Hi,
Do you have the latest drivers installed?
http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.php?pg=view_files&gid=1&fid=2&pid=33&cid=1
Before you setup your wheel in rfactor you need to check if windows is recognizing it. Go to your config-screen/Hardware/appliances and then right click your wheel and see if it responds and if so, calibrate the wheel and see if each button/pedal etc works.
If it works, there should be little reason why your wheel should not work in rf as it auto-detects by default.
There are some settings within rfactor control-settings where you can choose wheel types or even keyboard but even that hardly will effect rf recognizing a wheel (still test that out if issues maintain)
Make sure you don't have additional controllers plugged in though, tablet/pen/joystick/sexrobots. they all can intervene with controls, especially the sexrobots.
As for rf crashing. did it work the first time? you know, the default game with no extra content installed?
What kind of errors did you get when it crashed?
rf crashing is usually because of mods/tracks/plugins installed. either something don't work properly or it was installed the wrong way. see if you can get rf to run on default car/track so you know its not the sim itself.
It might be a track, but it also might be a mod, errors are a good indication on what's happening. if you don't get those perhaps uninstalling the latest item you installed might do the trick. tracks can be simply deleted in the Vehicles folder, mods are a bit of work, unzip the mod you installed in a temp folder and just check where it would place its files and folders into rf and manually remove the same files and folders from rf.
For future reference, that's is imo also the best way to install mods, unzip in temp and just manually copy over everything as apposed to unzipping into rf or even using an exe. Not all mod-structures are created effectively.
