What does HRESULT 0xC0262434 (ERROR_GRAPHICS_CHAINLINKS_NOT_STARTED) mean?

ERROR_GRAPHICS_CHAINLINKS_NOT_STARTED

Interpret the result in its owning layer: graphics chainlinks not started

ERROR_GRAPHICS_CHAINLINKS_NOT_STARTED (0xC0262434) belongs to the linked layer. It marks the lead start was attempted before all chain members reached started state, rather than a generic rendering failure. The object that owns the decision is linked-adapter start ordering.

This result: Linked-adapter failures are ordered PnP and power problems. Restarting only the lead member can make the state less consistent and hide the first failing chain device. The built-in one-line message identifies the immediate result; diagnosis also needs the producing API, object ownership and the display generation current at the time.

Capture before recreating objects

Preserve the unsigned HRESULT, symbolic name, first failing API and timestamp in one record. If cleanup later fails too, keep that secondary result separately from this result.

Reproduce one variable at a time

1. Freeze the result generation. Record start IRP order, member states, timestamps and lead-start request. Before diagnosing this result, do not resize, hot-plug, recreate or release the object under examination.
2. Run the narrow this result comparison. wait for every chain member to start and then repeat the lead start. During the result comparison, keep every driver, monitor, resource format and unrelated policy unchanged.
3. Observe the layer after it. for it, if the exact check passes, record the next HRESULT or visible outcome. A different downstream result shows that the boundary was crossed.
4. Repeat it through a lifecycle transition. for it, exercise one relevant resize, mode switch, device recreation, hot-plug or session change and confirm that it does not reuse stale handles.

The comparison with ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_CHAIN_NOT_READY is especially useful: ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_CHAIN_NOT_READY can indicate an unknown failure after enumeration. Recording both names prevents a broad “graphics error” label from merging distinct ownership, capability and lifetime problems.

Recovery contract

Enforce chain-before-lead startup ordering in the driver stack. Repair of it is complete only when the original call succeeds or returns its documented nonfatal status and the same lifetime test remains correct after a second display transition.

• The result trace identifies one producing API and one current graphics object, rather than only the final UI symptom.
• The passing run changes exactly the condition described for it; unrelated adapter, monitor and application state remains unchanged.
• debug-layer, ETW or driver diagnostics no longer report the rejected linked-adapter start ordering contract during the same scenario.
• The application handles recurrence of it without an unbounded retry loop, leaked resource, duplicate composition target or stale topology handle.

Implementation notes

Log device-instance IDs, lead/chain role, PnP problem codes, Dx states and start/power IRP ordering. When the path returns a count, size, status flag or replacement object, retain it even on a nonfatal result because it can direct the next call.

A production fallback for it should be explicit: pause rendering, re-enumerate, rebuild one cache entry, recreate a device, or decline a protected path only when this layer calls for that action. Reinstalling every display component, deleting all caches or forcing a resolution change is not an evidence-based fix for it.

Technical references

• Microsoft: DirectX graphics kernel subsystem — background for the linked-adapter start ordering boundary involved in it.
• Microsoft: WDDM architecture
• Microsoft: Display miniport driver requirements
• Microsoft: Graphics error codes

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