Display Surface initialization failed

[Colin27921683aj0j]

Hello,

I recently got myself a 2nd monitor to help speed up my video editing. However, I can't launch Adobe Premiere with the 2nd monitor plugged in. After I launch the app, the splash screen shows up, and then after about 20-seconds, the whole thing crashes and I get this error that says "Display Surface initialization failed."

I can work around this by unplugging the 2nd monitor, launching Adobe Premeire, and then re-plugging in the 2nd monitor. It's annoying as I prefer to close the application when I'm not using it to save computer processing power. Any insight on this would be super helpful. I've looked into other posts on the forums, and no solid fix has been found. Thanks for your time!

[R Neil Haugen]

Ok, for starters we need to have some basic clues of what your situation is.

So ... OS, basic computer specs (including GPU of course), and the details of the two monitors. How are they connected to the computer, and what settings do you have in the OS for using the two monitors?

On PCs, the typical option is "extend my desktop to this monitor".

Neil

[Colin27921683aj0j]

Thanks for reaching out R Neil! Good point. My apologies. Here are the specs. Let me know if you need any additional info:

Device name DESKTOP-SC4IVRQ
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core Processor 3.79 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB
Device ID 39F5D7F7-291E-4CD7-ADB1-E6F41AE6094C
Product ID 00330-50000-00000-AAOEM
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

I'm using a Windows operating system. The monitors are both LG monitors with model code: 32MN50W.  The HDMI adapter is "StarTech.com USB 3.0 to Dual HDMI Adapter - 1x 4K 30Hz & 1x 1080p." The setting I'm using for the monitors is "extend these displays. 

I'm running the latest version of Adobe Premiere. Windows is also running the latest version. 

[R Neil Haugen]

Do you have a GPU card installed, from either Nvidia or AMD?

It sounds like you're feeding both monitors from a USB output, not a monitor out or GPU card ... ?

Neil

[Colin27921683aj0j]

Yes. My graphics card is a AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT. 

Correct. Both monitors are running through a USB splitter.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @Colin27921683aj0j ,

Thanks for providing great info. Sounds like a frustrating issue. Since you have a USB splitter, and @Ivan28174818i3do reported that removing that interface fixed the issue, can you test your issue with a single monitor? What happens?

If it works with one monitor, it might consider a more robust splitter or hardware to assist you with the dual monitor setup.

Thanks,
Kevin

[R Neil Haugen]

I just saw a Resolve user figure out they couldn't work with a splitter ... so that might be the issue there.

But I'm curious ... if you're running a card with (normally) a pair of Display Port connections and a pair of HDMI connections ... why are you using a USB splitter?

Neil

[Colin27921683aj0j]

Hi Neil, 

Thanks for the continued help! I think you're right on the money with the splitter being the issue. I had trouble with one before, which was was I bit the bullet and upgraded to this $60 splitter. However, I guess I either got the wrong splitter or didn't spend enough. Do you have any recommendations for a good splitter? 

Regarding the 2nd display port, the PC was custom built from someone and the top HDMI port doesn't work for some reason. Three of the bottom ports are similar to HMDI, but they have a weird bent shape on one end. Basically, I only have one usable HDMI input slot that I'm aware of. It's possible that a different cord of some kind could be used one of the other imput slots instead of what I'm doing. Any thoughts? Here are some pictures of the tower and back monitor to help.

[Colin27921683aj0j]

Hi Kevin, 

Thanks for reaching out to help with this! Yes, after more testing, if I unplug one of the monitors, I'm able to launch Adobe Premiere. I can then plug the 2nd monitor back in after the program has already launched, and I don't get the crash report. That said, I'd rather not unplug and re-plug my monitor every time I launch a program.

I believe that you're correct that the issue is the splitter itself. Do you have any recommendations for hardware that could handle/is built for proper splitting? The one I'm currently using was almost $60, so I thought I spent enough to fix the issue. Would appreciate your insight on the proper tools, as I'm not educated in the intricacies of stuff like this.

[R Neil Haugen]

If you're running only two monitors on a card with four outputs, I'm puzzled at using the splitter to begin with ...

Neil

[Kevin-Monahan]

Not really. I'm more of a Mac person, but I have PCs. You may want to post on the Hardware forum. I hope that's OK. 

Thanks,
Kevin

[Ivan28174818i3do · Accepted solution]

FIXED FOR ME

Hello Everyone. I just wanted to chime in because I tried all the fixes and have spent the last 18 to 20 hours trying to fix the "'Display Surface initialization failed'" error. We got it fixed adn it was because I was connecting my monitors through a hub! So, when I connected everything directly to the computer instead of through the "Display Link" everything works but if I had it through the hub, it gave me the error message almost every time. (Except when the Adobe tech Jestin was helping)

Before that I tried:
-Updating the drivers
-Updating Windows 11
-Unpluging vairous monitors one at a time

-Holding down Shift while starting Premiere to clear the cache
-Holding down Ctrl while starting Premiere to clear something else

-I also reinsalled the entire adobe suite

-I also wiped my computer and reinstalled Windows 11 and then the Adobe Suite

-I also tried unistalling various plug-ins

-I also tried CCleaner

-I also tried shutting off my firewall

-I also tried shutting down gpusniffer.exe in the task manager

-I also tried shutting down CCXProcess.exe in the tast manager

I am sure I am missing a few but basically those are the things I tried but it was having everything go through a display hub that caused the problems. 

I hope that helps one of you good people. 

[AmyAlex23]

just letting you all know that I unplugged my monitors and my Premiere opened. Holy cow, that was a lot of time wasted. Anyway, thanks for posting! It helped me! 🙂