DaVinci Resolve: Stuck “Loading Fairlight Engine” (Solutions)

Are you getting stuck on “Loading Fairlight Engine” when trying to start DaVinci Resolve?

If so, keep reading, as that’s what we are going to fix in this article!

I have researched this problem a BUNCH and found the solutions that work for most people. They are arranged in the order you should try them, from most common to less common.

If you want to skip ahead, here are the different solutions:

  1. Check For Updates
  2. Disable Virtual Display Device
  3. Uninstall and Reinstall DaVinci Resolve
  4. GPU Drivers
  5. Disable the Citrix Display Adapter
  6. Connect the HDMI Cable to the Correct Port
  7. Disable Overclocking
  8. Turn Off the Firewall and Antivirus
  9. Turn Off All Startup Programs

1. Check for updates

The first thing to do is check if DaVinci has any new updates available for installation

Usually, when an issue is found, the developers will be quick to react and release a patch to fix the issue. If there are new updates, download the update and install it immediately.

If there are no updates to download or if the updates still didn’t fix the issue, try the below solutions.

2. Disable Virtual Display Device

Many users have pointed out in public forums that by disabling the Virtual Display Device driver, the “Loading Fairlight Engine” issue disappeared. 

Here’s how to disable the Virtual Display Device:

  1. Click on the magnifying glass icon in the taskbar.
  2. Search for “Device Manager” and open it.
start-device-manager
  1. Under “Display Adapters” drivers.
device-manager-display-adapters
  1. Right-click on “Virtual Display Device”.
  2. Select Deactivate to disable the “Virtual Display Device”.
disable-device-drivers

You could also be facing the error due to some other issue. Keep reading as we have numerous working solutions to fix this issue.

3. Uninstall and reinstall DaVinci Resolve

If you are seeing “Loading Fairlight Engine” but it is stuck there for hours, uninstall and reinstall the application.

Here’s how to do that:

Uninstall DaVinci Resolve

  1. Click on the search button, type “Control Panel” and open the Control Panel.
start-control-panel
  1. Select “Uninstall a program”.
control-panel-uninstall-program
  1. Allow a few seconds for the Control Panel to finish indexing all the programs that are installed on your computer.
  2. Click on “DaVinci Resolve” and select “Uninstall.”
uninstall-davinci-resolve
  1. An Uninstallation Wizard will open. Click on “Next”.
  2. Select “Uninstall” to uninstall DaVinci Resolve.
  3. Now, open the %appdata% folder and delete the DaVinci Resolve junk files.
start-app-data
  1. Find DaVinci Resolve’s folder.
  2. Right-click on the folder and select Delete to delete the folder.

Reinstall DaVinci Resolve

  1. Open your browser of choice.
  2. Go to blackmagicdesign.com > Products > DaVinci Resolve and Fusion software.
davinci-resolve-download
  1. Select the version of the software (DaVinci Resolve (free) or DaVinci Studio (paid)).
davinci-resolve-download-free-studio
  1. Click on the “Download” button.
downloading-davinci-resolve
  1. Select your operating system.
davinci-windows-os
  1. You will find a registration form. Fill in the form with your details.
  2. Click on the “Register & Download” button.
davinci-form
  1. Allow some time for the download to complete.
  2. Double-click on the .exe file of DaVinci Resolve to open it.
davinci-resolve-exe-file
  1. The installation wizard for DaVinci Resolve will open.
  2. Now select “Next”
davinci-resolve-setup-wizard
  1. Tick the “I accept the terms in the license agreement” and then click “Next”.
accept-davinci-terms
  1. Select the destination folder, and click “Next”.
davinci-resolve-installation-destination
  1. Once done, click on “Install”.
installing-davinci-resolve
  1. Allow a few minutes for the installation to take place.
  2. Click on “Finish” once the installation is finished.

If even this wasn’t helpful, there are other solutions in this guide that should fix your DaVinci from getting stuck after showing “Loading Fairlight Engine”.

4. GPU Drivers

Another reason why DaVinci Resolve is stuck at “Loading Fairlight Engine” is a recent GPU driver update. Or by connecting the HDMI cable to the PC instead of connecting it to the GPU.

Here’s how to rollback GPU drivers to the previous version:

  1. Click on the magnifying glass icon, type Device Manager, and open it.
start-device-manager
  1. Expand “Display Adapters”.
  2. Right-click on the GPU drivers and then select “Properties”.
gpu-drivers-properties
  1. Click on the tab called “Drivers.”
  2. Select Roll Back Driver to restore the previous version.
roll-back-driver

5. Disable the Citrix display adapter

The Citrix display adapters could be another reason why the DaVinci is getting stuck at the loading Fairlight engine.

Here’s how to remove the Citrix display adapter:

  1. Press Win+R and type in “devmgmt.msc” to open Device Manager.
  2. Expand the Display adapters.
  3. Locate the Citrix display adapter and right-click on it.
  4. Select Disable to disable the drivers.

6. Connect the HDMI cable to the correct port

One of the reasons why you are facing the DaVinci Resolve freezing could be because you have the HDMI cable connected to the motherboard instead of connecting to the GPU.

Connect the HDMI from the device or the monitor to the GPU and, hopefully, this method fixes your issue.

7. Disable overclocking

If you have overclocked your CPU, motherboard, RAM, or GPU, remove the overclock settings and reset the settings to default.

You could be seeing the “Loading Fairlight Engine” because the DaVinci Resolve could not be communicating with the PC hardware properly. 

After you disable overclocking, the DaVinci Resolve will be able to read your PC hardware properly and also function efficiently without being frozen at “Loading Fairlight Engine”.

8. Turn off the firewall and antivirus

Sometimes, your firewall and antivirus can interfere with your programs and can affect how they behave. 

It is recommended that you turn off the firewall and your antivirus program and launch DaVinci Resolve to confirm if the issue is now resolved.

Disable Firewall:

  1. Click on the “Start” button and type “Windows Defender Firewall”.
windows-defender-firewall
  1. Select “Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off” on the left window pane.
turn-windows-defender-firewall-on-off
  1. Choose “Turn off Windows Defender Firewall (not recommended)” for both the Private Network Settings and Public Network Settings options
turn-off-windows-defender-firewall
  1. Click on “OK” to confirm your changes.

Disable Antivirus

  1. Open “Windows Defender Firewall”.
  2. Click on “Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall.” on the left pane.
allow-app-feature-through-windows-firewall
  1. Now untick the antivirus application to disable your antivirus program.

9. Turn off all startup programs

  1. Click on the search icon in the taskbar, and type “System Configuration” and click on it to open.
start-system-configuration
  1. In the System Configuration window, select “Open Task Manager” from the “Startup” tab.
startup-open-task-manager
  1. Select the “Disable” button in the Task Manager window for all startup programs and stop them.
disable-startup-application
  1. Now, click on “OK” and restart your computer.

That’s it!

Hopefully, you didn’t need to read this sentence and have found a solution to your problem.

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