Decode HResult = -2147467259

Question

Can someone help me decode this HResult? What does it mean? I know the negative stands for a failure. How about the rest of the 10 bits?

I referenced MSDN HResult article here, but I am not sure how to determine what my facility and code bits are.

More info:

_message: "External component has thrown an exception."
Data: {System.Collections.ListDictionaryInternal}

Hybridize

I got this error when I attempted to post back some data which is more than usual. Can this be the source of error? Too much data? – Hybridize

Maybe. Hard to say. Can you post a small, self-contained example that reproduces the problem? If so, post it here. Better yet, post a different question with that information. – Batsman

Thank you all for answering my question. I dug in further i found out the error was due to exceeding the maximium number of aspnet:MaxHttpCollectionKeys. Increasing this number will fix the error. – Hybridize

For future use, I wrote an HRESULT decoder that explains how to decode this value (and any others). – Aracelis

Answer 1

I'll show you how to do it. Paste the negative number into Calculator (Windows) in programmer mode "Dec" setting. Then convert to "Hex" setting. You get the number: FFFFFFFF80004005. The error is 80004005 which is:

0x80004005
E_FAIL
Unspecified 

Unfortunately the provider of the function that gave you this error did not categorize the error.

Useful links:

1. MSDN - HRESULT Format
2. MSDN - HRESULT Error List

Amplexicaul

+1. A couple of notes for readers: (1) Make sure to include the minus sign, easiest way is to subtract the number from 0 and press = (2) If you have DWORD selected, it will strip out the redundant FFFFFFFF part for you. – Jameson

Also, an even easier option for whoever missed Stephen Cleary's comment on the the question: errorcodelookup.com/?type=hresult&code=80004005 – Jameson

Very nice answer! :-) – Gymnasium

Answer 2

Print it as an hexadecimal number, then, use for instance, VisualStudio ErrorLookup, to get the message.

Messene

With Visual studio 2022 it takes negative integers too. It automatically converts the negative number to hex. Not sure if this is a recent feature or has it always been like this. – Blanchette

Answer 3

Another way to do it is as follows. An HRESULT should contain a System Error Code in its first 32 bits. Using an AND operation will retrieve the error code from the HRESULT:

int result = (-2147467259 & 0xFFFF)

result is 16389, which is not a part of the System Error Codes list, and as a result, is unspecified.

Nasalize

Answer 4

-2147467259 in decimal is 80004005 in hexadecimal (usually rendered as 0x80004005). That's "E_FAIL (Unspecified error)" in Win32.

Not a very helpful error code, but maybe it'll get you a half-step closer to a solution.

Batsman

Answer 5

Decoding the error code with tools.

1. Visual Studio Error lookup tool (link)
2. Microsoft Err.exe command line tool (standalone) (link) (download)
3. Online utility - https://errorcodelookup.com

1. Visual Studio Error lookup tool

Usage:

Locating the tool in Visual Studio (VS 2022):

On my system it is present at the following location:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Professional\Common7\Tools\errlook.exe"

2. Microsoft Err.exe command line

Microsoft also has a standalone commandline tool for decoding HRESULT errors: Err.exe. You need not install visual studio for this.

Usage:

PS C:\Users\j\Downloads> .\Err_6.4.5.exe 0x80004027
# for hex 0x80004027 / decimal -2147467225
  CO_E_CLASS_DISABLED                                            winerror.h
# The component or application containing the component has
# been disabled.
# 1 matches found for "0x80004027"
PS C:\Users\j\Downloads> .\Err_6.4.5.exe -2147467225
# for decimal -2147467225 / hex 0x80004027
  CO_E_CLASS_DISABLED                                            winerror.h
# The component or application containing the component has
# been disabled.
# 1 matches found for "-2147467225"

0x80004027 (-2147467225) is the error code above. As you can see it accepts both hex, and negative integers.

3. Online utility - https://errorcodelookup.com

The website allows you to decode error codes online.

eg. https://errorcodelookup.com/?q=0x80004027

PS: The answer expands upon @BenjaminB's answer with some of my learnings. The error lookup tool is suggested in a comment by @Ohad Schneider.

Blanchette