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Problems with Visual Studio 2013 debugger - The debugging target and the debugger engine failed to initialize because of unspecified device errors

I am a hobbyist-programmer and build a few nice working solutions on NetDuino Plus 2 in C#. Recently I acquired the new Netduino 3 Ethernet. My problem is that the debugger does not work. When I load my C# application I get an error message:
The debugging target and the debugger engine failed to initialize because of unspecified device errors.
The debugger engine thread has terminated unexpectedly with error 'Could not reconnect to the debugging target after rebooting it.'.
I have been looking on the web for a solution for a number of days now and I found a few people with the same problem but without solutions. Some people had the problem only on specific PC's. It worked fine on one PC, the other threw the error above. Other people had the problem in VS2012 but not in VS2013. One solution pointed at modifying the debugger SW but that goes beyond my knowledge. It seems there is some sensitivity in the debugger which has not been grasped yet..... Everything works fine with Netduino Plus 2, debugger always attaches. I have posted the problem also on the Netduino forum but without result.
Can someone point me in the right direction for a solution ?
Thanks in advance,
Arno

Unable to run Console Application from Visual Studio: System.AccessViolationException

Description
When launching any Console Application, the code stops running immediately on an AccessViolationException (Additional information: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt). More info included in the next section.
Technical Symptoms
The Call Stack only contains external code:
Exception:Thrown: "The message filter indicated that the application is busy. >(Exception from HRESULT: 0x8001010A (RPC_E_SERVERCALL_RETRYLATER))" (System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException)
A System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException was thrown: "The message filter indicated that the application is busy. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8001010A (RPC_E_SERVERCALL_RETRYLATER))"
Time: 12/10/2015 10:59:55 AM
Thread:vshost.NotifyLoad[15344]
I created a new Console Application, containing only Console.WriteLine("Hello world!");
Running the new Hello world app results in the same exception and an identical
call stack.
Background
I suspect this has nothing to do with the issue, as I will explain, but I feel it is important to answer the obvious question, "what were you doing when the issue happend?" The last change I made was adding an extension to my Selenium Driver to hotkey logout from an application:
public static void logout(this IWebDriver Driver)
{
Driver.FindElement(By.TagName("body")).Click();
new Actions(Driver)
.SendKeys(Keys.Control + Keys.Shift + "x")
.Perform();
}
I also made a change in my App.Config file for one of my projects, but reverting this had no impact either.
Removing this code (the Driver extension and/or the App.Config change) does not resolve this issue. Retrieving a previous check-in does not resolve the issue. I am the only person currently working on this solution.
Discoveries
As mentioned, this is happening for an empty Console Application. Windows Form Applications launch fine. Unit Test Projects launch fine as well.
Research
I've spent hours looking into this. It seems like every similar issue I have looked into is pertinent to debugging only or a .NET version. For me, the issue occurs with a Release as well. Additionally, I have been using .NET 4.5 without any issues or changes on that front. I can't find any articles that seem worth posting, but I might be overlooking something.
Visual Studio Info
Microsoft Visual Studio Ultimate 2013
Version 12.0.30501.00 Update 2
.NET Version 4.6.00081 (just noticed it says 4.5 in my project properties, though)
Running as Administrator
Feedback
When Running from devenv.exe /SafeMode, Visual Studio loaded with:
An exception was encountered while constructing the content of this frame. This information is also logged in "C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\VisualStudio\12.0\ActivityLog.xml".
Exception details:
System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Interop.IVsShell5.LoadPackageWithContext(Guid& packageGuid, Int32 reason, Guid& context)
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Platform.WindowManagement.WindowFrame.GetPackage()
at Microsoft.VisualStudio.Platform.WindowManagement.WindowFrame.ConstructContent()
Additionally, when trying to run, I get an error message of "Error while trying to run project: Invalid Pointer" (again, VS in devenv.exe /SafeMode - see how to run visual studio without plugin and all third party feature if unfamiliar)
Please let me know if I can provide any additional information.

It may be because when you name the project you can't put spaces, I put them and it gave me a AccessViolationException aswell, try using capitals to separate your words, but only use letters and no spaces to be sure.

I also faced this issue with Visual Studio 2010. More interestingly I had several projects in my solution (Console application, WPF application, Windows Forms application) but it was failing only when, I was setting the project which was of type "Console Application" as start up project. Following change finally helped me nail down the issue: Go to project properties of the console application project -> Go to "Debug" tab -> Go to "Enable Debuggers" section in right pane -> Check the "Enable unmanaged code debugging" check box as shown in the snapshot below. Root cause of why it happened is still not known to me. Only thing which I observed as fishy was that there were lot of windows updates which had got installed on my machine the previous night which mostly constituted of office updates and OS updates (More than a dozen KB articles).

