Asmedia USB 3.0 port not working on M5A97 R2.0 motherboard

[OgreVorbis]

I'm upgrading my old AMD FX socket AM3+ system. I actually use this system as my daily driver despite it being old because I'm a software developer and I like to develop on an older system so I know my code is efficient and most compatible.

So anyway, the board I had been running up until this point was getting a bit too limiting however, so I decided to swap in a different mobo (the M5A97) that I had in storage and forgot about. This board allows me to upgrade to 32GB of DDR3 2133 and has SATA 6GB instead of SATA 3GB. It also has onboard Asmedia USB 3.0 which the other board didn't have.

So I moved my SSD into this new system and everything went surprising well. All the drivers recognized and installed except the video and USB 3.0. I installed the GTX 1660 Ti which was planned for the upgrade and it's working great.

 

Here's the problem:

After installing the Asmedia 1042 USB 3.0 drivers from ASUS website, only one of the USB 3.0 ports is working correctly. The other port is listed in device manager as an unrecognized USB device. I tried to force install the drivers by right clicking and choosing update drivers. . . etc etc, but it will not install. I'm afraid to choose the driver file itself through all devices cause I don't want to BSOD the system and if the other port installed fine, then why should I need to for this one?

So I went searching online and found a bunch of forum posts where people were having problems with this controller. The solution seemed to indicate updating the drivers AND the firmware. I have never flashed firmware on a motherboard component before, so I'm a little sketched out about doing that.

Can anyone please comment on whether this firmware is legit and virus free? Do you trust station-drivers?

Asmedia 1042 firmware link

 

I'm now debating whether I should just get a USB add-on card and be done with this? (Cause one port not working makes me think it's broken rather than just a driver/firmware issue.)