DirectSound Return Values by Name

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[The feature associated with this page, DirectSound, is a legacy feature. It has been superseded by WASAPI and Audio Graphs. Media Casting have been optimized for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft strongly recommends that new code use Media Casting instead of DirectSound, when possible. Microsoft suggests that existing code that uses the legacy APIs be rewritten to use the new APIs if possible.]

The following list describes all DirectSound return values. To find a constant from its value, see DirectSound Return Values by Number.

Return values

  • DS_OK
    The method succeeded.
  • DS_NO_VIRTUALIZATION
    The buffer was created, but another 3D algorithm was substituted.
  • DS_INCOMPLETE
    The method succeeded, but not all the optional effects were obtained.
  • DSERR_ACCESSDENIED
    The request failed because access was denied.
  • DSERR_ALLOCATED
    The request failed because resources, such as a priority level, were already in use by another caller.
  • DSERR_ALREADYINITIALIZED
    The object is already initialized.
  • DSERR_BADFORMAT
    The specified wave format is not supported.
  • DSERR_BADSENDBUFFERGUID
    The GUID specified in an audiopath file does not match a valid mix-in buffer.
  • DSERR_BUFFERLOST
    The buffer memory has been lost and must be restored.
  • DSERR_BUFFERTOOSMALL
    The buffer size is not great enough to enable effects processing.
  • DSERR_CONTROLUNAVAIL
    The buffer control (volume, pan, and so on) requested by the caller is not available. Controls must be specified when the buffer is created, using the dwFlags member of DSBUFFERDESC.
  • DSERR_DS8_REQUIRED
    A DirectSound object of class CLSID_DirectSound8 or later is required for the requested functionality. For more information, see IDirectSound8 Interface.
  • DSERR_FXUNAVAILABLE
    The effects requested could not be found on the system, or they are in the wrong order or in the wrong location; for example, an effect expected in hardware was found in software.
  • DSERR_GENERIC
    An undetermined error occurred inside the DirectSound subsystem.
  • DSERR_INVALIDCALL
    This function is not valid for the current state of this object.
  • DSERR_INVALIDPARAM
    An invalid parameter was passed to the returning function.
  • DSERR_NOAGGREGATION
    The object does not support aggregation.
  • DSERR_NODRIVER
    No sound driver is available for use, or the given GUID is not a valid DirectSound device ID.
  • DSERR_NOINTERFACE
    The requested COM interface is not available.
  • DSERR_OBJECTNOTFOUND
    The requested object was not found.
  • DSERR_OTHERAPPHASPRIO
    Another application has a higher priority level, preventing this call from succeeding.
  • DSERR_OUTOFMEMORY
    The DirectSound subsystem could not allocate sufficient memory to complete the caller's request.
  • DSERR_PRIOLEVELNEEDED
    A cooperative level of DSSCL_PRIORITY or higher is required.
  • DSERR_SENDLOOP
    A circular loop of send effects was detected.
  • DSERR_UNINITIALIZED
    The IDirectSound8::Initialize method has not been called or has not been called successfully before other methods were called.
  • DSERR_UNSUPPORTED
    The function called is not supported at this time.