Fix cudaErrorInvalidChannelDescriptor: Invalid Channel Format

Overview

cudaErrorInvalidChannelDescriptor occurs when creating CUDA arrays with invalid channel formats or dimensions.

Error Messages

CUDA error: invalid channel descriptor
cudaErrorInvalidChannelDescriptor

Common Causes

• •Invalid channel bit depth
• •Unsupported format combination
• •Zero dimensions
• •Non-power-of-2 dimensions on older GPUs

Solutions

cudaChannelFormatDesc desc = cudaCreateChannelDesc<float>();
// Or manually:
cudaChannelFormatDesc desc = cudaCreateChannelDesc(32, 0, 0, 0, cudaChannelFormatKindFloat);

// Valid formats: 8, 16, 32 bits per channel
// Up to 4 channels (RGBA)

Prevention Tips

• ✓Use cudaCreateChannelDesc<T>() template
• ✓Validate array dimensions

Code Examples

Before (Problematic)

24-bit not supported.

cudaChannelFormatDesc desc = {24, 0, 0, 0, cudaChannelFormatKindFloat};

After (Fixed)

Standard 32-bit float.

cudaChannelFormatDesc desc = cudaCreateChannelDesc<float>();

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Errors

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