Dark Hero audio drivers for Windows 11 pulled?

[PavelPr]

Hi!

About a week ago, I browsed to the support page for the ASUS Crosshair VIII Dark Hero (at https://rog.asus.com/us/motherboards/rog-crosshair/rog-crosshair-viii-dark-hero-model/helpdesk_downl...), and in the Windows 11 section, I could see a new Realtek audio driver (file name DRV_Audio_RTK_UWD_SS3_DTSS_TP_W11_64_V6092441_20211112R.zip). I downloaded the file but haven't had the chance to install it yet.

Today, having browsed to the same page, I can no longer see said driver there. Interestingly, an updated Windows 11 audio driver for the Crosshair VIII Hero is still accessible at its respective support page. Given that both Hero and Dark Hero share the same audio hardware, I am puzzled as to why that is.

Has the audio driver been pulled? and if such is indeed the case -- why?

Thanks!

[D_BRASCO]

You can find the drivers here "MoKiChU" posts updated drivers all time. Realtek Audio Drivers (UAD - ASUS ROG SS3-DTS MB) :

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?117596-DRIVERS-Realtek-Audio-(MB-Intel-2xx-3xx-4xx-5xx-amp...

[PavelPr]

D_BRASCO wrote:
You can find the drivers here "MoKiChU" posts updated drivers all time. Realtek Audio Drivers (UAD - ASUS ROG SS3-DTS MB) :

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?117596-DRIVERS-Realtek-Audio-(MB-Intel-2xx-3xx-4xx-5xx-amp...

Hi,

Thanks for your reply!

I am aware of that thread, and I am appreciative of the work that's being done there to support owners of ASUS motherboards, with regards to audio drivers. That being said, I prefer obtaining device drivers only from the hardware vendor itself.

I downloaded the driver on from the ASUS website on December 31, and if my memory serves me right -- that download was still available about a week ago. Two days ago, having browsed to the same URL, I could no longer find said driver. I am therefore interested in knowing the exact reason why this driver was removed, and subsequently, whether or not I should refrain from installing my previously-downloaded copy.

[PavelPr]

Hi,

It has been over two weeks now since I initially opened this thread.

Would it be possible for someone from ASUS to comment why these drivers were removed for the Dark Hero (that is, especially considering the fact that said drivers continue to be available for download on the Crosshair VIII Hero page, while both motherboards apparently share the same audio hardware)?

[xeromist]

PavelPr wrote:
Would it be possible for someone from ASUS to comment

Be aware that this is primarily a community forum. There are a few ASUS people that visit here but they don't answer every thread. Also I don't believe any of them work on the actual drivers so they might not know the answer.

Hopefully there will be new updates for Win11 drivers soon so you won't have to worry about using that old one.

On a side note, Mokichu doesn't write or edit the actual drivers, just organizes and repackages them. So while he's not affiliated with ASUS I don't believe any of his releases should ever harm your system.

[PavelPr]

xeromist wrote:
Be aware that this is primarily a community forum. There are a few ASUS people that visit here but they don't answer every thread. Also I don't believe any of them work on the actual drivers so they might not know the answer.

Hopefully there will be new updates for Win11 drivers soon so you won't have to worry about using that old one.

On a side note, Mokichu doesn't write or edit the actual drivers, just organizes and repackages them. So while he's not affiliated with ASUS I don't believe any of his releases should ever harm your system.

While I appreciate the work that is being done by MoKiChU in supporting this community, I prefer to use only device driver software that is both approved and distributed by the hardware vendor.

skrybe wrote:
I downloaded and installed the (win 10) 9244 drivers on my Dark Hero a couple weeks back. Since then I've had multiple random hard lock ups in windows while gaming. Complete hard locks - need to reboot the PC. In every case when it locks up there is a repeating, screeching audio sound playing non-stop. My guess would be that there is something wrong with these drivers so they've been pulled. I was coming here to see if there was any discussion about them before I rolled back to the previous drivers.

Now this is starting to make sense. Look what I found:

https://linustechtips.com/topic/1400985-asus-x570-dark-hero-crashinghanging-system/

Assuming that the OP in the above LTT thread refers to the same driver version, then this seems to be a recurring issue. It makes sense then for these drivers to be pulled. Still, however, this does not explain the reason why these drivers were pulled for the C8DH and not for the C8H -- seeing that both boards share the exact same audio hardware.