Upgrading wp8 to wp8.1 silverlight, debugger cannot be launched

I have now had an error with VS2013 and WP8.1 silverlight for a couple of days.
I get a couple of different errors, ..Ensure unlocked screen.., AgHost.exe could not be launched, port is in use by another program and ensure the device is unlocked.
These errors came suddenly after I retarged the solution. I have no compiling errors.
Solution Attempts
Restart PC
Restart program
unregister and reregister the phone
reinstall Update 3
reinstall VS2013
Windows Phone 8 Application crash once its launched AgHost.exe' has exited with code -532265403
Install VS2015 with no luck.
reinstall VS2013 Update 4
Nothing worked. The error is also the same for emulator as well as different devices. I can however get the release mode installed. Break points can be used when using release mode, but I have to Clean, Rebuild and then deploy for every time I want to deploy the application. Further the deploy time has gone up exponentially. Before upgrading I used a maximum of 10 seconds. Now it is above a minute in wait time. :/
Anyone has a solution for this ?
Extra
If I run the solution before upgrade on device or Emulator It spins up with debugger. If then go to the updated WP81, I get a popup with info Something is taking longer then normal and then it crashes with ..Ensure unlocked screen.. :/
Could it be an issue with the differen SDKS?
During a repair of all the SDKs, I found an issue with the event log, which I cleared based on The Event Log File is full
Still no success.
Extra
I cannot spin up the emulator from VS2013, when using the WP8.1 solution, but the wp8.0 solution in the same VS works :S
I found an error in a log file, from:
The errors are:
[0F08:14A8][2015-07-23T09:11:44]: Applying execute package: silverlight5_DRT, action: Repair, path: C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\DEB5078B60B74431E2830831EB48DF129CB32932\packages\Silverlight\5.0_DRT\Silverlight_Developer.exe, arguments: '"C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\DEB5078B60B74431E2830831EB48DF129CB32932\packages\Silverlight\5.0_DRT\Silverlight_Developer.exe" /q /ignorewarnings'
[0F08:14A8][2015-07-23T09:11:45]: Error 0x800705de: Process returned error: 0x5de
[0F08:14A8][2015-07-23T09:11:45]: Error 0x800705de: Failed to execute EXE package.
[0550:0E74][2015-07-23T09:11:45]: Error 0x800705de: Failed to configure per-machine EXE package.
[0550:0E74][2015-07-23T09:11:45]: MUX: Installation size in bytes for package: silverlight5_DRT MaxAppDrive: 0 MaxSysDrive: 0 AppDrive: 0 SysDrive: 0
AND
[0F08:14A8][2015-07-23T09:16:16]: Applying execute package:
{312d9252-c71c-4c84-b171-f4ad46e22098}, action: Repair, path:
C:\ProgramData\Package
Cache{312d9252-c71c-4c84-b171-f4ad46e22098}\VS2012.4.exe, arguments:
'"C:\ProgramData\Package
Cache{312d9252-c71c-4c84-b171-f4ad46e22098}\VS2012.4.exe" -repair
-quiet -burn.related.patch' [0F08:14A8][2015-07-23T09:16:23]: Error 0x80048bc7: Process returned error: 0x80048bc7
[0F08:14A8][2015-07-23T09:16:23]: Error 0x80048bc7: Failed to execute
EXE package. [0550:0E74][2015-07-23T09:16:23]: Error 0x80048bc7:
Failed to configure per-machine EXE package.
Anybody knows what to do with this? The error is coming when I repair Windows Phone SDK 8.0

There was a post-VS2013 update for the Windows Phone 8.1 SDK, some odds that you don't have it installed since you did not need it before. The download location is here.
Getting error messages like "port is in use" when there's no obvious reason why it should be in use and seeing excessive download times is also a very strong selector for your installed anti-malware product getting in the way. No specific advice on how to configure it when we don't know what it might be. You definitely first want to try to temporarily disable it so you can identify it as the source of the problem.

I have no Idea of what is the issue, but creating a new solution and importing the existing projects into a new solution has solved all the issues regarding emulator and debugger an AgHost.
Seems like the upgrade function integrated in the solution did not work properly.

Programs randomly getting System.AccessViolationException

Okay so I have been having a lot of issues with debugging. I'm using VS2013 Pro and Windows 8.1. Both are up to date. The issue is, when I start debugging, half the time it throws this error:
An unhandled exception of type 'System.AccessViolationException'
occurred in System.Windows.Forms.dll
Additional information: Attempted to read or write protected memory.
This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
Its not my code's fault either. I made a simple test as an example below. Note that I am not referencing System.Windows.Forms from this app.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace ConsoleApplication2
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
List<int> testing = new List<int>();
for(int i =0; i < 50; i++)
{
testing.Add(i);
}
for (int i = 0; i < 50; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine(testing[i].ToString());
}
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
I have no idea what's causing this. It will work if I click okay and run it again, most the time. Occasionally I have to do it twice.
Any ideas?
Stack trace:

Changing the Platform Target to x86 works for me, It came to a point that stepping through the code was impossible without the forementioned Exception. I run Win 8.1 64-bit and Visual Studio 2013.

