Even after almost a decade after its release, Grand Theft Auto V is still ruling the gaming world, and the GTA craze is still alive. Being still one of the highest-selling games on Steam and one of the most streamed across all the platforms, GTA V can be called “The Game of the Decade.”
If you are a PC gamer, then you are well aware of the fact that, from time to time, you might encounter various errors with your games. These errors might be due to several reasons, with incompatible drivers, corrupted files, and configurations being a few prominent ones.
One of the most common errors you may face with GTA 5 on PC is “Unable To Initialize DirectX 9 Device GTA 5”. Such errors can be annoying at times. So in this guide will tell you a complete step-by-step procedure on How to Fix this Error.
Key Takeaways
- “Unable to initialize DirectX 9 is one of many notable errors in GTA V.
- Various reasons can cause the error, the most critical being software compatibility issues, outdated GPU drivers, and corrupted software.
- Meanwhile, fixing the error is not difficult and involves simple steps to troubleshoot the error.
What Causes This Error?
Microsoft offers many technologies and software packages to facilitate and promote gaming on Windows PCs. DirectX is a similar technology designed to facilitate the rendering and display of HD graphics for videos and games on Windows.
Due to the constant evolution in gaming graphics, every coming game demands a higher degree of rendering from your GPU. On the software end, DirectX manages all that. Sometimes, you may face some errors with DirectX due to some compatibility issues.
There can be several reasons that can cause this error. Given below is a summary of the major causes of this error:
- Some of your crucial DirectX 9 files are missing from your PC.
- Your GPU drivers are either corrupt, broken or out of date.
- There are some applications on your PC that are causing hindrances in the DirectX operations.
- You have an out-of-date version of DirectX.
- Direct3D Acceleration is not working correctly.
How To Fix Unable To Initialize DirectX 9 Device GTA 5 Error?
Many fixes can be tried to resolve this issue. Given below are a few solutions that you can try to resolve your issue:
Restart Your PC
Sometimes this error is just temporarily caused due to some reasons. You may have installed an update for your graphic drivers, DirectX, or any other application package. And it might have temporarily stopped the DirectX functionality, and a restart might be pending for your PC.
In this case, simply restarting your PC will resolve the issue. We highly recommend that before trying any of the below-given methods, simply restart your PC to save time.
Updating Drivers From The Device Manager
Whenever you are facing any errors regarding your hardware, the first thing that you should check is your device drivers. The outdated drivers can interfere with your application’s seamless operation. One of the key reasons that you might be encountering this error is that your GPU drivers are out of date. So you need to install the latest drivers for your GPU. For this, you can follow these simple steps:
To update the drivers manually using the Device Manager, follow these simple steps:
- Press the Windows+R key on your keyboard, and the dialog box for the “Run” utility will open up.
- In the dialog box that opens, type “devmgmt.msc“
- In the Display Adapter option, right-click on the GPU that you are using.
- From the menu that will appear, click “Uninstall device.”
- The device driver will be uninstalled.
- Now download and install the latest drivers for your GPU from your vendor’s website, like AMD, NVIDIA, etc.
- Finally, restart your PC.
Other than this manual method of updating device drivers, you can also use tools like DriverPack Solution or DriverEasy for this. These tools automatically detect the drivers to be upgraded or installed on your PC.
We are pretty confident that this will resolve your issue. But if the problem persists, you can try one of the following fixes.
Reinstalling DirectX
Sometimes maybe for some reason, your DirectX files can get missing or get corrupted. In such a scenario, your only option is reinstalling a fresh copy of DirectX 9. For this, you have to follow these simple steps:
- Download the Latest package for the DirectX installer from Here.
- Run the downloaded file with the name “dxwebsetup.exe” and follow all the installation instructions on the screen.
- Once a fresh copy of DirectX 9 is installed, all the missing files will be added back, and the corrupted files will be replaced.
- Now restart your PC and check if the issue has been resolved.
Note: If the error persists, head over to your GTA 5 game installation folder or the game setup folder(if you have one). In this folder, look for a folder with the name “DirectX.”
Here the DirectX setup version recommended for GTA 5 by the developers will be given. Installing this and restarting your PC will most probably fix your issue.
