launch/shim: run the reported daemon; stop the SDK proxy blocking ACC and AC EVO

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,23 @@ the contract is "it works on RS50 and G Pro as listed here".
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+**The SDK proxy is no longer recommended where it cannot load, and the
+tools catch it.** ACC and AC EVO check the signature of Logitech's library
+before loading it, and the proxy `logi-shim --proxy` puts in its place is
+unsigned, so there the game drops TrueForce and every force the library
+carries, silently. The README, the game setup guide and the apps' setup
+hints recommended the proxy to G923 owners in exactly those two games; they
+now point to Simulated TrueForce. `logi-shim --proxy` warns when it is
+installed for either game, `setup.sh doctor` fails on a prefix that has it,
+and `logi-launch` no longer grants raw HID on the strength of it there,
+since raw HID would then take away the DirectInput force feedback as well.
+It prints the two commands that put Logitech's own library back.
+
+**`logi-launch` starts the `logi-tf-sim` it reports.** The daemon runs as a
+user service, and the user manager looked the binary up on its own PATH, so
+a copy earlier on the game's PATH was named in the log's versions line while
+the installed one ran. The launcher now resolves the binary itself.
+
 **The DiRT Rally 2.0 recipe is written down, end to end.** With the proxy
 turned on (`690790 ffb=proxy`), the telemetry set to `extradata="3"`, and a
 one-line `device_defines.xml` entry that gives the stand-in wheel an

README.md

@@ -434,10 +434,9 @@ generated from the same registry the app uses, so the two cannot disagree.
   Proton prefix (the app's Setup page, or `tools/install-tf-shim.sh`), and
   launch with `logi-launch %command%`, which turns raw HID on for the
   wheels that want it and stages the proxy that answers the SDK's rotation
-  question. Set `PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW=1` by hand only with something
-  answering that question (`tools/install-tf-shim.sh --proxy`): with
-  Logitech's stock library alone the game's steering and force feedback
-  stop on track, and the launcher refuses to set it in that state. The
+  question. Leave `PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW` to the launcher: with Logitech's
+  stock library alone the game's steering and force feedback stop on
+  track, and the launcher refuses to set it in that state. The
   DLLs are the one part nobody can automate, because Logitech's files cannot
   be redistributed. The one-time recipe is on the
   [Force feedback in games](https://github.com/mescon/logitech-trueforce-linux-driver/wiki/Force-Feedback-in-Games)
@@ -447,12 +446,12 @@ generated from the same registry the app uses, so the two cannot disagree.
   **On a G923 the recipe is different, not absent.** That wheel does not
   answer the TrueForce SDK, so `PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW` must stay unset: there
   it does not add TrueForce, it takes away the force feedback you already
-  had. Install the shim with `--proxy` instead. That puts this project's own
-  SDK proxy in the game's path, where it copies the TrueForce the game is
-  already producing and streams it to the wheel directly, so a G923 gets the
-  game's real haptics without the SDK needing to cooperate. The same proxy
-  answers the game's rotation question, which is the packaged fix for the
-  90-degree clamp (#27). See [G923 support](#g923-support).
+  had. For haptics, turn the game on under Simulated TrueForce instead:
+  `logi-tf-sim` synthesizes an engine note from the game's own telemetry,
+  confirmed working on a G923 in ACC and AC EVO. The shim's `--proxy`
+  option does not help in those two: both check the library's signature
+  and refuse the unsigned proxy, so it carries nothing there. See
+  [G923 support](#g923-support).
 
   **Where the SDK files go.** Copy the `Logi` folder out of a Windows G HUB
   install into `~/.local/share/logitech-trueforce/sdk`, keeping its own

docs/GAME_SETUP.md

@@ -35,13 +35,11 @@ game's own telemetry, read out of its shared memory by a small relay
 (`docs/SHARED_MEMORY_RELAY.md`). Confirmed working on a G923 in
 Assetto Corsa Competizione and EVO.
 
-There is a second route that carries the real thing: installing the
-shim with `--proxy` puts this project's own SDK proxy in the game's
-path, where it copies the TrueForce the game is already producing
-and streams it to the wheel. It is the same proxy that ships the
-packaged fix for the 90-degree rotation clamp, so it loads and
-works; the apps do not install it yet, so
-`tools/install-tf-shim.sh --proxy` is how to turn it on.
+The shim's `--proxy` option is not a second route in these games.
+Both check the library's signature before loading it and refuse the
+unsigned proxy, so it carries nothing, and on a wheel that uses
+Logitech's library it costs the game that library's force feedback
+too. `./tools/setup.sh doctor` flags a prefix that has it.
 
