What does HRESULT 0x00040270 (VFW_S_NO_STOP_TIME) mean?

 
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VFW_S_NO_STOP_TIME

DirectShow sample has no stop time

VFW_S_NO_STOP_TIME is HRESULT 262768 (0x00040270) from Video for Windows. AllStat describes this result as “The stop time for the sample was not set.” The high-order severity bit is clear, so this is a success result, but it carries more information than plain S_OK.

The sample timing query succeeded with information that no stop time was set for the media sample.

State boundary that must be proved

The central question for it is whether the downstream filter has a documented way to infer duration or safely process a sample with only a start time. The HRESULT alone confirms neither unrelated work nor the quality of optional outputs.

A reliable interpretation of this result 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.

Where the result is encountered

  • This result can appear in IMediaSample timing; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.
  • It can appear in filters that derive duration from the next sample; record the producing interface and method rather than inferring behavior from the symbolic name alone.
  • It can appear in live streams or formats carrying only start timestamps; 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.

Evidence and telemetry to preserve

  • preserve sample start time.
  • preserve absence of stop time.
  • preserve media type and nominal frame duration.
  • preserve next-sample timestamp.
  • preserve filter behavior for discontinuities.

Also record vfw_s_no_stop_time_operation, vfw_s_no_stop_time_object, vfw_s_no_stop_time_state_before, vfw_s_no_stop_time_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.

Diagnostic sequence

  • capture the raw HRESULT 0x00040270 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 it: the downstream filter has a documented way to infer duration or safely process a sample with only a start time.
  • 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.

Correct handling, retry, and recovery

Do not read an uninitialized stop value. Infer duration only from the media contract, or propagate the missing-stop-time condition to the component that owns scheduling.

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 parser emits video samples with start timestamps but no explicit stop times. The renderer uses the negotiated frame duration and verifies that discontinuities reset the inference correctly.

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.

Difference from nearby HRESULT values

VFW_S_ESTIMATED returns a value with uncertainty; it reports that the stop timestamp is absent.

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

Developer and administrator guidance

Code handling it should test the exact documented value before a generic SUCCEEDED(hr) branch when outputs or control flow differ. Operational remediation for it should target the owning COM, media, Tablet PC, or OLE DB component instead of resetting unrelated services.

A support report for it should include decimal 262768, hexadecimal 0x00040270, 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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