Questions

Racing wheel not working on a Mac

Most racing wheel problems on a Mac come down to one of four things: the Mac does not see the wheel at all, the wheel is in a mode the Mac cannot read, the game does not read wheels the way the wheel talks, or two programs are reading it at once. Work down this page in order, because each check rules out the one below it.

I make InputConfig, a free app that maps a wheel to keys, and where it helps I say how, but most of these checks need nothing installed.

On this page: 10 sections

1. Start with the right check
2. If the Mac does not list the wheel
3. If the wheel is in the wrong mode
4. If the game shows the wheel but nothing moves
5. If two programs are reading the wheel
6. If the pedals read wrong
7. If InputConfig does not pick up the wheel
8. What it cannot do
9. The short version
10. Questions

Start with the right check

Find your symptom, then go straight to its fix. Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

1. Not in System Information. Go to if the Mac does not list the wheel.
2. Listed, but few buttons or nothing at all. Go to if the wheel is in the wrong mode.
3. The game shows it, nothing moves. Go to if the game shows the wheel but nothing moves.
4. The car fights itself. Go to if two programs are reading the wheel.
5. The pedals are odd. Go to if the pedals read wrong.
6. InputConfig ignores it. Go to if InputConfig does not pick up the wheel.

Do not look for the wheel under Game Controllers in System Settings: that list is only for gamepads, and a wheel that works perfectly never appears there.

If the Mac does not list the wheel

• You: Hold Option, open the Apple menu, choose System Information, and look under USB.
• macOS: Lists every USB device it sees.
• Check: If the wheel is not there, the problem is below any app. Climb the ladder below.

1. Connect the power supply. A wheel needs its power as well as USB.
2. Skip the hub. Plug straight into the Mac, or into a plain USB-C to USB-A adapter. Some hubs drop game devices.
3. Try another cable. If the wheel's cable is detachable.
4. Plug in again. Unplug, wait a few seconds, and plug in again. A wheel that turns lock to lock on power up is at least getting power.

If System Information does not list it, no app on the Mac can read it.

If the wheel is in the wrong mode

• Logitech G29. The switch on the wheel should be on PS3. InputConfig does not read it in the PS4 position.
• Thrustmaster T300 RS and similar. The base switch should be on PC. In the PS4 or PS5 position a T300 does not declare its wheel or pedals at all.
• Logitech G920 and the Xbox G923. These start in Xbox mode, which is not a standard USB device. A Mac game written for Apple's racing wheel support may read a G920; apps that read USB devices directly, InputConfig included, cannot. See the G923 page.
• Older Logitech wheels. The G27, G25, Driving Force GT and Driving Force Pro start in a compatibility mode with fewer buttons and coarser steering. InputConfig 1.6 switches them out of it when they connect; another app may not.

Change a mode switch with the wheel unplugged, then plug it in again.

InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

If the game shows the wheel but nothing moves

The wheel is fine; the game is the question. Some Mac games are written for Apple's racing wheel support, added in macOS 13, and others read wheels directly, and the second kind is hit and miss on current macOS and Apple silicon.

1. Check the game's controls screen. If the game lists the wheel there, set it up there first.
2. Check its supported wheels. In the game's own documentation.
3. Check its forums. For your wheel and macOS version.
4. Map the wheel to keys. Turn the wheel into the keys the game already understands. The racing wheel page walks through that.

A game that lists the wheel but will not steer can still be driven through its keyboard keys.

If two programs are reading the wheel

If a game reads the wheel and an InputConfig preset maps the same wheel to keys, the car gets both and fights itself. Apple's documentation also says only one app receives a wheel's input at a time through its racing wheel support. Use one or the other per game, and quit other wheel apps before you start a game that uses Apple's support.

If the pedals read wrong

• The gas and brake move one bar together. Several older Logitech wheels describe their pedals as one combined axis. InputConfig 1.6 uses the corrected descriptions Linux uses and reads them separately; other apps may still show one shared axis.
• A pedal reads full with your foot off. Many pedals read -1 at rest to 1 on the floor. In One-Stick Driving, turn on Throttle axis is a trigger (rests at one end). On a plain row, the pedal fires a little past halfway; lower the row's deadzone with Adjust live.
• The throttle runs backward. Turn on Invert throttle in One-Stick Driving.

Pedals as keys has the detail. A pedal that reads full at rest is resting at -1, and one setting fixes it.

If InputConfig does not pick up the wheel

• You: Open InputConfig, Devices in the menu bar.
• InputConfig: Lists every USB device, with a checkmark on the ones it is reading.
• Check: If the wheel is listed without one, tick it. The app opens it directly, and remembers that choice. Rescan Devices runs the search again.

Then open a preset: the Live Visualizer should move with the wheel. A Logitech G29, G923 for PlayStation and PC, or older Logitech wheel is drawn as itself. Other wheels are drawn as a generic device and still read every axis, button and hat.

If the wheel worked in InputConfig 1.5 and its rows stopped working in 1.6, that is expected for Logitech wheels: 1.6 reads them in their own mode, with new button numbers. InputConfig names the presets to rescan the first time the wheel connects, and Check Older Presets Again in Settings shows the list again.

What it cannot do

Force feedback only works in a game that drives your wheel itself. InputConfig sends keys and mouse movement and never drives the motor, so a wheel mapped to keys turns with only its own spring. That is expected, not a fault.

The short version

• Not in System Information. Power, cable, hub.
• Listed but dead. The mode switch: PS3 on a G29, PC on a Thrustmaster. An Xbox-mode wheel cannot be read by apps.
• Game will not steer. Map the wheel to the game's keys.
• InputConfig ignores it. Tick it in the Devices menu.

Start at System Information every time; it tells you which half of the problem you are in.

Questions

Related

• How to connect and use a racing wheel on a Mac
• How to use a Logitech G29 on a Mac
• How to use a Thrustmaster wheel on a Mac
• How to use racing wheel pedals as keys on a Mac
• Controller connected but not detected
• Other controllers
• How to test a racing wheel, joystick or flight stick on a Mac

Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.