What does HRESULT 0x00040268 (VFW_S_CANT_CUE) mean?

 
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VFW_S_STREAM_OFF VFW_S_NO_STOP_TIME

VFW_S_CANT_CUE

DirectShow filter cannot complete cueing while paused

VFW_S_CANT_CUE is HRESULT 262760 (0x00040268) from Video for Windows. AllStat describes this result as “The graph can't be cued because of lack of or corrupt data.” The high-order severity bit is clear, so this is a success result, but it carries more information than plain S_OK.

The graph or filter is paused but cannot cue a sample, often because data is unavailable or the filter design does not deliver data in paused state.

Evidence and telemetry to preserve

  • preserve filter returning the status.
  • preserve graph state and timeout.
  • preserve sample queue depth.
  • preserve source availability.
  • preserve whether the filter intentionally omits paused delivery.

Also record vfw_s_cant_cue_operation, vfw_s_cant_cue_object, vfw_s_cant_cue_state_before, vfw_s_cant_cue_state_after, UTC time, process and thread identifiers, and a correlation ID. Keep secrets out of logs while retaining GUIDs, CLSIDs, media subtypes, property IDs, row identities, and hashes needed to distinguish objects.

Where the result is encountered

  • This result can appear in IMediaFilter::GetState on custom filters; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.
  • This result can appear in capture and live-source graphs; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.
  • It can appear in renderers or source filters with special pause behavior; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.

The same numeric success value can be mishandled when a wrapper exposes only a Boolean. Keep the original HRESULT until the code-specific outputs and state transition have been evaluated.

State boundary that must be proved

The central question for this HRESULT is whether the filter’s documented paused-state behavior is distinguished from corruption, starvation, or a permanently stuck transition. The HRESULT alone confirms neither unrelated work nor the quality of optional outputs.

A reliable interpretation of it names the exact method contract, the object generation, and the outputs that remain valid. This prevents a success-with-information result from being promoted to full success or demoted to a generic error.

Diagnostic sequence

  • capture the raw HRESULT 0x00040268 immediately after the returning method and record whether the caller used SUCCEEDED, FAILED, equality testing, or exception translation.
  • Identify the exact owner of it: interface, method, object instance, provider or filter version, thread or apartment, and operation phase.
  • Validate the decisive contract boundary for this HRESULT: the filter’s documented paused-state behavior is distinguished from corruption, starvation, or a permanently stuck transition.
  • inspect every output parameter, count, status array, returned interface, or side effect that the method documentation associates with this success-with-information result.
  • Compare the observed state before and after it; do not assume that a success severity bit means every optional sub-operation completed.
  • reproduce the smallest request with the same object state and then change only the condition identified by the evidence before repeating the operation.

Difference from nearby HRESULT values

VFW_S_STATE_INTERMEDIATE means a transition is still progressing; it can describe a filter that cannot establish a cued paused state.

This distinction determines whether the caller should consume partial outputs, stop iteration, wait, reconfigure, notify the user, or perform no error recovery at all.

Correct handling, retry, and recovery

Accept the status for filters documented as unable to cue, or wait for data with a deadline when cueing should eventually complete. Diagnose persistent unexpected cases at the responsible filter.

Retry it only when the recorded state can change the documented outcome. Repeating the same call is inappropriate for a stable end marker, cancellation, unsupported format, adjusted property, or partial result whose completed side effects have not been reconciled.

Practical validation scenario

A live camera source does not deliver a sample while paused. Its GetState returns it; the preview application treats that as expected for this source and starts rendering only after Run.

The negative test should preserve the condition that produces it; the recovery test should alter only that condition and verify the final state as well as the HRESULT.

Developer and administrator guidance

When it crosses process, RPC, scripting, or managed-code boundaries, preserve the unsigned 32-bit value and symbolic name. A signed decimal rendering can obscure that the severity bit indicates success and can lead to incorrect exception or retry behavior.

A support report for this HRESULT should include decimal 262760, hexadecimal 0x00040268, the AllStat meaning, the owning API, and the first detailed status or output that explains why the method did not return ordinary S_OK.

References

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