 Launch options go in Steam under the game's Properties. Paste them
 exactly, `%command%` included: it is the placeholder Steam replaces
@@ -136,7 +134,7 @@ app's Setup page afterwards.
 ## What each recipe means
 
 - **Install the shim.** Stage Logitech's signed SDK DLLs into the game's Proton prefix, from the app's Setup page or `tools/install-tf-shim.sh`. Install the TrueForce shim once, from the app's Setup page; launch options `logi-launch %command%` (it turns raw HID on, stages the proxy that answers the SDK's rotation question, without which the stock library stops steering and force on track, and everything else this game needs); turn Steam Input off. No engine-note texture merge here: ACC produces its own TrueForce audio, so the merge is not wired for it.
-- **On a wheel with no SDK TrueForce.** Leave PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW unset: on this wheel it costs you force feedback. For haptics, turn this game on under Simulated TrueForce; logi-launch puts the telemetry relay in the game's prefix and starts the daemon for you, and that route is confirmed working on a G923. Installing the shim WITH --proxy carries the game's own TrueForce to the wheel instead, the same proxy that ships the 90-degree rotation fix; the apps install the plain shim, so use tools/install-tf-shim.sh --proxy. Steam Input off.
+- **On a wheel with no SDK TrueForce.** Leave PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW unset: on this wheel it costs you force feedback. For haptics, turn this game on under Simulated TrueForce; logi-launch puts the telemetry relay in the game's prefix and starts the daemon for you, and that route is confirmed working on a G923. Steam Input off.
 - **Launch via logi-ffb.** Launch options `logi-launch %command%` (it keeps raw HID off, runs the logi-ffb helper and puts the telemetry relay in the game's prefix for you); Steam Input off. Simulated TrueForce also needs the community rF2SharedMemoryMapPlugin installed in the game.
 - **Nothing to do.** The wheel is an ordinary Linux force feedback device and the game drives it directly.
 

tools/install-tf-shim.sh

@@ -261,14 +261,15 @@
   --sdk-dir <path>             Directory holding your Logitech SDK DLLs
                                (default: \$LOGITECH_TRUEFORCE_SDK_DIR, the repo
                                sdk/ tree, or $(default_sdk_dir))
-  --proxy                      Also install this project's SDK proxy. It does
-                               two things: answers the rotation question so a
-                               game stops clamping the wheel to 90 degrees
-                               (#27), and carries the game's own TrueForce to
-                               a wheel Logitech's SDK will not drive, which is
-                               how a G923 gets TrueForce in ACC and AC EVO.
-                               Spelled --range-proxy before it did the second
-                               job; both names still work.
+  --proxy                      Also install this project's SDK proxy, which
+                               answers the rotation question (#27) and copies
+                               TrueForce samples a game hands the library to
+                               logi-tf-sim. It is unsigned, and games that
+                               check the library's signature refuse it: ACC
+                               and AC EVO then run with no TrueForce and no
+                               force from the library at all, so do not use
+                               it for them. Spelled --range-proxy before it
+                               did the second job; both names still work.
   --oem-ffb                    Also install G HUB's DirectInput force-feedback
                                driver (hidpp_forcefeedback), from a "Logitech"
                                folder beside the "Logi" one. Windows routes
@@ -377,6 +378,15 @@
 			mv -f "$tf_dir/trueforce_sdk_x64.dll" "$tf_dir/trueforce_real.dll"
 			install -m 0644 "$proxy" "$tf_dir/trueforce_sdk_x64.dll"
 			echo "  rotation shim installed in $prefix"
+			# These two verify the library's signature before loading it,
+			# and the proxy is unsigned (docs/DINPUT_ESCAPE.md).
+			case $prefix in
+			*/compatdata/805550/pfx|*/compatdata/805550/pfx/|*/compatdata/3058630/pfx|*/compatdata/3058630/pfx/)
+				echo "  WARNING: this game checks the library's signature and refuses the proxy:" >&2
+				echo "           it will run with no TrueForce and no force from the library." >&2
+				echo "           Undo: $0 --uninstall-prefix \"$prefix\", then --prefix without --proxy." >&2
+				;;
+			esac
 		else
 			echo "  WARNING: --range-proxy asked for but tf-range-proxy.dll was not found" >&2
 			echo "           in the checkout or /usr/share/logitech-trueforce/." >&2

tools/logi-launch.sh

@@ -302,6 +302,16 @@
 		[ -f "$f" ] && have_tf_proxy=1 && break
 	done
 fi
+# ACC and AC EVO check the library's signature before loading it and
+# refuse the unsigned proxy, so there it answers nothing: the SDK never
+# loads, the game falls back to DirectInput, and raw HID would then take
+# that force feedback away as well (AC EVO, 2026-09-24).
+tf_proxy_refused=0
+if [ "$have_tf_proxy" = "1" ]; then
+	case "${SteamAppId:-${SteamGameId:-0}}" in
+	805550|3058630) tf_proxy_refused=1; have_tf_proxy=0 ;;
+	esac
+fi
 
 # Nonzero when the plan granted the game raw HID access (an SDK title):
 # those sessions can leave the wheel's TrueForce engine started, so they
@@ -360,7 +370,16 @@
 	   [ -r "$(share_file dinput8-escape.dll 2>/dev/null || echo /nonexistent)" ]; then
 		can_stage_proxy=1
 	fi
-	if [ "$have_tf_files" = "1" ] && [ "$have_tf_proxy" = "0" ] && \
+	if [ "$tf_proxy_refused" = "1" ]; then
+		export PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW=0
+		say "NOT setting PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW: this prefix has the SDK proxy"
+		say "(logi-shim --proxy), and this game checks the library's"
+		say "signature and refuses it, so the SDK never loads here and raw HID"
+		say "would only take away the force feedback you have. To get the"
+		say "game's TrueForce back, reinstall the shim without the proxy:"
+		say "  logi-shim --uninstall-prefix \"$prefix_root/pfx\""
+		say "  logi-shim --prefix \"$prefix_root/pfx\"   (tools/install-tf-shim.sh from a checkout)"
+	elif [ "$have_tf_files" = "1" ] && [ "$have_tf_proxy" = "0" ] && \
 	   [ "$can_stage_proxy" = "0" ]; then
 		export PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW=0
 		say "NOT setting PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW: Logitech's TrueForce files are in"
@@ -795,17 +814,21 @@
 	# Steam, a system without a user manager), the daemon runs as a child
 	# of this wrapper instead and is stopped when the game exits, which
 	# is the honest alternative: a later session starts it again.
+	# The service is started by the user manager, which searches its own
+	# PATH, not this session's; the binary is resolved here so the daemon
+	# that runs is the one the versions line above reported.
 	start_tf_sim() {
+		tfsim_bin=$(command -v logi-tf-sim 2>/dev/null || echo logi-tf-sim)
 		if command -v systemd-run >/dev/null 2>&1 && \
 		   systemd-run --user --quiet --collect \
 			--description="logi-tf-sim (started by logi-launch)" \
 			--property=StandardOutput=append:"$LOG" \
 			--property=StandardError=append:"$LOG" \
-			env "$@" logi-tf-sim 2>/dev/null; then
+			env "$@" "$tfsim_bin" 2>/dev/null; then
 			say "logi-tf-sim runs as a user service, outside Steam's process tree"
 			return 0
 		fi
-		setsid env "$@" logi-tf-sim >>"$LOG" 2>&1 </dev/null &
+		setsid env "$@" "$tfsim_bin" >>"$LOG" 2>&1 </dev/null &
 		tfsim_child_pid=$!
 		say "logi-tf-sim runs as a child of this session (no user service manager here); it stops when the game exits"
 	}

tools/setup.sh

@@ -625,7 +625,13 @@ doctor() {
 		# that, the four calls the shim answers itself keep working and
 		# the fifty-four it forwards do not, which is a wheel that steers
 		# to full lock and produces no force at all (issue #27).
-		local proxied=0 orphaned=0
+		#
+		# ACC and AC EVO check the library's signature before loading it
+		# and refuse the unsigned proxy outright, so there the shim costs
+		# the game its TrueForce and every force the library would have
+		# sent, with nothing in any log to say why (measured on AC EVO,
+		# 2026-09-24; docs/DINPUT_ESCAPE.md).
+		local proxied=0 orphaned=0 refused="" refused_n=0
 		while IFS= read -r root; do
 			for appid in $SDK_SIM_APPIDS; do
 				local d; d=$(ls -d "$root/steamapps/compatdata/$appid/pfx/$TF_PFX_DIR_REL/"*/ 2>/dev/null | tail -1)
@@ -636,12 +642,23 @@ doctor() {
 				grep -aq "trueforce_real" "$d/trueforce_sdk_x64.dll" 2>/dev/null || continue
 				proxied=$((proxied+1))
 				[ -f "$d/trueforce_real.dll" ] || orphaned=$((orphaned+1))
+				case $appid in
+				805550|3058630)
+					refused_n=$((refused_n+1))
+					refused="$refused$root/steamapps/compatdata/$appid/pfx
+" ;;
+				esac
 			done
 		done <<< "$roots"
+		local pfx
+		while IFS= read -r pfx; do
+			[ -n "$pfx" ] || continue
+			bad "rotation shim installed in $pfx, a game that refuses it: no TrueForce and no force from Logitech's library there (fix: ./tools/install-tf-shim.sh --uninstall-prefix \"$pfx\", then --prefix \"$pfx\" without --proxy)"
+		done <<< "$refused"
 		if [ "$orphaned" -gt 0 ]; then
 			bad "rotation shim installed in $orphaned prefix(es) without Logitech's library beside it - those games get no force feedback (re-run: ./tools/install-tf-shim.sh --all-steam --range-proxy)"
-		elif [ "$proxied" -gt 0 ]; then
-			ok "rotation shim installed in $proxied SDK sim(s), with Logitech's library beside it"
+		elif [ "$proxied" -gt "$refused_n" ]; then
+			ok "rotation shim installed in $((proxied-refused_n)) SDK sim(s), with Logitech's library beside it"
 		fi
 	fi
 

