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VFW_E_INVALID_MEDIA_TYPE
Meaning
Windows documents VFW_E_INVALID_MEDIA_TYPE as “This file is corrupt: it contains an invalid media type”. Here, DirectShow reconstructs a graph or connection from persisted data and finds a media-type record that is structurally invalid.
Conditions that can produce it
- Cause 1: the format block length does not match the serialized payload.
- Cause 2: major type, subtype and format type are inconsistent.
- Cause 3: pointer-sized or alignment-dependent data was persisted incorrectly.
Relevant contract
Start with the filter graph, device or persisted configuration that first returned the result.
Evidence worth preserving
- Evidence 1: AM_MEDIA_TYPE fields and format-block length.
- Evidence 2: pin pair and connection being restored.
- Evidence 3: file offset, writer architecture and serializer version.
Correction strategy
- Action 1: regenerate the media type from a live pin negotiation.
- Action 2: validate cbFormat and format structure before use.
- Action 3: serialize portable values rather than raw in-process pointers.
Example incident
A 32-bit application persists an AM_MEDIA_TYPE blob that a 64-bit loader interprets as raw structure memory; portable field serialization prevents it.
Retry and recovery
Retry rule: Retry after correcting the media-type record or allowing fresh negotiation instead of replaying the corrupt record.
How it differs from nearby results
VFW_E_INVALID_FILE_FORMAT describes an invalid container, while it identifies a malformed DirectShow media-type description within a graph or connection.
Official Microsoft references
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