I also ran into this problem on windows10 using visual studio express2015. building to x86 did not fix my problem but the following workaround did the trick:
This issue is caused by the code which gathers return values. It is possible to work around the issue by disabling Managed return values.
Go to the System properties (Win8: WinKey+X, select ‘System’, Win7: Open ‘Properties’ from my computer)
Advanced System Settings
Environment Variables…
Click ‘New’ and add
Name: VSDebug_DisableManagedReturnValue
Value: 1
source: https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/819552/visual-studio-debugger-throws-accessviolationexception

http://veriworld.verivox.ads/docs/DOC-6011?et=watches.email.document_comment#comment-4629
Seems that in some cases VS/.net framework has memory trampling issues. I really wish people would stop saying 'it cant be' when someone says something breaks.

There is nothing that looks like it may cause issues.
Did you try enabling breaking on exception? This will cause your code to pause when it encounter an exception.

I can confirm this problem. It occurs in a small (very trivial) WinForms program distributed with my own commercial app. It's never happened in any earlier version of VS going back to VS2005, including those run on the same machine. It only occurs in VS2013. My version of VS has no 3rd-party add-ins other than what's installed with VS itself. Problem occurs even when all code in "Main()" is commented out. I've tried rebooting, disabling virus checker, firewall, etc. Makes no difference which version of .NET my app targets either (2.0, 3.5, 4.0, whatever). It happens frequently but randomly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Go figure.

In my case, such VS behavior was caused by Comodo Firewall.
The solution is adding VS Projects folder to Comodo HIPS exclusions list (even if the HIPS is turned off!).
Here is a related thread Comodo forum: https://forums.comodo.com/empty-t98149.0.html

Exception while debugging Shims, UnitTestIsolationException

While using Shims, I get an exception while debugging. While others have reported this issue, none of the fixes that I have found have helped. This is the scenario. Although I discovered this on a full size project, I can reproduce it on a simple project. I only get this exception when using my work computer. If I try it on a coworkers computer or my home computer, I do not get the error.
Windows 7, fully patched.
VS Ultimate 2012, Update 4.
Default Processor Architecture of x64.
No Typemock or other mocking framework installed (that I am aware of).
No run settings or test settings in the solution (have verified in explorer).
[TestMethod]
public void TestMethod1()
{
using (ShimsContext.Create())
{
}
}
If I run the test normally, no issue. However if I try to debug I get the exception on the using statement.
Exception:
Microsoft.QualityTools.Testing.Fakes.UnitTestIsolation.UnitTestIsolationException was unhandled by user code
HResult=-2146233088
Message=UnitTestIsolation instrumentation failed to initialize. Please restart Visual Studio and rerun this test
Source=Microsoft.QualityTools.Testing.Fakes
StackTrace:
at Microsoft.QualityTools.Testing.Fakes.UnitTestIsolation.UnitTestIsolationRuntime.InitializeUnitTestIsolationInstrumentationProvider()
at Microsoft.QualityTools.Testing.Fakes.Shims.ShimRuntime.CreateContext()
at Microsoft.QualityTools.Testing.Fakes.ShimsContext.Create()
at MyLogTest.UnitTest1.TestMethod1() in c:\Users\XXXX\Documents\Visual Studio 2012\Projects\MyLogTest\MyLogTest\UnitTest1.cs:line 13
InnerException:
(** user id XXXX'd out for security **).
If I take that failing project from my work computer and put it on my home computer (also VS Ultimate 2012, update 4, Windows 7) I do not get the error while debugging.
I tried doing a full uninstall of VS (including renaming the old VS folder in Program Files) and a fresh install, I still get the exception.
In desperation I turned on logging for Visual Studio. The only significant difference that I noticed was the following in the log for devenv.TpTrace.log
Diagnostic: RockSteady initialized with the following extensions:
Diagnostic: Processing Queue .....
Diagnostic: Operation Dequeue : 'LoadPlaylistOperation'
Diagnostic: Operation left in the the queue: 1
Diagnostic: 'RunWithDebugFromContextOperation', hashcode:12788809
Diagnostic:
I tried looking for that "RockSteady" to see where it was coming from or what it is with no luck. These lines do not appear on my home computer when I perform the same test. I am thinking that there might be something installed on my machine from an SDK or something else that is causing an issue. I don't know that those lines above are the source of the problem, it is just the only major difference I am seeing.
I've been stuck on this for several days now. Any help is appreciated.