What does HRESULT 0x00262307 (ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED) mean?

 
Previous Next
ERROR_MONITOR_UNKNOWN_DESCRIPTOR_FORMAT ERROR_GRAPHICS_NO_PREFERRED_MODE

ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED

VidPN source or target has no pinned mode

ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED is HRESULT 2499335 (0x00262307) from winerror.h. AllStat describes it as “No mode is pinned on the specified VidPN source/target.” In the Windows display topology or Desktop Window Manager operation, the value reports a nonfailure state that must not be collapsed into plain S_OK.

For ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED, a cleared severity bit does not make the return equivalent to ordinary completion; the postcondition remains specific.

What must be true before accepting it

Verify that the API permits an unpinned mode at this phase and the caller does not dereference a nonexistent pinned mode. Without the ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED boundary check, the HRESULT can hide stale output, pending ownership, or omitted work.

For ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED, also confirm that returned outputs belong to the current operation generation and were not inherited from an earlier attempt.

Where the status is encountered

  • ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED can appear during VidPN mode-set, topology, and path negotiation; capture the exact API, object, and phase because the same numeric success severity does not define the state by itself.
  • ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED can appear during display miniport and graphics-kernel dataset enumeration; capture the exact API, object, and phase because the same numeric success severity does not define the state by itself.
  • ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED can appear during DWM composition and GDI redirection-surface handling; capture the exact API, object, and phase because the same numeric success severity does not define the state by itself.

Keep ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED attached to the operation that returned it. Interpreting ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED outside that API contract can turn a normal continuation or partial result into an incorrect retry or false completion.

Diagnostic sequence

  • Capture raw 0x00262307 and ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED before exceptions, signed formatting, or a generic success wrapper removes the symbolic value.
  • Identify the interface, method, callback, service, driver, or broker that returned ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED, including component version, process, thread, and correlation ID.
  • Prove the decisive condition for ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED: the API permits an unpinned mode at this phase and the caller does not dereference a nonexistent pinned mode.
  • For ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED, inspect every output, count, object handle, callback, queue entry, media item, report, transaction, topology element, or signaling response the call produced.
  • Compare state immediately before and after ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED and verify that ownership, lifetime, persistence, and user-visible effects match the status.
  • Reproduce ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED with the smallest input, then change only the suspected cause and confirm that the return value or postcondition changes as predicted.

Evidence and telemetry

  • Preserve adapter LUID for ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED.
  • Preserve VidPN source and target IDs for ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED.
  • Preserve mode-set generation for ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED.
  • Preserve candidate modes for ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED.
  • Preserve pinning operation result for ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED.

For ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED, also record UTC time, process and thread IDs, component version, operation generation, and a correlation ID. Keep sensitive ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED content out of logs; use lengths, hashes, GUIDs, and policy-safe metadata where possible.

Correct handling and recovery

Enumerate the mode set or establish a valid pinned mode before operations that require one. Preserve the source, target, and topology generation.

A new attempt following ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED should be triggered by a meaningful transition, not merely by elapsed time.

Practical scenario

A display miniport query runs before topology commitment and finds no pinned source mode. It waits for mode selection instead of reading null mode data.

A regression test should reproduce ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED, assert all relevant outputs and state, then change only the decisive condition and verify ordinary completion or the expected neighboring result.

Difference from nearby results

NO_PREFERRED_MODE means modes exist without preference; MODE_NOT_PINNED means no current pinned choice exists.

For ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED, the neighboring result changes whether output is final, more work remains, or fallback is required.

Developer and administrator guidance

When ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED crosses COM, RPC, managed, scripting, driver, or service boundaries, preserve the unsigned 32-bit value. Unit tests for ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED should assert the code-specific postcondition, not only success severity.

Administrators handling ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED should change only the producing component or policy identified by the captured evidence. Document who owns continuation, cancellation, cleanup, fallback, and user messaging for ERROR_GRAPHICS_MODE_NOT_PINNED.

References

Looking for a different code? Search another status or error code.