VKERRORDEVICELOST

VK_ERROR_DEVICE_LOST is a Vulkan API VkResult value that indicates the logical device has been lost and is no longer usable. When this result is returned, the application cannot perform meaningful Vulkan operations on the current device, and many resources created with that device are considered invalid.

Causes of a device loss can include driver crashes, GPU hangs, thermal or power-related issues, TDR (Timeout Detection and Recovery) in Windows, or the physical removal of the graphics device. It is often the result of a severe hardware or driver fault rather than a simple recoverable error.

In practice, VK_ERROR_DEVICE_LOST is treated as a fatal condition for the current device. After detecting this error, the application should cease using the affected device, ensure the device is idle if possible, and then destroy and recreate the logical device along with all resources tied to it. This typically includes recreating buffers, images, pipelines, synchronization objects, and dependent resources such as the swapchain. The Vulkan instance remains valid, but most or all device-bound state must be rebuilt.

Best practices for handling VK_ERROR_DEVICE_LOST include robust error checking around Vulkan calls, clean shutdown and reinitialization logic, and proper resource cleanup followed by full reinitialization when recovery is possible. Because the issue is often driver- or hardware-related, it is also advisable to report the incident and test across drivers and hardware configurations.