topic Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component in Water Resources Questions

Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

LeonoreBehr — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 09:35:38 GMT

Hi,

I'm new to Archydro and have installed Archydro in ArcMap 10.1. Everytime I try to run one of the applications like calculating slope or flowdirection out of my .grd or .tif the Error "HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component" (or in my case in German: "Beim Aufruf einer COM-Komponente wurde ein HRESULT E_FAIL-Fehler zurückgegeben.") appears.
I have a huge DEM to work with and wanted to calculate the Catchment area.

Does anyone know what the cuase of this error could be? I already shortened the workpath and the filename but this didn't help.

Thanks in advance!!

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

MarkBoucher — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 15:42:44 GMT

Welcome to the forum.

This is a common error that I encounter when working with data over the network. If you have your data on the network, copy the data on your local C: drive, start a new mxd. The data that needs to be on the C: drive is minimal.** The other layers can remain on the network. See if that will stop the error from occurring. You will also find the processing goes much faster. When you are done, you can copy the project directory back to the network for "safe keeping". Changing the mxd properties (File>Map Document Properties) to "store relative pathnames to data sources", allows you to copy your project directories from the C: drive to a network drive after you are done.

The thread in a forum "sticky" is a link in my signature. This has several tips for running Arc Hydro including what I mentioned above.

(Sorry, no German translation here. This may help if you need it: http://translate.google.com/#en/de/).

**Actually, I'm not sure if any of the basic data (rawdem, agreestream, innerwalls, outerwalls, etc.) need to be on the C: drive. I put them there to keep the project intact for when I move the data back to the network (for long-term storage and network backup).

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

LeonoreBehr — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 07:31:30 GMT

Hello Mark,

Thanks a lot! Actually this was the whole problem. And thank you, too, for the link to the 'tip thread' - think it will help solving some problems in my project occuring in the future. (But I think I will skip the google translator - it does other mistakes than I do, but just as much 🙂 )

Leonore

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

KevinJenkins2 — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 13:51:44 GMT

Another reason you may receive this message is if your feature class contains too many fields. I was comparing points to lines using valency check in Data Reviewer and checked "Select All" in "Fields to Include for Feature Class 2". When I instead kept only the few fields I really needed, it worked just fine. Good luck

Kevin Jenkins

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

RajendraVaradaraju — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 13:09:41 GMT

Install Visual Studio 2010 SP1 it resolve the issue

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

bassim_shama — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 03:40:38 GMT

See this video may help you in your problem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK34C7QScRU&feature=youtu.be

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

JonathanMcGlade — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 16:59:17 GMT

It looks like that video is no longer available. Can you perhaps offer some guidance on what it was about? I am having this issue and none of the solutions above have worked for me.

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

BeatriceO_Hara — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 16:00:19 GMT

Jonathan, did you ever find the solution? I am encountering the same issue. Tried moving all data to C drive but still get the same error message: Error HRESLT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a om Component

Using ArcMap 10.3.1 and ArcHydro, error is occurring at Catchment Grid Delineation step

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

MarkBoucher — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 16:36:15 GMT

My web search revealed little on this error.

It is basically the program "crying like a baby" and you have to guess what's wrong.

I think (and I could be wrong) the routine can't find any data to work with and says "Huh?" Then translates that into "HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component". If the processing extents don't coincide with the data, then this is what happens. This could be why things don't work well over the network (the link to the data gets scrambled). But then again, this is just my guess...

Check to see that your processing extent covers your data. Check/Set this in the menu "Geoprocessing>Environments>Processing Extent". On occasion, I've found that this fixes the problem.

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

BeatriceO_Hara — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 16:57:18 GMT

LOL! “crying like a baby”. Tried your suggestions on processing extent but received the same error. ☹

However, I did get a good laugh thinking of my system crying like a baby.

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

JonathanMcGlade — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:05:24 GMT

I haven't had this issue in a while. I created a brand new Geodatabase, as well as a Mosaic. I noticed that I would typically have this issue if I forgot to "Stop Editing" a mosaic, or if the mosaic itself had become corrupt (which happened several times, an I am not sure why).

Our organization also has upgraded to 10.6. I wish I could be more help.

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

BeatriceO_Hara — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 18:44:42 GMT

We tried a few things, including ensuring the processing extent was correct, after receiving the error over and over we checked the geoprocessing results which indicated that the file can’t be overwritten. We changed the output file name and the tool completed its process

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

MarkBoucher — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 19:48:52 GMT

Yes, file locks, processing extents, missing data, ... "These are a few of (Error HRESULT E_FAIL's) favorite things". [dub over this that song from "The Sound of Music"]

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

JeremyVore — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 20:04:57 GMT

I am receiving this error when I open ArcGIS Pro. I am running ArcGIS Pro 2.7.0. Has anyone else had this error pop up in PRO? SOLUTION? thanks

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

ClaraRose — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 20:58:53 GMT

Hi Mark, thanks for all these tips.

I am having this same issue.

I copied all the files from my company server to my local C driver and also saved the mxd files there. I also changed the Process extent to the size of the layer that is larger in extent.

However, this is still resulting in the same error.

It is strange because yesterday I went through the same process, without saving the input files locally, and I did not receive this error.

Currently, I am getting this error when using ArcHydro, Terrain Preprocessing, Fill Sinks.

I would greatly appreciate any further suggestions.

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

ns90tnau — Thu, 14 Mar 2024 07:40:29 GMT

Hi @LeonoreBehr
Greetings from India!

I too had encountered this error message displayed after using the stream segmentation tool from ArcHydro. Firstly, I thought that this error has something to do with the internet connection, but after insuring the internet connection, still I was getting the same error.
I tried many things from the trouleshooting from ESRI community pages. But still didnt get success. Then I just changed the filename of the output file for the stream segmentation grid and it did work. Also, the reply from @MarkBoucher to check the option from Changing the mxd properties (File>Map Document Properties) to "store relative pathnames to data sources", also seems to be fine solution. Also I am in favour of his comment on the data to be kept in C-drive. It allows the programs to run smoothly and read the pathnames of such data easily.

Re: Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component

MatthewStull1 — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 21:34:53 GMT

If anyone happens to get this "Error HRESULT E_FAIL has been returned from a call to a COM component" error while publishing map services in ArcGIS Pro, like I did, restarting the "PublishingTools" and "PublishingToolsEx" services via the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory solved my issue. Hope that helps anyone who needs it.