This page is the deep symptom → cause → fix guide. For quick answers see the FAQ; for the two interfaces the plugin reads, see Data sources.

Every claim here matches the plugin’s actual behaviour. HWiNFO must be running on the same Windows machine: this is a Windows-only plugin with no telemetry; nothing here phones home or needs the internet.

First check, always: is HWiNFO running, and is it publishing on at least one interface (Shared Memory Support or Gadget reporting)? Most status screens trace back to this. See Data sources.

How to read a status screen

When a key can’t show live data it renders a two-line, true-black status screen instead of a value. Dials show an equivalent two-line touchscreen message. The exact text tells you what’s wrong:

Key shows	Dial shows	Meaning
Start HWiNFO / not detected	Start HWiNFO / not detected	Nothing found on either interface.
HWiNFO busy / retrying	HWiNFO busy / retrying	HWiNFO is running but its shared memory was locked at that instant; the plugin retries on the next poll.
Shared Memory / is off	Shared Memory off / enable in HWiNFO	Mapping exists but HWiNFO marked it disabled.
Not updating / check sharing (or) check Gadget	HWiNFO stalled / check sharing (or) check Gadget	Values frozen; the sub-line names the source in use.
Access denied / un-elevate	Access denied / un-elevate HWiNFO	Privilege mismatch between HWiNFO and Stream Deck.
Tick sensors / in Gadget	Gadget empty / tick sensors	Gadget reporting is on but no sensors are ticked.
Pick a sensor / in settings	HWiNFO / rotate to pick	No sensor selected on this key/dial yet.
Sensor missing / pick again	Sensor missing / waiting	The saved sensor isn’t in HWiNFO’s current output.
Needs x64 / Windows	Needs x64 Windows	32-bit or Windows-on-ARM: unsupported.
HWiNFO error / restart HWiNFO	HWiNFO error / restart HWiNFO	Header didn’t validate (mid-restart or incompatible build).
Plugin damaged / reinstall	Plugin damaged / reinstall it	The plugin’s native bridge (bin/hwsm.node) would not load: missing, blocked by antivirus, or a version mismatch. Reinstall the plugin. The file is unsigned; before allowing it in your antivirus, check it against the release’s published SHA-256 (how).

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Keys show “Start HWiNFO”

The plugin found HWiNFO on neither interface. In order of likelihood:

1. HWiNFO isn’t running. Start it. If you use the free version, run it in Sensors-only mode.
2. HWiNFO is running but publishing on neither interface. Open HWiNFO → Settings and tick Shared Memory Support. On the free version you can instead right-click sensors and tick “Report value in Gadget” (no 12-hour limit); see Data sources.
3. Portable HWiNFO window was closed. The portable build only publishes while its window is open, and nothing auto-starts it. Reopen it (and add it to autostart yourself if you want it always on).
4. Wrong bitness. This plugin reads 64-bit HWiNFO. Use HWiNFO64, not the 32-bit build, on 64-bit Windows.
5. HWiNFO just launched. It can take a few seconds after start to create the shared-memory mapping. Wait, then the key recovers on its own; the plugin re-probes every tick.
6. The mapping exists but its consistency mutex doesn’t. Since 1.4.0.0 the plugin reads shared memory only while holding HWiNFO’s consistency mutex, with no unguarded read path, so a mapping published without a reachable mutex is treated as HWiNFO still starting up (HWiNFO creates the mapping first and the mutex just after). During a normal start that window is brief and the key recovers on its own. If it never clears, enable Gadget reporting and tick the sensors you need: the Gadget registry doesn’t use the mutex, and in the default Auto data source the plugin falls back to it by itself.

Keys show “Shared Memory off”

HWiNFO’s shared-memory mapping exists but its header is flagged disabled (internally a DEAD marker). Causes:

1. Shared Memory Support was turned off in HWiNFO Settings. Re-enable it.
2. Free version’s 12-hour timer expired. The free build auto-disables shared memory 12 hours after start and leaves the dead mapping behind. Toggle Shared Memory Support off and on to restart the timer, or restart HWiNFO. HWiNFO Pro removes the limit entirely.
3. You don’t want to keep toggling it. Enable Gadget reporting instead (tick “Report value in Gadget” on the sensors you need). In the default Auto data source the plugin falls back to the Gadget registry by itself when shared memory dies, and upgrades back automatically when it returns.

Note: If your Data source (Advanced) is set to Shared Memory only, the plugin will not fall back. Set it to Auto to get automatic Gadget fallback.

