device open (replace X with your hidraw number)
sudo lsof /dev/hidrawX

# If wine processes are listed, close them or use Solution 1

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! There are several ways to help:

Code contributions: This driver is forked from JacKeTUs/hid-logitech-hidpp with RS50-specific additions. If your changes apply to other Logitech devices, please consider contributing upstream as well.

Testing: Try the driver and report issues. Include your kernel version, distribution, and any relevant dmesg output.

USB captures: Own a Logitech wheel that isn't fully supported (like the G Pro Racing Wheel)? You can help by capturing USB traffic from G Hub on Windows. No coding required. See the USB Capture Guide for instructions.

License

GPL-2.0-only (same as the Linux kernel)

Acknowledgments

• RS50 USB protocol reverse-engineered using Wireshark captures from G Hub on Windows
• Based on JacKeTUs/hid-logitech-hidpp which adds G Pro wheel support and improved FFB
• Upstream Linux kernel hid-logitech-hidpp driver by Benjamin Tissoires and contributors
• Oversteer by Bernat Arlandis for the wheel configuration GUI