STATUS_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_MUST_HAVE_AT_LEAST_ONE_SOURCE (0xC01E0328)

When This Error Hits

You're running a multi-monitor setup, or maybe you just swapped out a GPU. You plug in a second (or third) display, and Windows kicks back error 0xC01E0328 — STATUS_GRAPHICS_ADAPTER_MUST_HAVE_AT_LEAST_ONE_SOURCE. The monitor stays black. Device Manager shows the adapter but the display is missing.

I've seen this most often on machines with both an integrated Intel GPU and a discrete NVIDIA or AMD card, especially after a driver update or a failed DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) run. It also happens if you're using a virtual display adapter like with Parsec or Moonlight and the primary source gets yanked.

Root Cause — What's Actually Happening

Windows manages display outputs through a thing called the Video Present Network (VidPN). Every GPU adapter must have at least one video present source — that's the internal path data flows through before it gets sent to a monitor. If the driver doesn't initialize a source for the adapter, any attempt to attach a monitor triggers this error.

What's happening here is the driver either:

• Lost its active source during a hot-plug event
• Never created one because the adapter was disabled or the driver is corrupt
• Has a stale display topology from a previous configuration (common after swapping GPU slots or switching from integrated to discrete)

The reason you can't just restart the display service and fix it is that VidPN state is held at the kernel level — it persists across service restarts until the driver stack is fully reloaded.

The Fix — Step by Step

1. Full shutdown, not restart. A restart often skips the full hardware reinit. Shut down, flip the PSU switch off, wait 30 seconds, then power back on. This forces the GPU to re-enumerate and create a fresh VidPN source.
2. DDU and clean install the driver. If step 1 doesn't work, the driver state is corrupted. Boot into Safe Mode (hold Shift while clicking Restart, then Troubleshoot > Startup Settings > Safe Mode). Run Display Driver Uninstaller for both the Intel and discrete GPU drivers. Reboot normally, let Windows Update install a baseline driver, then install the latest driver from the GPU vendor's site — not from Windows Update.
3. Check the monitor cable and port. Sounds dumb, but 0xC01E0328 has been triggered by a broken DisplayPort cable that shorts the HPD pin. Swap to a known-good HDMI cable to rule it out.
4. Disable and re-enable the adapter. Open Device Manager, find the GPU under Display adapters, right-click it and select Disable device. Wait 10 seconds, then Enable device. This reinitializes the VidPN without a full reboot and often creates the missing source.
5. Force a monitor detect. Open Settings > System > Display > Multiple displays and click Detect. If nothing happens, press Win + Ctrl + Shift + B to reset the graphics stack — that keystroke reloads the display driver without a reboot.

If It Still Fails

Check for hardware issues specific to your setup:

• Multi-GPU systems: The error can mean the GPU you're plugging into isn't the one Windows chose as the primary adapter. Go to BIOS and set the discrete GPU as the primary display device (not Auto or IGD).
• Virtual adapters: If you use software like idctray or Virtual-Display-Driver, the virtual adapter may have no source configured. Uninstall the virtual driver temporarily, reboot, then reinstall it.
• Monitor EDID corruption: A monitor with a bad EDID can prevent the GPU from establishing a source. Connect the monitor to another PC — if it works there, the GPU's port might be failing.

In rare cases, the GPU itself has a hardware fault in the display output block. If none of the above work and you're on a desktop, try a different PCIe slot. On a laptop, you're likely looking at a motherboard swap.