THE BAD: This is an old problem that never seems to go away. It has been true for many past versions of Cubase. Look at some of the dates on these posts, AND this is NOT the first discussion, either, it goes back way before these posts. The issue also occurs with UR devices, BTW, but doesn’t get mentioned as much. Another issue is, it is intermittent.
THE GOOD: There is a simple workaround. Sorry you didn’t see this before all the re-installing you did. You’ll have to scan through this chain to find it, but the basic idea is DO NOT ever check the ‘Do not show again’ box when Cubase asks you which driver to use when starting the program. As long as you see this box every time Cubase opens, you’ll see the hardware menu. If you’ve already dismissed it, read on for some workarounds: