Application has been blocked from graphics hardware

[zack cianca]

I made a new pc, and I get this problem: "Application [insert application name here] has been blocked from accessing graphics hardware". In the context of a game, when I get this error I crash to desktop. In context of chrome, I get a flash of black screen for a second.

I have tried:
-reinstalling my graphics drivers
-reinstalling windows
-reinstalling all drivers from scratch
-running sfc /scannow, scanhealth/restorehealth commands
-downclocking and overclocking gpu
-downclocking and overclocking cpu
-checked gpu and cpu temps (all good)
-replacing gpu
-replacing mobo

I would appreciate any thoughts and help, and feel free to ask for any information I forgot to include! Thanks

Specs:
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
GPU: GTX 1050Ti 4GB
CPU: Ryzen 3 1200 4-Core AM4 CPU
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000
Mobo: Asus PRIME B350M-A/CSM Micro ATX AM4
PSU: EVGA 500B 80+ Bronze ATX

 

[pandemonium]

This almost sounds like a Windows permissions issue with the user settings, though, we should check some other settings as well.

Is Windows Firewall enabled? Do you use any additional software firewalls? Can you disable them and retry? Same goes for any virus or malware programs running, attempt running your programs with them temporarily disabled.

If a temporary disable on any protection software appears to be the solution, a unique exception rule would need to be added for every instance of software with the problem.

When installing your graphics drivers, are you checking the clean install option?

Lastly, is the user account you're using administrator? Can you attempt to run these programs on a new user account?

 

[zack cianca]

Thanks for the reply, and I tried turning all firewall and defender stuff off, and I didn't get the "application has been blocked, etc." error. However my game still crashed, and I got this error (Event Viewer->Windows Logs->System) :
---
"The application-specific permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID
{D63B10C5-BB46-4990-A94F-E40B9D520160}
and APPID
{9CA88EE3-ACB7-47C8-AFC4-AB702511C276}
to the user DESKTOP-EIJJUKI\Zack SID (S-1-5-21-2316612584-3176436456-346853225-1001) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Unavailable SID (Unavailable). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool."
---
I'm not sure what this means, or if this is what caused the crash but the timestamp is exactly the same time as me crashing, so my best guess is that it correlates.

EDIT:
it took a couple of seconds to show up, but there are more errors right when I crash too:
---
"The description for Event ID 13 from source nvlddmkm cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.

The following information was included with the event:

\Device\Video3
Graphics Exception: EXTRA_MACRO_DATA

the message resource is present but the message is not found in the string/message table"

---

The second one is identical, except for the Graphics Exception:

"\Device\Video3
Graphics Exception: ESR 0x404490=0x80000002"

After these two errors, the same DistributedCOM(listed as the source) error is listed again

 

[pandemonium]

Is your user account administrator? It sounds like the nvidia drivers weren't installed properly at this point. Try giving it a clean install on nvidia drivers.

 

[zack cianca]

Yes, my user account is administrator, and I just did a reinstall of graphics drivers, no change. Device Manager->Display adapters->uninstall device. Control Panel->Select every nvidia and uninstall. Restart. Downloaded latest driver from geforce.com/drivers. Ran the installer and setup as administrator, and did clean install to get rid of the drivers windows automatically installs when you boot with no graphics drivers. Back to where I was before, btw, with the "Application has been blocked from accessing graphics hardware". Maybe a lucky coincidence that it wasn't showing right after I turned off firewall.

 

[pandemonium]

Please forgive me for going over some very basic things, but double checking the following can't hurt. It's meant as no insult to you! The best of us have made silly mistakes before. I certainly have.

For ease of mind, I say we go through and check seating of your RAM, as that can cause strange issues like this. I'd suggest checking if your sticks are seated snugly into their slots. Even if they appear to be, go ahead and pop them out and reseat them. (At this time it's not a bad idea to make sure they're in the correct positioning on the motherboard, either. According to the section 1-4, page 1-12 of the manual it should be A2 and B2.) It's also a good idea to check seating, and reseat on the GPU while you're in there.

