Release Candidate 4.5.3 Hotfix — Reliable Stop & Reconnect

Release Candidate 4.5.3 Hotfix — Reliable Stop & Reconnect

This hotfix addresses a reproduced shutdown deadlock that could leave Stop disabled until DS4Windows restarted. It also protects a newly reconnected controller from delayed cleanup belonging to its previous connection.

What's fixed

• Controller-removal callbacks no longer block a worker that Stop is waiting to finish. Cleanup remains serialized and tied to the exact connection.
• DS4 and DualSense recognize error 995 caused by their own deliberate Stop cancellation. Unexpected 995 errors and other read failures still retain their diagnostics and removal handling.
• A worker calling Stop cannot try to join or interrupt itself.
• Delayed removal cannot delete a replacement controller that reused the same device path or address. Hotplug also rejects controllers already being removed.
• DS4Updater 2.0.6 removes the per-release version allowlist for future release candidates using verified build metadata. Package integrity and downgrade checks remain enforced.

Before you update

Close DS4Windows before installing or replacing files, and back up your profiles. Extract the complete portable ZIP; do not replace only DS4Windows.exe. Portable users on RC4.5.1 or older should use the ZIP for the initial upgrade—the safe updater entry point arrived in RC4.5.2.

The portable package remains complete, with the unchanged VIIPER 0.1.3-rc4.5, matching viiper.exe, Xbox emulation identity, required runtime, and offline dependency installers. No new broker installation is required solely for this hotfix. Portable updating to RC4.5.3 uses the separately published DS4Updater 2.0.6.

Validation and limits

The versioned build passed 4,918 automated tests, with zero failures and 11 existing opt-in skips. This includes 29 new shutdown/reconnect regression cases and three release-ordering checks. The updater passed 313 tests. Both projects passed independent GitHub builds; the installer and complete portable package were verified against their build records and GitHub asset hashes.

The separate report of an unexpected read failure before pressing Stop remains under investigation. This release does not claim its initiating cause has been identified or fixed. Tests reproduce the shutdown/removal race and verify cancellation and reconnect ownership; they do not establish physical confirmation of the reporter's session.

This is an unsigned prerelease, not a signed stable release. Release tag: VIIPERRC4.5.3. Windows file version: 5.0.5.3.