HRESULT 0x80100003 (SCARD_E_INVALID_HANDLE): meaning and diagnosis

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Description:

The supplied handle was invalid.

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SCARD_E_CANCELLED	SCARD_E_INVALID_PARAMETER

SCARD_E_INVALID_HANDLE

SCARD_E_INVALID_HANDLE The PC/SC context or card handle supplied to the operation is no longer valid. Handles become invalid after their release and can become unusable when the Smart Card Resource Manager shuts down.

How to recover

Track ownership and lifetime of every SCARDCONTEXT and SCARDHANDLE; never share a released handle across asynchronous work.
Use SCardIsValidContext before starting new work after service disruption or long idle periods.
Create a new context and reconnect to the card instead of retrying an API call with the stale handle.

Microsoft: SCardEstablishContext

Microsoft: SCardIsValidContext

Microsoft: Smart Cards for Windows service

Microsoft: SCardConnect

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