There's only one bios update on ASUS's site for your Mobo, but it can't hurt to check this as well right after you boot up from checking your component seating.

Reading through this thread on guru3d with similar errors, there's allusion to the voltage to the GPU not being sufficient. If after the above basic troubleshooting steps are done and you're still having problems, attempt to bump the voltage on your GPU a little to see if there's any change. I'd recommend increments of 5 mV, up to 20 mV, to see if it makes any difference. Reading about this card, apparently it can overvolt and overclock pretty well.

If after all of that you're still having issues, do you have the option of trying a different PSU?

I know all of this is a pain in the butt, but it sounds like you've reached that territory with all of the troubleshooting you've done. Hang in there!

 

[zack cianca]

Please forgive me for going over some very basic things, but double checking the following can't hurt. It's meant as no insult to you! The best of us have made silly mistakes before. I certainly have.

For ease of mind, I say we go through and check seating of your RAM, as that can cause strange issues like this. I'd suggest checking if your sticks are seated snugly into their slots. Even if they appear to be, go ahead and pop them out and reseat them. (At this time it's not a bad idea to make sure they're in the correct positioning on the motherboard, either. According to the section 1-4, page 1-12 of the manual it should be A2 and B2.) It's also a good idea to check seating, and reseat on the GPU while you're in there.

There's only one bios update on ASUS's site for your Mobo, but it can't hurt to check this as well right after you boot up from checking your component seating.

Reading through this thread on guru3d with similar errors, there's allusion to the voltage to the GPU not being sufficient. If after the above basic troubleshooting steps are done and you're still having problems, attempt to bump the voltage on your GPU a little to see if there's any change. I'd recommend increments of 5 mV, up to 20 mV, to see if it makes any difference. Reading about this card, apparently it can overvolt and overclock pretty well.

If after all of that you're still having issues, do you have the option of trying a different PSU?

I know all of this is a pain in the butt, but it sounds like you've reached that territory with all of the troubleshooting you've done. Hang in there!

Hi! Sorry I haven't responded in a bit, I've been busy with work, hopefully you're still around to help *fingers crossed*. No insult taken, don't worry -- I appreciate the help, and any suggestions very much. I have made sure my GPU is seated properly quite a few times, and same with RAM . I do know that A2 and B2 are correct spots, but I have also tried every other combination just in case(1 stick in: A1, A2, B1, B2; 2nd stick in: A1, A2, B1, B2; A1+A2, B1+B2, A1+B1, A2+B2, etc.), or just in case one of the sticks is faulty and the other is good. I have also run memtests on them and they both passed with flying colors. Just a note, it is 3000mhz RAM running at a slower speed(2133mhz I believe, I'd have to check my bios to be 100%), but from what I read this should cause no problem.

I am pretty sure I did the update for the bios, its completely familiar but at this point I have tried so many things that I honestly can't remember if I only looked into it, or if I actually researched how to do it and then went through the process of updating. Could you give me a quick refresher on what that process is? I think I'd remember if I did it then, or also if there is a way to check what version I have that would work too.

As far as power goes, that was the next direction I was going in as well lol, I actually just changed out my psu 10min ago. I still am still both crashing to desktop, and getting "application has been blocked", etc. error, so it's not the PSU. I started this reply thinking I'd be able to screw with the voltage in MSI afterburner, but it looks like that's going to be a bios thing? I'll post this right now, then, and add in an edit of either the results of upping it 5mV at a time, or an edit of asking how to up the voltage lol. Thanks again for all the help!


Edit: Ok so I'm a dummy, I DO change gpu voltage in MSI Afterburner. I'm not sure how to do it though. I had to turn on "Unlock voltage control" and "Unlock voltage monitoring". When I do this, I get a bar I can up the voltage with, but it's in %, not mV. Also, from the voltage monitoring, it looks like my mV is 675mV idle, but it changes when I do stuff. How do I up this by 5mV at a time: I can find the % of 675 that is 5mV easily enough, but it's not a consistent 675, so I don't think that's what you mean I should do. There is an option to "Force constant voltage", should I do this, and if so, what should I set it to?

2nd Edit: I tried 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% increase in voltage, all no change, still same errors. Also, checking the "Force constant voltage" either doesn't do what it sounds like, or I'm doing something wrong. After checking the box, clicking ok, and applying changes... mV still varies depending on what my pc is running.

 

[pandemonium]

Hi! Sorry I haven't responded in a bit, I've been busy with work, hopefully you're still around to help *fingers crossed*. No insult taken, don't worry -- I appreciate the help, and any suggestions very much. I have made sure my GPU is seated properly quite a few times, and same with RAM . I do know that A2 and B2 are correct spots, but I have also tried every other combination just in case(1 stick in: A1, A2, B1, B2; 2nd stick in: A1, A2, B1, B2; A1+A2, B1+B2, A1+B1, A2+B2, etc.), or just in case one of the sticks is faulty and the other is good. I have also run memtests on them and they both passed with flying colors. Just a note, it is 3000mhz RAM running at a slower speed(2133mhz I believe, I'd have to check my bios to be 100%), but from what I read this should cause no problem.

No worries on the delay! Glad you checked on all of that and that is certainly thorough troubleshooting. Sounds good.

I am pretty sure I did the update for the bios, its completely familiar but at this point I have tried so many things that I honestly can't remember if I only looked into it, or if I actually researched how to do it and then went through the process of updating. Could you give me a quick refresher on what that process is? I think I'd remember if I did it then, or also if there is a way to check what version I have that would work too.

For most Mobos, ASUS included, the bios firmware file loaded onto the root drive of a USB thumb drive is probably your easiest option. It may be able to find the file even if it's loaded on an attached SATA drive, but check your version first and make sure it's not the same (or newer) before bothering with that.

As far as power goes, that was the next direction I was going in as well lol, I actually just changed out my psu 10min ago. I still am still both crashing to desktop, and getting "application has been blocked", etc. error, so it's not the PSU. I started this reply thinking I'd be able to screw with the voltage in MSI afterburner, but it looks like that's going to be a bios thing? I'll post this right now, then, and add in an edit of either the results of upping it 5mV at a time, or an edit of asking how to up the voltage lol. Thanks again for all the help!

Giving another PSU a try is a great.

Edit: Ok so I'm a dummy, I DO change gpu voltage in MSI Afterburner. I'm not sure how to do it though. I had to turn on "Unlock voltage control" and "Unlock voltage monitoring". When I do this, I get a bar I can up the voltage with, but it's in %, not mV. Also, from the voltage monitoring, it looks like my mV is 675mV idle, but it changes when I do stuff. How do I up this by 5mV at a time: I can find the % of 675 that is 5mV easily enough, but it's not a consistent 675, so I don't think that's what you mean I should do. There is an option to "Force constant voltage", should I do this, and if so, what should I set it to?

2nd Edit: I tried 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5% increase in voltage, all no change, still same errors. Also, checking the "Force constant voltage" either doesn't do what it sounds like, or I'm doing something wrong. After checking the box, clicking ok, and applying changes... mV still varies depending on what my pc is running.

The increment increases are fine, as long as you're trying a little more than the stock clocks that's all that matters.

Honestly, at this point, I think you've run through everything aside from trying a different GPU to completely negate the possibility of it being software related. If you don't have another GPU to test with, I'd seek your options on returning the GPU for a refund or contact their support. I hate to leave it there, but unless someone else has any ideas, you'll need to reach out to their official support channels. I feel your pain.

 

[Elixer]

OP, use a linux boot distro, and see if it works there.

If so, then, do you have secure boot on in the BIOS? If so, disable that, and try Windows again.

If not, (and assuming it isn't a driver issue) then if you can, try a different video card, and see if that works in Windows. If so, then it seems the card needs a RMA (also assuming it isn't a voltage issue with mobo/PSU). If not, then, for some reason, your Windows is corrupted, and you need to secure erase SSD (assuming it is a SSD) and install Windows from a ISO and try again.