What does HRESULT 0xC026243B (ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED) mean?

ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED

What Windows rejected: graphics adapter access not excluded

ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED (0xC026243B) belongs to the linked layer. It marks an operation requiring exclusive quiet hardware access began while other clients could still access the adapter, rather than a generic rendering failure. The object that owns the decision is quiescent adapter access.

ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED: Linked-adapter failures are ordered PnP and power problems. For ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED, Restarting only the lead member can make the state less consistent and hide the first failing chain device. For ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED, 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.

Build a useful diagnostic record

For ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED, 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 ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED.

Separate state from capability

1. Freeze the ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED generation. Record active contexts, outstanding DMA/fences, exclusion acquisition, power state and operation type. Before diagnosing ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED, do not resize, hot-plug, recreate or release the object under examination.
2. Run the narrow ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED comparison. drain work and acquire exclusion before issuing the same operation. During the ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED comparison, keep every driver, monitor, resource format and unrelated policy unchanged.
3. Observe the layer after ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED. For ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED, if the exact check passes, record the next HRESULT or visible outcome. A different downstream result shows that the ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED boundary was crossed.
4. Repeat ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED through a lifecycle transition. For ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED, exercise one relevant resize, mode switch, device recreation, hot-plug or session change and confirm that this result does not reuse stale handles.

The comparison with ERROR_GRAPHICS_NOT_EXCLUSIVE_MODE_OWNER is especially useful: ERROR_GRAPHICS_NOT_EXCLUSIVE_MODE_OWNER concerns display exclusive-mode ownership rather than driver quiescence. For ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED, recording both names prevents a broad “graphics error” label from merging distinct ownership, capability and lifetime problems.

Verify the repaired path

Stop new submissions, wait for completion and hold the documented adapter exclusion interval. Repair of ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED 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 ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED 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 ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED; unrelated adapter, monitor and application state remains unchanged.
• For ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED, debug-layer, ETW or driver diagnostics no longer report the rejected quiescent adapter access contract during the same scenario.
• The application handles recurrence of ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED without an unbounded retry loop, leaked resource, duplicate composition target or stale topology handle.

Implementation notes for ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED

For ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED, log device-instance IDs, lead/chain role, PnP problem codes, Dx states and start/power IRP ordering. When the ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED 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 ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED 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 ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED.

Technical references

• Microsoft: DirectX graphics kernel subsystem — background for the quiescent adapter access boundary involved in ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED.
• Microsoft: WDDM architecture — background for the quiescent adapter access boundary involved in ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED.
• Microsoft: Display miniport driver requirements — background for the quiescent adapter access boundary involved in ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED.
• Microsoft: Graphics error codes — background for the quiescent adapter access boundary involved in ERROR_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_ACCESS_NOT_EXCLUDED.

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