Windows.UI.Xaml.dll crash at startup for all ms store apps

[theultramage]

I have found that all builtin apps (even Calculator) crash at startup after briefly showing a blank window. This started happening on one newly created user account on one of three newly purchased HP desktops, a day after I finished configuring it and installing everything. My Administrator account on the same PC runs them fine. The other two PCs also don't have this issue. OS is Windows 10 Pro x64 1903.

Event log records 1000 Application error:

Faulting app: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_10.1908.0.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\Calculator.exe
Faulting module: C:\Windows\System32\Windows.UI.Xaml.dll version 10.0.18362.449
Exception code: 0xc000027b (An application-internal exception has occurred.)
Report identifier: 5b455005-e89f-443c-b502-5854dfc4bc3c

I have tried digging around a bit via procdump and windbg. From what I can tell, it seems the problem is an unhandled 'Class not registered' exception for Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls.XamlControlsResources?

0:007> !analyze -v
...
FAULTING_IP:  Windows_UI_Xaml!DirectUI::ErrorHelper::ProcessUnhandledError+f0 [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\dxaml\lib\errorhelper.cpp @ 618]
BUGCHECK_STR:  STOWED_EXCEPTION_XAML_TEXT_Cannot_create_instance_of_type__Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Controls.XamlControlsResources__[Line:_0_Position:_0]

0:007> .exr -1
ExceptionAddress: 00007ffb06a32ec0 (Windows_UI_Xaml!DirectUI::ErrorHelper::ProcessUnhandledError+0x00000000000000f0)
   ExceptionCode: c000027b
  ExceptionFlags: 00000001
NumberParameters: 2
   Parameter[0]: 00000204c76d59c0
   Parameter[1]: 0000000000000002

0:007> dt 00000204c76d59c0 combase!_STOWED_EXCEPTION_INFORMATION_HEADER*
0x00000204`c9fcab98
   +0x000 Size             : 0x38
   +0x004 Signature        : 0x53453032

0:007> .formats 0x53453032
   Chars:   ....SE02

0:007> dt -a2 00000204c76d59c0 combase!_STOWED_EXCEPTION_INFORMATION_V2*
[0] @ 00000204`c76d59c0 
---------------------------------------------
0x00000204`c9fcab98
   +0x000 Header           : _STOWED_EXCEPTION_INFORMATION_HEADER
   +0x008 ResultCode       : 802b000a
   +0x00c ExceptionForm    : 0y01
   +0x00c ThreadId         : 0y000000000000000010011111001011 (0x27cb)
   +0x010 ExceptionAddress : 0x00007ffb`1902fdba Void
   +0x018 StackTraceWordSize : 8
   +0x01c StackTraceWords  : 0x18
   +0x020 StackTrace       : 0x00000204`c9f7e290 Void
   +0x010 ErrorText        : 0x00007ffb`1902fdba  "赈???"
   +0x028 NestedExceptionType : 0
   +0x030 NestedException  : (null) 

[1] @ 00000204`c76d59c8 
---------------------------------------------
0x00000204`c9fca7e0
   +0x000 Header           : _STOWED_EXCEPTION_INFORMATION_HEADER
   +0x008 ResultCode       : 80040154
   +0x00c ExceptionForm    : 0y01
   +0x00c ThreadId         : 0y000000000000000010011111001011 (0x27cb)
   +0x010 ExceptionAddress : (null) 
   +0x018 StackTraceWordSize : 8
   +0x01c StackTraceWords  : 0x13
   +0x020 StackTrace       : 0x00000204`c9fc8af8 Void
   +0x010 ErrorText        : (null) 
   +0x028 NestedExceptionType : 0x4c4d4158
   +0x030 NestedException  : 0x00000204`c9fc8ae0 Void

0:007> !error 80040154
Error code: (HRESULT) 0x80040154 (2147746132) - Class not registered