userspace/logi-wheel/crates/logi-wheel-core/src/games.rs

@@ -502,9 +502,7 @@ impl GameCompat {
             // has nothing to synthesise from, so it must not be offered.
             "Leave PROTON_ENABLE_HIDRAW unset: on this wheel it costs you \
              force feedback, and this game publishes no telemetry yet, so \
-             there is no simulated TrueForce to turn on either. Installing \
-             the shim WITH --proxy carries the game's own TrueForce to the \
-             wheel instead (tools/install-tf-shim.sh --proxy). Steam Input \
+             there is no simulated TrueForce to turn on either. Steam Input \
              off."
         } else if self.ffb == Ffb::TrueForceShim && !caps.sdk_trueforce {
             // Worded as "not available on this wheel" rather than "this
@@ -515,11 +513,7 @@ impl GameCompat {
              force feedback. For haptics, turn this game on under Simulated \
              TrueForce; logi-launch puts the telemetry relay in the game's \
              prefix and starts the daemon for you, and that route is \
-             confirmed working on a G923. Installing the shim WITH --proxy \
-             carries the game's own TrueForce to the wheel instead, the same \
-             proxy that ships the 90-degree rotation fix; the apps install \
-             the plain shim, so use tools/install-tf-shim.sh --proxy. Steam \
-             Input off."
+             confirmed working on a G923. Steam Input off."
         } else {
             self.setup
         }

userspace/logi-wheel/crates/logi-wheel-core/src/steam.rs

@@ -331,8 +331,8 @@ pub fn resolve_sdk_dir(field: &str, installer: Option<&Path>) -> Option<PathBuf>
 /// The plain shim, without the SDK proxy: the rotation question the SDK
 /// must have answered under Proton is answered by the dinput8 escape
 /// proxy `logi-launch` stages for every native-TrueForce session. The SDK
-/// proxy (`--proxy`) stays a by-hand route; ACC on an RS50 would not load
-/// it at all (2026-09-05), while it is what carries TrueForce to a G923.
+/// proxy (`--proxy`) stays a by-hand route: it is unsigned, and ACC and
+/// AC EVO check the library's signature and refuse it outright.
 pub fn shim_install_args(prefix: &str, sdk_dir: Option<&Path>) -> Vec<String> {
     let mut args = vec!["--prefix".to_string(), prefix.to_string()];
     if let Some(dir) = sdk_dir {

userspace/logi-wheel/crates/logi-wheel-core/tests/game_setup_doc.rs

@@ -111,13 +111,11 @@ fn render() -> String {
          game's own telemetry, read out of its shared memory by a small relay\n\
          (`docs/SHARED_MEMORY_RELAY.md`). Confirmed working on a G923 in\n\
          Assetto Corsa Competizione and EVO.\n\n\
-         There is a second route that carries the real thing: installing the\n\
-         shim with `--proxy` puts this project's own SDK proxy in the game's\n\
-         path, where it copies the TrueForce the game is already producing\n\
-         and streams it to the wheel. It is the same proxy that ships the\n\
-         packaged fix for the 90-degree rotation clamp, so it loads and\n\
-         works; the apps do not install it yet, so\n\
-         `tools/install-tf-shim.sh --proxy` is how to turn it on.\n\n",
+         The shim's `--proxy` option is not a second route in these games.\n\
+         Both check the library's signature before loading it and refuse the\n\
+         unsigned proxy, so it carries nothing, and on a wheel that uses\n\
+         Logitech's library it costs the game that library's force feedback\n\
+         too. `./tools/setup.sh doctor` flags a prefix that has it.\n\n",
     );
     out.push_str(
         "Launch options go in Steam under the game's Properties. Paste them\n\