Performing A Clean Boot
When your PC boots, a number of applications automatically start running in the background on startup. It might be happening that one of these applications is causing trouble with the proper functioning of DirectX. To resolve this issue, you must ensure a clean PC boot.
Step-By-Step Procedure
For this, you can follow these easy steps:
- Press the Windows+R key on your keyboard, and the dialog box for the “Run” utility will open.
- In the dialog box that opens, type “msconfig“
- Go to the “Services” tab in the window that will open. It will show you all the Windows and third-party processes that are running in the background.
- Check the box “Hide Microsoft Services,” which will show you only the third-party processes.
- Select all of these processes and click the “Disable all” button.
- Now open the “Startup” tab from the bar at the top.
- In the Startup menu, go to the “Task Manager.”
- A task manager window displaying all the auto-startup applications will open.
- Furthermore, select all of these applications and click the “Disable all” button.
- Restart your PC and again run the game
Note: This will most probably fix your issue, but you still need to find out which of these applications is causing the error. For this, you can re-enable your blocked applications and processes one by one and check if the problem surfaces again. The application or process that, after enabling again, start giving you an error is the faulty one. Either block or uninstall that application to avoid such inconvenience in the future.
Just like the error discussed here, one of the most prominent errors you will encounter with GTA Online is the “THE GTA ONLINE IS HAVING TROUBLE SYNCING” error. It is mainly caused due to various problems with your Rockstar Social Club software package, internet connectivity, or issues with Steam. You can check out a complete fix for this error in our guide on “GTA Online Is Having Trouble Syncing.” Error.
Enabling DirectPlay
DirectPlay is a DirectX API that enables video games to establish connectivity with the internet and is a crucial tool for online gaming. So you must have it enabled in your settings. It being disabled can be one of the reasons for this error. So, to enable this, follow these simple steps:
- Open the “Turn Windows features On or Off” utility by searching it in the Windows Search Bar.
- The following window will open:
- Scroll Down and look for the “Legacy Components” option.
- In this option, check the box for “DirectPlay.”
- Click OK.
- Restart your PC and check if the issue has been resolved.
Checking If Direct3D Acceleration Is Enabled
Problems with your DirectX settings might be causing errors, such as being Unable To Initialize DirectX 9 Device GTA 5. One of the crucial configurations for DirectX is ensuring that Direct3D Acceleration is enabled for your PC. To check if it is the case, you can follow these simple steps:
- Press the Windows+R key on your keyboard, and the dialog box for the “Run” utility will open up.
- In the dialog box that opens, type “dxdiag“
- Then DirectX Diagnostic Tool indicating your system specs, will open.
- Head over to the display tab from the menu at the top of the window.
- In the Display tab, ensure the “Direct3D Acceleration” is turned on.
- You need nothing to worry about if it is enabled, and this is not the issue.
- But if it is not enabled, then update your GPU drivers and look for settings to enable it in your vendor GPU control panel.
GTA Online players are indeed not unaware of the fact that Rockstar Social Club can be messy sometimes. Problems with your internet connection or internal game files can result in various errors. It can be annoying if you cannot enjoy your game in peace.
Another common error you may encounter with GTA Online is the “UNABLE TO ACCESS ROCKSTAR SERVERS” error.
But do not worry; like every error has some possible fix. So why don’t you check out our guide on Fixing Unable To Access Rockstar Servers.”
Conclusion
DirectX errors are some of the most commonly encountered errors in gaming, and thankfully they have straightforward fixes. Here we have explained all of these fixes in the easiest way possible. After reading this guide, we hope you can resolve your “Unable To Initialize DirectX 9 Device GTA 5” error. Moreover, if you know of any other significant fixes for this error, then mention them in the comments below for other readers.
Do give us your valuable feedback in the comments below.
Similar Read: Best Facility GTA 5.
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Ali Subhan is an undergraduate student making waves in Machine Learning. He has built a strong passion for Video Games since the Xbox 360 era, and it is evolving with the new exclusive titles. With over one year with Gamesual, Ali assisted fellow players by offering recommendations and guides for notable titles like GTA V, Evil West, and Baldur’s Gate 3.