Regardless, ASUS should do a better job at communicating things like that to its customers; drivers are usually being pulled for a reason, and it would be appropriate to inform customers with regards to the reason underlying said removal (in case that some customers already have the pulled drivers in their possession).

[PavelPr]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply!

I am aware of that thread, and I am appreciative of the work that's being done there to support owners of ASUS motherboards, with regards to audio drivers. That being said, I prefer obtaining device driver software only from the hardware vendor itself.

I downloaded the driver on from the ASUS website on December 31, and if my memory serves me right -- that download was still available about a week ago. Two days ago, having browsed to the same URL, I could no longer find said driver. I am therefore interested in knowing the exact reason why this driver was pulled, and subsequently, whether or not I should refrain from installing my previously-downloaded copy.

[skrybe]

I downloaded and installed the (win 10) 9244 drivers on my Dark Hero a couple weeks back. Since then I've had multiple random hard lock ups in windows while gaming. Complete hard locks - need to reboot the PC. In every case when it locks up there is a repeating, screeching audio sound playing non-stop. My guess would be that there is something wrong with these drivers so they've been pulled. I was coming here to see if there was any discussion about them before I rolled back to the previous drivers.

[BillBittel]

Repeating the info I posted on the other thread about the Dark Hero not having the same exact audio codec as the CX-8 Hero. Asus US site for these boards says the Dark Hero has ROG Supreme FX7.1 Surround Sound High Definition Audio CODEC and the Crosshair VIII Hero has ROG SupremeFX8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC with DTS and ESS. I don' know exactly what the difference is between these 2 codecs but the Hero seems to have the better one, which is surprising. I don't know if that means they should have different drivers.

FWIW, I just checked MoKiChU's link for the ASUS ROG SS3|DTS Sound Unbound motherboards. He has v6.0.9301.1 WHQL [18/01/2022]. This looks like a later version that what PavelPr referenced in his OP. I just confirmed that the CX-8 Hero US support site still has v6.0.9244.1 dated Nov 24,2021 listed for Win10 & 11. CX-8 Dark Hero US support site has v6.0.8960.1dated Nov 03,2020 listed for Win10 but no audio driver for Win11. I understand that OP wants to use drivers from Asus so I am just letting you know that there appears to be a newer version than what Asus has listed for either mobo.

I personally don't like to download drivers from Asus because of all the extra junk they bundle in the zip file. The Asus drivers are also usually several versions behind. I guess from a support standpoint it would be best to only use Asus packaged drivers. Then again, Asus support tends to be people reading from a script, so whatever. I tend to like using the latest versions because I figure they updated them for a reason.

Example - The Asus driver download for my RealTek Wifi driver extracted into 72 assorted files spread across 15 subdirectories. The RealTek driver install package extracts 4 files in one directory. That is what I call BLOAT.

I fully agree that Asus should do a much better job of explaining what is going on with these drivers, and have more interaction on this forum in general. It is the ROG forum after all. To be honest I think that after they have your money they really don't care and only provide service because they have to. This is probably also why the drivers they list on their support sites tend to be out of date.

[PavelPr]

BillBittel wrote:
Repeating the info I posted on the other thread about the Dark Hero not having the same exact audio codec as the CX-8 Hero. Asus US site for these boards says the Dark Hero has ROG Supreme FX7.1 Surround Sound High Definition Audio CODEC and the Crosshair VIII Hero has ROG SupremeFX8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC with DTS and ESS. I don' know exactly what the difference is between these 2 codecs but the Hero seems to have the better one, which is surprising. I don't know if that means they should have different drivers.

Looking at the manuals of both motherboards, the manual for the C8H states that the audio hardware that is applicable thereto is "ROG SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC S1220", while the manual for the C8DH states "ROG SupremeFX 7.1 Surround Sound High Definition Audio CODEC S1220". To my understanding, 7.1 channels are, in fact, 8 channels (7 channels + one low-frequency effects channel) -- which, correct me if I am wrong, is basically equivalent to referencing the same thing.

Indeed, the CODEC model number (S1220) that appears in both manuals is one and the same.

See:

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/ROG_CROSSHAIR_VIII_HERO/E15379_ROG_CROSSHAIR_VIII_HE... (page 10)
https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/ROG_CROSSHAIR_VIII_DARK_HERO/E19368_ROG_CROSSHAIR_VI... (page 😎