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[Windows][Desktop] Bundled serialport.node DLL initialization failure correlates with severe startup lag #33567
Description
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.707.91948 (AppX package 26.707.12708.0; app-server 0.144.5)
What subscription do you have?
ChatGPT Plus
What platform is your computer?
Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64 (Windows 11 Home, Chinese edition)
What issue are you seeing?
Summary
Codex Desktop on Windows experiences severe startup lag and may become temporarily unresponsive during launch.
The desktop log records an unhandled rejection while loading the bundled native module serialport.node:
Error: A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed.
The failing bundled dependency chain is:
@worklouder/device-kit-oai 0.1.10
-> @worklouder/wl-device-kit 0.1.18
-> serialport 12.0.0
-> @serialport/bindings-cpp 12.0.1
-> build\Release\serialport.node
Across 13 primary launch logs examined on July 16, 2026, the same error appeared in 12 logs.
This is a logged-error occurrence rate of 12/13, not a manually measured UI-freeze rate. I have not proven that serialport.node is the underlying root cause, but it is the immediate failing component shown in the logs and the failure correlates with the startup lag.
Most recent occurrence
Local: 2026-07-16 16:18:54.688 UTC+8
UTC: 2026-07-16T08:18:54.688Z
Environment
Codex Desktop: 26.707.91948
AppX package: 26.707.12708.0
App-server: 0.144.5
OS: Windows 11 Home, Build 26200, x64
CPU: Intel Core i5-13500H
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
GPU driver: 32.0.101.5542
Additional adapter: GameViewer Virtual Display Adapter 15.6.5.199
RAM: 31.73 GB
Expected behavior
Codex Desktop should launch normally and remain responsive. If an optional hardware integration cannot initialize, the failure should be handled gracefully.
Actual behavior
Codex Desktop experiences severe startup lag or temporary unresponsiveness, while the log reports a DLL initialization failure for the bundled serialport.node module.
What steps can reproduce the bug?
- Fully exit Codex Desktop, including any remaining background processes.
- Launch Codex Desktop from the Windows Start menu.
- Observe severe lag or temporary unresponsiveness during startup.
- Open the latest Codex Desktop log.
- Search for
serialport.nodeor the following error:
A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed.
The error was present in 12 of 13 primary launch logs examined on July 16, 2026.
I have not disabled the GameViewer Virtual Display Adapter because doing so may interrupt an active remote-access session.
What is the expected behavior?
No response
Additional information
No response
Activity
github-actions commentedon Jul 16, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
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zhaoxiaodan521 commentedon Jul 16, 2026
Thank you for identifying the related reports.
#33375 appears to be closely related. However, I am leaving this report open for maintainer triage because it was reproduced with a different Codex/AppX build and hardware/driver environment, and it includes an observed log occurrence rate of 12 out of 13 launches.
The visible symptom in my case is severe startup lag or temporary unresponsiveness rather than a consistent startup crash.
Please feel free to mark this as a duplicate if maintainers confirm that these reports have the same underlying root cause.