Values are frozen / “Not updating”

The reading stopped changing for more than ~15 seconds, so the plugin flags it stale. The sub-line names the source: check sharing (shared memory) or check Gadget (Gadget registry).

1. HWiNFO’s Sensors window was closed or HWiNFO was minimised to tray without sensor polling. Reopen the Sensors window; HWiNFO must keep polling to update either interface.
2. Not the free version’s 12-hour timer. Expiry doesn’t freeze values: it marks the shared-memory mapping DEAD, which shows “Shared Memory off” or silently falls back to the Gadget registry in Auto mode. (Pro removes the limit.)
3. HWiNFO itself crashed or hung. Restart it. The plugin re-probes a fresh handle every 5 seconds while stale and recovers automatically.
4. The machine’s clock stepped backwards (a virtual machine resuming, the first time sync after a boot with a flat CMOS battery, a Windows and Linux dual boot that disagree about UTC). Before 1.5.0.0 that could delay this screen for as long as the correction: elapsed time was measured against the wall clock, so a frozen reading was not reported as frozen. Fixed in 1.5.0.0; on older builds the screen catches up once the clock settles.
5. Confusing a slow refresh for a freeze. HWiNFO updates on its own poll cycle (default ~2 s). If your plugin poll interval is faster than HWiNFO’s, you’ll see the same number repeat between HWiNFO updates; that’s normal, not a freeze. The plugin only calls it stale after 15 s of no change.

Keys freeze, and only closing the Stream Deck app brings them back

Different from “Not updating” above: there is no status screen at all. The keys sit on their last reading, the settings panel’s Copy support report button does nothing, restarting HWiNFO changes nothing, and closing the Stream Deck app and reopening it fixes it for a while. In the app’s own key preview the keys show the plain HWiNFO 62 °C action icon rather than live values.

That combination means the plugin process is not running. Every symptom follows from it: the deck keeps showing the last picture it was sent, the app falls back to the action’s icon, and nothing is left to answer the support report.

Two causes, both fixed in 1.5.0.0. A safety check that exists to clean up if the Stream Deck app ever crashes could decide the app was gone whenever it was unable to inspect it, which on some machines is always, and shut the plugin down about 30 seconds after every start. Separately, if the app’s connection to the plugin died while keys were on screen, the plugin kept running with nowhere to draw, so the keys froze until the app was restarted. Update, and both stop.

On an older build you can switch that check off: add a user environment variable HWINFO_PARENT_CHECK_MS with the value 999999999, then close and reopen the Stream Deck app. The only cost is that if the app ever crashes outright, a leftover node.exe may need ending in Task Manager.

Keys show “Access denied”

Windows refused to open HWiNFO’s shared memory. Almost always that is a privilege mismatch: HWiNFO is running elevated (“Run as administrator”) while Stream Deck is not.

The fix is to make the two match:

HWiNFO	Stream Deck	Result
Normal	Normal	✅ Works
Elevated	Elevated	✅ Works
Elevated	Normal	❌ Access denied
Normal	Elevated	✅ Works (lower can’t be blocked here)

Easiest fix: restart HWiNFO without “Run as administrator.” If you genuinely need HWiNFO elevated (some low-level sensors require it), run Stream Deck elevated too.

Free-version escape hatch: the Gadget registry lives in HKCU and is readable across privilege levels, so enabling Gadget reporting sidesteps this mismatch entirely.

There is one other way to land here: HWiNFO running as a different Windows user, for example started by Task Scheduler under another account, or left running in another session with Fast User Switching. The shared-memory object belongs to whoever created it, so no elevation change will help; the Gadget registry does not help either, because it lives in that other user’s HKCU. Start HWiNFO as the same user that runs Stream Deck.

Keys show “Sensor missing”

A sensor is selected, but it isn’t in HWiNFO’s current output. The saved identity (sensor-id : instance : reading-id) no longer resolves. Causes:

1. Hardware or driver change: you added/removed a GPU, drive, or peripheral, or a driver update renamed the sensor.
2. You renamed the sensor or its reading in HWiNFO (custom labels change the resolved identity on the Gadget source).
3. HWiNFO profile / config change, or you switched between shared memory and Gadget sources (the two expose different sensor sets).
4. The sensor simply isn’t present yet, e.g. a GPU that’s asleep, or a drive that spun down.

Fix: open the key’s settings and pick the sensor again. A dial shows Sensor missing / waiting and ignores turns while the sensor is gone, so a temporary dropout (an HWiNFO restart, a sleeping GPU) can’t move it off your saved pick; it recovers by itself when the sensor returns. If the sensor is gone for good, pick a new reading in the dial’s settings panel.

