Latest iCUE update broke installed iCUE, iCUE installer, and Windows app management

[gyroknight]

My system has an AX1600i and an H150i ELITE LCD XT. I was prompted to install the latest firmware updates and iCUE version from a notification in the app, which then requested that I restart iCUE to finish the installation. I pressed the Restart Now button and iCUE closed but didn't relaunch even after over 10 minutes, so I restarted the PC. After the restart, I'm now stuck with the following issues:

• iCUE can still launch, but only shows the AIO screen, the PSU and NVIDIA GPU plugins are gone.
• Sensor 2, which was assigned to the CPU's temperature is now gone. There are no CPU-related sensors to select from anymore.
• I downloaded the latest iCUE installer to try and repair the installation. It reports that the latest version of iCUE is installed, but every option is broken in some way:
  • Open iCUE causes a file not found error with the message "Windows cannot find '\iCUE.exe'."
  • Repair the App crashes the installer while downloading pre-installation packages at 64 or 65% every time
  • Uninstall iCUE goes through device detection, then tries to install iCUE for some reason, but can't because the iCUE installation folder isn't empty for obvious reasons.
• Going through Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps shows Corsair iCUE5 Software v5.14.93, but both Modify and Uninstall are greyed out.

Seems like there's some pretty major bugs with this release, how does an auto update manage to break so many things?

[c-attack]

1 hour ago, gyroknight said:

Sensor 2, which was assigned to the CPU's temperature is now gone. There are no CPU-related sensors to select from anymore.

AMD CPU?  This is a known issue in the current release.

 

Th rest is likely a result of the failed install (before you restarted) and unfortunately the most prevalent issue with CUE 5.  You need to clean install CUE and there are two main paths to do it.  But first, make sure you export and valuable profiles.  Despite the missing gear, the profile data in CUE still contains the info for any missing devices including those not currently connected.  You will be able to reimport them after to restore them.

 

1) Manual -> Reboot the PC to safe mode.  Try the uninstall there.  Then follow the directions below for how to delete Corsair User settings.  Then you need to clean the registry.  Corsair used to include directions for this, but have recently removed them.  I imagine a few users did not follow them properly.

https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025166712-iCUE-How-to-perform-a-clean-reinstallation-of-iCUE

You need to Command (R)un -> "regedit" to bring up the registry.  Then navigate to H_Key Current User -> Software and find the Corsair folder. Delete it.  Even when properly uninstalled, it always leaves behind an audio file here.  Now go to H_Key Local Machine -> Software and again delete the Corsair folder there.  Restart the PC to return to normal mode

 

2) Software Assisted - I have been recommending people user Revo Uninstaller or other professional software removal tools.  Corsair is now doing the same, presumably so users don't have to tinker in the registry themselves.  Revo will grant the elevated privileges necessary to remove it and the registry entries.  Safe Mode is a pain too, so this is often the better path.  The free version is sufficient.  No need to buy anything.  

 

The rub is for some users one way works and the other does not.  We haven't figured out why, but it appears the files can become corrupted in different ways.  I would try the Revo version first because it is easier and faster.  

[gyroknight]

Performing a clean install ended up being much harder than expected. I didn't end up trying the Revo Uninstaller method because I didn't want to install another program.

Safe Mode

• Even when booting with Safe Mode with Networking, my PC doesn't load the drivers for any of the network adapters so there was no internet access.
• As a result, the iCUE installer can't do anything (I don't understand why network connectivity is a requirement to repair or uninstall iCUE).
• Modify/Uninstall options were still greyed out in Windows Settings.

I then tried only deleting the Corsair folders in Program Files and Program Files (x86) manually, as well as deleting the HKCU/Software/Corsair registry keys.

• iCUE could reinstall since the folder was now empty, but after rebooting, it would crash every time on launch.
• Modify/Uninstall options were restored in Windows Settings, but attempting to uninstall causes the iCUE installer to get stuck at 0%, with no way to kill it other than through Task Manager.

Finally, I went the full nuclear option, deleting all Corsair folders in Program Files, ProgramData, Local + Roaming AppData, and the regkeys.

• iCUE now launches after reinstalling.
• The profiles exported earlier don't import all of the settings correctly, especially with profiles that use murals. Aside from murals not being preserved, the screen setup for the AIO was also not restored when imported.

At this point, I figured out that all the important user data is stored in AppData/Roaming/Corsair/CUE5 and since I had a backup of the folder, I decided to perform some debugging to see if the problematic file could be isolated.

Turns out that the problematic file in the previous config was AppData/Roaming/Corsair/CUE5/dpi/dpi.cuelibrary (this is the only file in the folder). After deleting the dpi folder, iCUE was able to launch like normal with the original config files.

