"Vulkan validation layer error: vkCreateSwapchainKHR fails due to unsupported usage flags (VK_IMAGE_USAGE_STORAGE_BIT) for VK_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_SRGB format on NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti."

Vulkan
1

Help with vkCreateSwapchainKHR error on RTX 3050 Ti - VK_IMAGE_USAGE_STORAGE_BIT not supported

Hello,
I’m working on a Vulkan application and I get this validation error when creating the swapchain:

Validation error

validation layer: vkCreateSwapchainKHR(): pCreateInfo->imageFormat VK_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_SRGB with tiling VK_IMAGE_TILING_OPTIMAL does not support usage that includes VK_IMAGE_USAGE_STORAGE_BIT.
The Vulkan spec states: The implied image creation parameters of the swapchain must be supported as reported by vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties (https://vulkan.lunarg.com/doc/view/1.4.313.2/windows/antora/spec/latest/chapters/VK_KHR_surface/wsi.html#VUID-VkSwapchainCreateInfoKHR-imageFormat-01778)
validation layer: vkCreateSwapchainKHR(): pCreateInfo vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties() unexpectedly failed, with following VkImageCreateInfo
format (VK_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_SRGB)
type (VK_IMAGE_TYPE_2D)
tiling (VK_IMAGE_TILING_OPTIMAL)
usage (VK_IMAGE_USAGE_TRANSFER_SRC_BIT|VK_IMAGE_USAGE_STORAGE_BIT|VK_IMAGE_USAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_BIT)
flags (VkImageCreateFlags(0))
The Vulkan spec states: The implied image creation parameters of the swapchain must be supported as reported by vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties (https://vulkan.lunarg.com/doc/view/1.4.313.2/windows/antora/spec/latest/chapters/VK_KHR_surface/wsi.html#VUID-VkSwapchainCreateInfoKHR-imageFormat-01778)
validation layer: vkCreateSwapchainKHR(): pCreateInfo->imageArrayLayers 1, but Maximum value returned by vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties() is 0 for imageFormat VK_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_SRGB with tiling VK_IMAGE_TILING_OPTIMAL.
The Vulkan spec states: The implied image creation parameters of the swapchain must be supported as reported by vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties (https://vulkan.lunarg.com/doc/view/1.4.313.2/windows/antora/spec/latest/chapters/VK_KHR_surface/wsi.html#VUID-VkSwapchainCreateInfoKHR-imageFormat-01778)
validation layer: vkCreateSwapchainKHR(): pCreateInfo->imageExtent (width = 1280, height = 720), which is bigger than max extent (width = 0, height = 0, depth = 0) returned by vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties() for imageFormat VK_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_SRGB with tiling VK_IMAGE_TILING_OPTIMAL.
The Vulkan spec states: The implied image creation parameters of the swapchain must be supported as reported by vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties (https://vulkan.lunarg.com/doc/view/1.4.313.2/windows/antora/spec/latest/chapters/VK_KHR_surface/wsi.html#VUID-VkSwapchainCreateInfoKHR-imageFormat-01778)

I suspect the problem is in the usage flags I’m setting for the swapchain images.

My Vulkan setup and relevant code snippets:

Vulkan setup

  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
  • OS: Windows 11 Pro
  • Compiler: MSVC
  • Vulkan SDK version: 1.4.312.2

How I create the swapchain:

VkImageUsageFlags usage = VK_IMAGE_USAGE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_BIT;
if (swapChainSupport.capabilities.supportedUsageFlags & VK_IMAGE_USAGE_TRANSFER_SRC_BIT) {
    usage |= VK_IMAGE_USAGE_TRANSFER_SRC_BIT;
}

// Removed VK_IMAGE_USAGE_STORAGE_BIT because it causes validation errors

VkSwapchainCreateInfoKHR createInfo{};
createInfo.sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_SWAPCHAIN_CREATE_INFO_KHR;
createInfo.surface = *surface;
createInfo.minImageCount = imageCount;
createInfo.imageFormat = surfaceFormat.format;
createInfo.imageColorSpace = surfaceFormat.colorSpace;
createInfo.imageExtent = extent;
createInfo.imageArrayLayers = 1;
createInfo.imageUsage = usage;
...

Error details:

  • The validation layers complain that VK_IMAGE_USAGE_STORAGE_BIT is not supported with VK_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_SRGB and VK_IMAGE_TILING_OPTIMAL.
  • vkGetPhysicalDeviceImageFormatProperties returns 0 max image array layers and zero max extent for this format with those usage flags.

Question:

  1. Is it normal that VK_IMAGE_USAGE_STORAGE_BIT is unsupported on swapchain images for this format and tiling?
  2. What is the recommended set of usage flags for a swapchain on RTX 3050 Ti?
  3. How can I achieve a usage similar to VK_IMAGE_USAGE_STORAGE_BIT on swapchain images if needed?
  4. Are there known workarounds or best practices for this?

Please let me know if you need help editing or preparing the post further!

2

If you needed i can share full code createSwapChain function