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INPUT_E_FRAME
The scope of INPUT_E_FRAME is pointer packet, frame, and history validation. Packets grouped into one frame disagree about identity, timing, pointer type, source device, or frame membership. Keep 0x80400004 beside the returning method because a wrapper can replace this distinction with a generic subsystem message.
Where the failure occurs
When INPUT_E_FRAME is returned, Windows validates input at several nested levels. A packet describes one pointer observation, a frame groups simultaneous observations, and history links frames over time in the INPUT_E_FRAME path. For INPUT_E_FRAME, the diagnostic task is to locate the first level at which identity, flags, timing, device information, or lifecycle becomes inconsistent; repairing only the last packet can leave an invalid frame or history chain unchanged.
For INPUT_E_FRAME, inspect the following boundary: a frame represents a simultaneous input snapshot. Pointer IDs must be unique within it and the metadata used to define that snapshot must be coherent across every packet.
Avoid broad resets
INPUT_E_PACKET identifies a malformed member, while INPUT_E_FRAME can be returned even when each packet looks valid in isolation but the set is contradictory. For INPUT_E_FRAME, do not deduplicate by keeping an arbitrary packet; choose the packet that matches the pointer lifecycle and preserve evidence of why the duplicate was produced.
Telemetry with explanatory value
| Record | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| Ordered list of every packet in the rejected frame | Preserving ordered list of every packet in the rejected frame provides the evidence needed to test this distinction: iNPUT_E_PACKET identifies a malformed member, while INPUT_E_FRAME can be returned even when each packet looks valid in isolation but the set is contradictory. |
| Duplicate pointer IDs and their lifecycle state | For INPUT_E_FRAME, recording duplicate pointer IDs and their lifecycle state separates the pointer packet, frame, and history validation boundary from a later wrapper symptom. |
| Frame ID and timestamp from each packet | In INPUT_E_FRAME diagnostics, recording frame ID and timestamp from each packet ties the HRESULT to the pointer packet, frame, and history validation boundary rather than to the final visible failure. |
| Pointer type, source device, and coordinate transform for each member | Comparing pointer type, source device, and coordinate transform for each member shows whether INPUT_E_FRAME follows input, object state, or environment. |
Smallest faithful reproducer
For INPUT_E_FRAME, capture the submitted structures before Windows modifies counts or output buffers. When INPUT_E_FRAME is returned, reduce the sequence from history to one frame and then to one packet while preserving the original pointer IDs, flags, and time base so the level that first fails remains observable.
- When INPUT_E_FRAME is returned, construct a frame with one valid pointer and then add members one at a time.
- Ensure each active pointer appears at most once in the frame in the INPUT_E_FRAME path.
- For INPUT_E_FRAME, use one frame ID and one coherent time value for the snapshot.
- When INPUT_E_FRAME is returned, keep packets from different source devices in separate frames unless the API explicitly supports combining them.
Separate object, input, and environment
| Test | Interpretation | Hold constant |
|---|---|---|
| Same environment, reduced input | If INPUT_E_FRAME disappears with a smaller faithful case, complexity within pointer packet, frame, and history validation is implicated. | For INPUT_E_FRAME, keep ordered list of every packet in the rejected frame fixed while simplifying frame ID and timestamp from each packet. |
| Same input, fresh object generation | If INPUT_E_FRAME changes after rebuilding state, examine ownership across the packet producer, frame collector, and interaction consumer. | For INPUT_E_FRAME, place duplicate pointer IDs and their lifecycle state on the timeline of the last successful transition. |
| Same operation on a controlled second path | If INPUT_E_FRAME follows one environment, the failure is not explained by source data alone. | For INPUT_E_FRAME, compare pointer type, device identity, window, DPI context, and callback phase while preserving pointer type, source device, and coordinate transform for each member. |
Completion test
A correction for INPUT_E_FRAME should let the operation at the pointer packet, frame, and history validation boundary complete repeatedly under the original supported conditions. Repeat the control that begins with “Construct a frame with one valid pointer and then add members one at a time” and confirm that the following lifecycle step also succeeds. For INPUT_E_FRAME, keep the original failing sample and one deliberate negative case so fallback cannot be mistaken for repair.
Technical references
When INPUT_E_FRAME is returned, these references define the public API family, object model, or error list used to interpret this status.
- Microsoft: COM error codes for Input and graphics.
- Microsoft: Pointer Input Messages and Notifications.
- Microsoft: POINTER_INFO structure and pointer lifetime.
- Microsoft: GetPointerFrameInfoHistory.
- Microsoft: Interaction Context API.
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