WPF render thread exceptions

[Doug Miller]

We have run into a few users that are encountering WPF render thread exceptions.  Such as:

System.InvalidOperationException: An unspecified error occurred on the render thread.

   at System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.NotifyPartitionIsZombie(Int32 failureCode)

   at System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.NotifyChannelMessage()

   at System.Windows.Interop.HwndTarget.HandleMessage(Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

   at System.Windows.Interop.HwndSource.HwndTargetFilterMessage(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)

   at MS.Win32.HwndWrapper.WndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)

   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.DispatcherCallbackOperation(Object o)

   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter)

   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter, Delegate catchHandler)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WrappedInvoke(Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter, Delegate catchHandler)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.InvokeImpl(DispatcherPriority priority, TimeSpan timeout, Delegate method, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(DispatcherPriority priority, Delegate method, Object arg)

   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.SubclassWndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam)

   at MS.Win32.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessage(MSG& msg)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrameImpl(DispatcherFrame frame)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrame(DispatcherFrame frame)

   at System.Windows.Window.ShowHelper(Object booleanBox)

   at System.Windows.Window.Show()

   at System.Windows.Window.ShowDialog()

   at Icc.App.Start(IDictionary`2 commandLineArgs)

   at Icc.App.OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)

And

System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x88980406): Exception from HRESULT: 0x88980406

   at System.Windows.Media.Composition.DUCE.Channel.SyncFlush()

   at System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.NotifySyncModeStatus(Int32 enabledResult)

   at System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.NotifyChannelMessage()

   at System.Windows.Interop.HwndTarget.HandleMessage(Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

   at System.Windows.Interop.HwndSource.HwndTargetFilterMessage(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)

   at MS.Win32.HwndWrapper.WndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)

   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.DispatcherCallbackOperation(Object o)

   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter)

   at System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter, Delegate catchHandler)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.WrappedInvoke(Delegate callback, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter, Delegate catchHandler)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.InvokeImpl(DispatcherPriority priority, TimeSpan timeout, Delegate method, Object args, Boolean isSingleParameter)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(DispatcherPriority priority, Delegate method, Object arg)

   at MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.SubclassWndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam)

   at MS.Win32.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessage(MSG& msg)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrameImpl(DispatcherFrame frame)

   at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.PushFrame(DispatcherFrame frame)

   at System.Windows.Window.ShowHelper(Object booleanBox)

   at System.Windows.Window.Show()

   at System.Windows.Window.ShowDialog()

   at Icc.App.Start(IDictionary`2 commandLineArgs)

   at Icc.App.OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)

According to MS these problems are more likely on XP and earlier (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dsui_team/archive/2013/11/18/wpf-render-thread-failures.aspx) - but these users are on Windows 7.

The cefsharp webview is the only WPF control we are using.

Any ideas what is causing this and how to fix or work around this issue?

[Doug Miller]

I put in a change to disable hardware rendering.  That has seemed to resolve the issue for the affected users:

void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)

{

                HwndSource hwndSource = PresentationSource.FromVisual(this) as HwndSource;

                HwndTarget hwndTarget = hwndSource.CompositionTarget;

                hwndTarget.RenderMode = RenderMode.SoftwareOnly;

                logger.Info("Render mode set to software only");

}