[c-attack]

19 hours ago, gyroknight said:

The profiles exported earlier don't import all of the settings correctly, especially with profiles that use murals

Murals are not part of the profile back up system and not part the profiles at all. It used to be something called “instant lighting”. Just a quick drop down color for your entire system. Toggle on/off. It has since grown into something more but doesn’t really have a way to preserve the files and still exists as a toggle state. 
 

Good job tracking down the bad file. Hard to believe the DPI library is capable of preventing launch, but there it is. At least that’s an easy setting to recreate. 

Edited May 6 by c-attack

[TheMac]

On 5/5/2024 at 2:49 PM, c-attack said:

AMD CPU? 

I too now have this issue. Mine is the 14th Gen intel CPU though.

I noticed earlier on that my icue fans were flashing red with a red glow on the LCD and a termostat showing. Sensing something was a slight bit amis I rebooted the PC, checked the CPU temp in Bios which was 56 at the time, and so shut the system off including the PSU After restarting I had to manually start icue, and had an update for the Link system hub.

But that's about it, I get an error telling me the ICUE service failed to start, and it cannot be started at all in services btw.
I cannot modify or repair, uninstall, see CPU temp etc.
This PC was built about a month or so ago, and for the price I paid I certainly am not expecting to have these kind of issues.

So my only way is to go into safe mode, delete all of corsair stuff, go into the registry and remove everything from there ? And how do I stop the new install doing all of this again ffs.

I am usually a really big corsair advocate, but I am honestly thinking about RMA'ing this and leaving the brand.

[c-attack]

40 minutes ago, TheMac said:

I too now have this issue. Mine is the 14th Gen intel CPU though.

This part is specifically about the missing CPU Package Temp data in CUE 5.14.  Not related to the corrupted files.  Unfortunately, corrupted files seems to be the most prevalent user side error with CUE 5 and this does happen.  If it happens on a regular basis, then something is interacting with CUE in a negative way, but that is not what most users report.  Most of the time this is a one off event.

 

I hate Windows safe mode and usually recommend most people use Revo.  The free version will do the job.  Don't buy anything.  Uninstall it when done if you like.  That will give you the option of the registry clean as well.  

[TheMac]

9 hours ago, c-attack said:

This part is specifically about the missing CPU Package Temp data in CUE 5.14. 

I was missing the temp package for CPU as well as GPU etc.

Whats more, since this happened and everything flashing red (checked the heat by hand and boy was it hot) the pump now is more audible than before. I cannot have it on extreme as the noise is simply jarring.

[c-attack]

It seems like the AIO is actually overheating.  That’s not something g anyone else has reported, but possible if it sets pump and fan speed to absolute minimum. Definitely possible if it’s not making the pump run and that is no longer a guaranteed factor without its own SATA cable. 

[TheMac]

@c-attack How do you mean sorry ?
Warm weather, lots of running about dismantling and building furniture, brain a little fried to work that one out lol.

[c-attack]

19 hours ago, TheMac said:

I noticed earlier on that my icue fans were flashing red with a red glow on the LCD and a termostat showing.

This is an actual overheat warning.  Flashing red fans, especially before Windows and CUE loads is a hardware temp detection feature.  There's not enough information here to guess why.  However, if you have a CUE Link AIO you need to do the clean install to make sure all devices are detected and in proper sequence.  If you have an Elite Capellix Model, most of this discussion doesn't apply to you and we still need to figure out why the AIO alarm is going off.  

[TheMac]

1 hour ago, c-attack said:

This is an actual overheat warning.  Flashing red fans, especially before Windows and CUE loads is a hardware temp detection feature.  There's not enough information here to guess why.  However, if you have a CUE Link AIO you need to do the clean install to make sure all devices are detected and in proper sequence.  If you have an Elite Capellix Model, most of this discussion doesn't apply to you and we still need to figure out why the AIO alarm is going off.  

Ahh ok.

So yeah the flashing wasn't on cold boot or anything. My system had been running fine all day, had raid last night did raid, then at the end during post raid moans I noticed it was flashing red and proceeded to shut it all down.

Now, steps I took from here was

1. Check BIOPS for CPU temp, which was 56*c (this was immediately after I noticed it flashing)
2. Turned it all off including PSU and left it for a few minutes.
3. Booted back up, noticed iCue was not running so started it.
4. iCue said it had an update for the Hub, so I went to update it, at which point it threw me an error and said iCue service failed to start.
5. Attempted several times to restart the service (after the update) including rebooting my system. At no point did the service start including after a reboot.
6. I checked services.msc and noticed 3 corsair services all disabled, the ability to restart, stop or start were all greyed out.
7. Checked the app to repair (Modify) or uninstall, but both were greyed out. (This was also true in safe mode).