0:007> dpS 0x00000204`c9fc8af8
 00007ffb`06764601 Windows_UI_Xaml!DirectUI::ActivationAPI::ActivateInstance+0x253561 [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\dxaml\lib\activationapi.cpp @ 42]
 00007ffb`064d233d Windows_UI_Xaml!DirectUI::XamlParserCallbacks::XamlManagedRuntimeRPInvokes_CreateInstance+0x8d [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\dxaml\lib\xamlparsercallbacks.cpp @ 49]
 00007ffb`065a978e Windows_UI_Xaml!XamlManagedRuntime::CreateInstance+0xbe [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\core\parser\xamlmanagedruntime.cpp @ 40]
 00007ffb`064365ea Windows_UI_Xaml!ObjectWriterRuntime::CreateTypeImpl+0xea [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\core\parser\objectwriterruntime.cpp @ 76]
 00007ffb`0643a049 Windows_UI_Xaml!BinaryFormatObjectWriter::CreateInstanceFromType+0x109 [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\core\parser\binaryformatobjectwriter.cpp @ 435]
 00007ffb`0643784c Windows_UI_Xaml!BinaryFormatObjectWriter::WriteNode+0xfc [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\core\parser\binaryformatobjectwriter.cpp @ 135]
 00007ffb`06436b46 Windows_UI_Xaml!CParser::LoadXamlCore+0x486 [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\core\parser\parser.cpp @ 284]
 00007ffb`063dc174 Windows_UI_Xaml!CCoreServices::ParseXamlWithExistingFrameworkRoot+0x128 [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\core\dll\xcpcore.cpp @ 3677]
 00007ffb`064f7772 Windows_UI_Xaml!CApplication::LoadComponent+0x226 [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\core\packaging\application.cpp @ 512]
 00007ffb`06568c0e Windows_UI_Xaml!Application_LoadComponent+0xae [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\core\dll\pinvokes.cpp @ 385]
 00007ffb`06568a6c Windows_UI_Xaml!DirectUI::FrameworkApplication::LoadComponent+0xd8 [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\dxaml\lib\frameworkapplication_partial.cpp @ 553]
 00007ffb`064677c4 Windows_UI_Xaml!DirectUI::DXamlCore::EnsureCoreApplicationInitialized+0x9c [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\dxaml\lib\dxamlcore.cpp @ 602]
 00007ffb`0645f70a Windows_UI_Xaml!DirectUI::FrameworkView::Initialize+0x8a [onecoreuap\windows\dxaml\xcp\dxaml\lib\frameworkview_partial.cpp @ 58]
 00007ffb`15229cf7 twinapi_appcore!Windows::ApplicationModel::Core::CoreApplicationView::CreateAndInitializeFrameworkView+0x147
 00007ffb`1520859d twinapi_appcore!Windows::ApplicationModel::Core::CoreApplicationViewAgileContainer::InitializeView+0x2cd
 00007ffb`15207291 twinapi_appcore!<lambda_f57724dc141dec833c6b65286717f0de>::<lambda_invoker_cdecl>+0x61

[jevansaks]

Thanks for reporting and digging in. This sounds like #716? See this comment for some details about how you could remediate manually:

#716 (comment)

[theultramage]

I am not sure, the report is light on details. I can however confirm that not 'all' apps crash, only those with this library dependency. I will try uninstalling all of them via commandline and then adding them back in via store.

I have searched for mentions of XamlControlsResources and found multiple discussions pointing to pull request 1560, mentioning some kind of recent regression that caused loading issues. Not sure if that's the one, or if it's something unrelated.

Would you happen to know what could have caused this situation? I started with three identical desktops, performed very similar configuration activities on all of them, but only one is exhibiting this problem. Furthermore, if I switch accounts to the domain Administrator account which was used for the initial steps, it can launch these apps no problem, indicating it's probably an user-specific thing. But what...

[jevansaks]

There have been OS bugs regarding the framework package installations getting corrupted. They've been fixed in the insider builds but haven't been taken to servicing yet.

I don't know what caused it exactly, but I suspect it's just that more apps are taking a dependency on the framework package and I believe the issue has to do with something going wrong during the installation or build-to-build upgrade process.