RC4.6.2 and updater 2.0.7 publication evidence, 2026-09-14¶

Historical record. This preserves the source, tests and limitations recorded at the time; it is not current setup guidance. See the documentation index.

Release identity¶

• DS4Windows tag: VIIPERRC4.6.2, annotated at 6147981d7720636d1b46d3586efe48e6aaecd9a4 after exact-source main CI passed.
• Title: Release Candidate 4.6.2 — Game Mods, Safer Updates & Startup.
• Windows application/MSI/Burn version: 5.0.8.0; package version: 5.0.8.0-rc4.6.2.
• DS4Windows release ID: 388716585; published 2026-09-14 21:24:29 UTC, retaining prerelease status and not selected as stable/latest.
• Companion updater: v2.0.7, source 8ee7b0c0fd7ff6045f75159ee06f7cedd192150b, release ID 388719659; published 2026-09-14 21:24:00 UTC, verified as the stable updater /latest before DS4Windows publication.
• The DS4Windows package is an explicitly authorized unsigned named release candidate, not a signed stable release. Neither older published assets nor release tags were replaced.

Changes and compatibility limits are in the tagged release notes: optional local DSX trigger/light support, #99 custom-named portable updates, #77 startup preference/recovery, #46 shifted extras, and reviewed contributor tests. The original RunDS4Windows and RunVIIPER task names remain. Nintendo rumble gain/cadence and PCM audio encoding are not retuned.

Source and build gates¶

• Full local DS4Windows x64 Release suite: 6,367 passed, zero failed, 11 gated skips. A subsequent strengthened bootstrap test passed all 27 focused cases. Its valid-name positive control prevents the minimum-updater-version gate from falsely satisfying the unsafe-path negative test.
• The native-shadow allocation assertion remains strict: zero allocated bytes over 6,000 warmed observations; the deliberate-allocation positive control also passes.
• All 33 Python package/localization/source-notice checks passed. The final package adds the full MIT attribution for the adapted DSX trigger effects; the committed notice blob is 7fc3bab4621fdcc4d6d56ab3d705e96ecb48d949.
• Exact-source main CI 34896350226 passed tests, package validation, offline installer layout, MSI install/repair/uninstall, and upgrade from published RC4.5.5 with profile preservation. These MSI operations run on a disposable hosted runner, not this PC.
• Exact-tag draft release build 34897487486 passed and produced the complete 13-asset draft without overwriting assets.
• Updater source CI 34896470250 and independent exact-source rebuild 34897283512 passed. Both architectures were byte-identical across both builds. Seventeen pure release-asset identity tests cover duplicate, mismatch and no-overwrite behavior.

Final downloaded artifacts¶

The 12 receipt-listed assets match the successful exact-source build receipt; all 13 assets, including that receipt, match GitHub digests/sizes, Actions uploader, release ID and tag. The two source archive comments identify their corresponding commits. Both changelog sources and the added MIT notice match the tagged Git blobs, permitting only Git's CRLF-to-LF text-export normalization where required.

• Portable package: 554 files, 297 dependency assets and 23 application satellite assemblies. The EXE, DLL and application satellites carry 5.0.8.0; application release identity is VIIPERRC4.6.2.
• Against the published RC4.6.1 package, 503 unchanged binary assets were hash-matched and 14 text assets content-verified; the additional MIT notice is explicitly required and source-bound.
• Passive WiX extraction: 8 Burn payloads, 552 MSI files, 550 byte-identical shared installer/portable payloads, 550 managed entries and 551 hashed manifest entries.
• Both portable VIIPER paths match the unchanged binary pin 9A334912E26FAC09C6DF17BA75A272A41D871D9BBE14934D06F983E101F3DF3C. VIIPER remains 0.1.5-rc4.6, source c2fc304bc21f829ddb35b9e3e3d6b6ac0a9198a7; corresponding-source ZIP hash 19C59D787B04F9597B47D40D7F6BA18F8837A8F590397A41F5E456F4A80A5787.
• The required Xbox output identity is present and matches 2A85D3395529C7305F55338E4965A7FFD4E269DDE535FA41BD98BC54D67111C4. USB/IP remains 0.9.7.7. No separate broker release is required.

#99: delivered updater behavior¶

The actual CI single-file updater was passively inspected using the official .NET bundle format; no updater apphost was launched. The extracted x64 production assembly has SHA-256 0ECE33AC3575BEDD7030A1E4BB76BC4D9F64A0E77DEFE5F13BB337F0E0C3FC52 and product identity 2.0.7+8ee7b0c0fd7ff6045f75159ee06f7cedd192150b.

An isolated test harness bound to that actual delivered assembly passed 386 existing cases, including both hash-pinned historical package fixtures. The remaining actual RC4.6.2 package fixture then passed separately: 387 cases covered, zero failures. It applied the final ZIP through two selected custom EXE names, checking every payload, canonical DLL/runtime sidecars, transformed ownership, exact version/channel and synthetic user-data preservation. This exercised the real updater transaction implementation, not a second implementation of its algorithm.

The fix remaps only the apphost, removes an obsolete default EXE only when owned, and preserves required canonical dependencies. Newly selected unowned destinations are rejected before file changes. Legacy adoption is restricted to the exact initiating apphost and matching canonical identity/sidecars; locked identity checks and rollback regressions passed. A verified target older than 5.0.8.0 cannot receive the custom-only layout. This is a target compatibility boundary, not a hardcoded release-tag allowlist; older initiating apps can upgrade to RC4.6.2 or a compatible future release.

The actual CI updater also passed 6 draft-policy checks and 22 public-policy checks against the real release receipt/API metadata. RC4.5.9, RC4.6 and RC4.6.1 select RC4.6.2; exact 5.0.8.0 identity resolves. Equal/downgrade, draft, damaged receipt, mismatched semantic identity, URL, duplicate asset and size cases reject. RC4.6.2 requires updater 2.0.7 or a compatible later verified version.

Publication audit¶

Independent review cleared both complete drafts before publication. The updater was published first with both verified assets already present, then DS4Windows. Public metadata confirmed stable/latest updater selection and DS4Windows prerelease status. All 13 DS4Windows asset IDs, sizes and hashes remain unchanged from the audited draft.

The DS4Windows publication-event workflow 34898634102 passed its fresh public-download audit. The build job was skipped: no released bytes were rebuilt or replaced.

The updater publication-event workflow 34898586876 also passed on the exact tagged source. Both rebuilt architectures matched the already published assets; the same-hash guard accepted them without replacement. Anonymous public metadata and download URLs were verified, and the two older updater 2.0.6 assets retain their original IDs, sizes and hashes.

Evidence and limitations¶

• Local evidence: isolated_results/rc462-publication/draft-final/FINAL-PACKAGE-AUDIT.json, public-assets-final.json, and rc462-updater-{draft,public}-policy.json; updater extraction, dual-build and transaction evidence is under the sibling updater repository's _results/updater-2.0.7 directory.
• Final downloadable files are retained in Desktop/DS4Windows-RC4.6.2-Release/release-assets. Source and package checks did not execute the downloaded app, setup, MSI, broker, updater apphost or extracted installer helpers on this PC.
• No live controller session, installed application, real startup task, registry entry or driver was changed locally by release preparation. Automated tests do not replace physical controller/game-mod or full reboot/logon/UAC acceptance; those limits remain explicit in the release notes.
• This record is committed after verification. The release tags remain at the tested source commits, not at this later evidence-only commit.