8. I essentially also went nuclear and deleted all Corsair files and reg entries , after which I was able to reinstall iCue and things went back to normal.

Now some important bits to note, When I noticed everything flashing red I shut it all down, gave it a few minutes and started it back up, at which point it was no longer flashing red. What is more after I started iCue it was displaying that the pump was doing its thing, and the fans obviously very clearly were spinning. At no point after that 1 occassion did anything flash red again.

I did however notice that the install/updated date on the iCue 5 software (the one I could not uninstall) was the 6th May 2024, so the very same day.

I am in no doubt the pump stopped, well.... pumping which is what resulted in the heat I felt on the block and the Radiator. What I am more confused on is what caused this to begin with, considering that it now appears to be working.

I have in the past noticed that a red warning LED indicator on my GPU was flashing red, which is typically a sign of current/voltage drop from the PSU, and wondered if this was another such case. In which case, is the PSU iffy ? Which I wouldn't have thought so surely...

[SoundMix]

There are many complaints on other threads about this latest update.   Many crashes, fan problems and broken connections.  Here is mine.

This update is a disaster for me.  Crashes on start. Tried all suggestions, fix, reinstall, etc.  I restored the previous version 5 which works fine.  I rolled back by using my backup from the previous day. I'll give Corsair a bit more time to get the bugs out.  For now...in with the old - out with the new.   Not the first update that has been problematic for me.  I'm starting to feel like a Corsair beta tester.  Customers should not be exposed to unfinished software.

[c-attack]

58 minutes ago, TheMac said:

essentially also went nuclear and deleted all Corsair files and reg entries , after which I was able to reinstall iCue and things went back to normal.

Definitely a necessary step because of the file corruption. Anytime you see it grayed out in the Windows menus, things have gone wrong. That is not likely specific to v5.14 and we have seen a steady stream of these type of install/registry errors since CUE 5 debuted. 
 

So the flashing red is after doing the clean install?  If before, I am not surprised and hopefully it’s now cleaned up. If after, keep an eye on things. One of the difficulties with the new Link Tech is the device is entirely dependent on the software to supply power and control. If it thinks there is no device there, it might not supply power. 
 

I haven’t seen any other loss of power issues reported this far. One thing I can confirm is there is an issue with custom curves on the XD5 Elite models resetting to a “quiet” preset that keeps the pump at 800 rpm — too slow for any load situation. However, the same behavior on the AIO could only drop the pump to its 2000 rpm minimum. You can’t overheat the AIO at 2000 rpm. The pump definitely needs to stop and that’s not something you can do in the software. I don’t think there is a connection. 

[TheMac]

20 minutes ago, c-attack said:

So the flashing red is after doing the clean install?

No, the red flashing happened after we finished raid last night. Since shutting down it has not happened again.
And a wild guess is that it happened due to the pump stopping, so the question really is why did it stop.

So far, fingers crossed since a clean install nothing has been out of the ordinary, other than the noise from the pump on extreme (and a slight bit on balanced), ive linked a MP4 file.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/8qzzilur06z5fcm1e9lda/AI6fzHA0nEZ95DuzJ-FwkUs?rlkey=kdnyv4qgxm2o41uvyfiglazgf&e=1&dl=0

[c-attack]

I am trying to get a look at those CUE Link Temps (orange).  The ones in the low 30s are normal.  The 4th one is 41C?  If that is liquid temp, then that is warm.  Be aware there is often a default CUE alarm set to flash fans red at 40C liquid temp.  You can deactivate it and nothing happens at 41C except the CPU is +1C warmer.  

 

Regardless of the above, other users have reported some random CUE Link pump stops in the past.  I am not sure we know why it happens, but most often it is a one off event.  I guess just keep an eye on things.  

[TheMac]

@c-attack
My Liquid temp is perma above 40*c. Pump is on Balanced, fans are on extreme, Rad is vertical mounted at the front of the case as its the only place for it. As you can see in the pictures below, you can see what the settings for speed are, and what the emergency actions now are since reinstall.

 

[c-attack]

Ok. So 1-3 are the QX rear temp sensor values. 36C intake air (assuming fans are on the front side of radiator) guarantees you will have coolant temp of 36-40C at idle. If intake air temp is 36C, then minimum coolant temp is also 36C. Most users float 4-7C above that value depending on unique case conditions and cpu idle power levels. So you’re within normal allowances for your intake temp. Just wanted to make sure there wasn’t a pump or flow issue. 

[TheMac]

Yeah my setup is push out, so acts as an exhaust also.

I do need 2 more fans and replace 1 at the top for better intake, but have not had the chance as yet.