Picker is empty or shows “No sensors reported”

The settings-panel sensor list is populated live from whatever source is active:

1. HWiNFO isn’t up yet. Start HWiNFO, then click the ⟳ refresh button next to the search box.
2. On the Gadget source with nothing ticked: the key shows “Tick sensors / in Gadget.” In HWiNFO’s sensor window, right-click each value you want and tick “Report value in Gadget.” The registry key exists but is empty until you do.
3. Shared memory is disabled/expired and you’re forced to Gadget only; same fix as above.
4. Search filter too narrow. Clear the search box; the list groups readings by source (CPU, GPU, drives…).

Plugin shows nothing at all / the action is missing

1. Actions not visible in Stream Deck. Look for the HWiNFO Sensors category in the actions list; drag Sensor Reading onto a key (or Sensor Dial onto a Stream Deck + or Stream Deck + XL encoder).
2. Stream Deck too old. This plugin requires Stream Deck software 6.9 or newer. Update it.
3. Not on Windows / wrong architecture. The plugin is Windows x64 only; macOS and Windows-on-ARM are unsupported (you’ll see “Needs x64 Windows” if it loads at all).
4. Install got corrupted. Remove the plugin and reinstall by double-clicking the .streamDeckPlugin file, then restart Stream Deck.

A reading shows the wrong unit

Each key/dial has a per-key Unit checkbox: “Show temperatures in °F.” It only affects °C readings. If a temperature reads in the wrong unit, toggle that checkbox on the specific key. Sparkline shape is unaffected; it’s stored in native units and just relabelled.

Byte quantities and transfer rates follow a separate, deck-wide control: Advanced → Data units, either Decimal (KB, MB, GB, rates in Mbps) or Binary (KiB, MiB, GiB, rates in MiB/s). If a drive reading shows MiB where you expected MB, or a network reading shows MiB/s where you expected Mbps, change that setting; it applies to every key and dial at once. Full detail in Advanced (deck-wide).

Thresholds (warn/critical) don’t fire

Three gotchas cause almost all of these:

1. Thresholds are in display units. The warn/critical fields are compared against the value as shown on the key. If you enabled °F, enter the threshold in °F (e.g. 176), not °C (80). The placeholder text says “display units” for exactly this reason.
2. Wrong direction. By default the key alerts when the value goes at or above the threshold. For things where low is bad (fan RPM, free disk space, remaining battery), tick Direction → “Alert when value drops below thresholds.”
3. A dial rotated to a different unit. Warn/critical values are anchored to the unit they were typed against, so 80 typed while a °C reading was on screen stands down on the 3000 RPM fan you rotate to; the manual Bar min/Bar max stand down with it and the bar falls back to the session low/high. Edit the threshold while the reading you want is on screen and it re-anchors to that reading’s unit. Thresholds saved before this behavior existed keep their old apply-everywhere reach until you next edit one. See Dial controls & presets.

Other notes:

• Alerts always track the live value, even while the key is showing MIN/MAX/AVG (a key press cycles the displayed stat, not what’s tested).
• On dials, the alert lands wherever the face has room. In the One reading view the range bar’s fill flips to the alert color, and with Warn at or Critical at set the bar’s track marks those zones in muted amber and red whatever the value is doing. The two-row and three-row overviews have no bar, so an alerting row shows its value in the alert color instead. Either way the rest of the touchscreen stays themed; the slot is too small for a full field flip. On keys, the whole key flips (amber field at warn, red field at critical).
• Leave a field blank to disable that level. Both accept a locale decimal comma (70,5).

A press set to open details shows the alert triangle

The yellow Stream Deck alert cue on a drill-down press means entry was refused, on purpose. In order of likelihood:

• This deck type has no bundled detail view (Mobile, Studio, Galleon, pedals, G-keys, or a Virtual Stream Deck smaller than 3x2). The key’s settings panel says so under Press. Everything else about the key still works.
• HWiNFO is not publishing data and the detail list is set to All readings from this sensor source or Readings matching a filter: with no snapshot there is nothing to resolve or match. Fix the data (see the status screens above) and press again. Only a Custom sensor list opens while HWiNFO is down.
• The selected sensor is missing from HWiNFO’s current output, so its source cannot be identified. Reopen settings and pick it again.
• The filter pattern is empty (Readings matching a filter): there is nothing to list until you type one. The panel shows a live match count under the field, so you can see what a pattern gathers before pressing the key.

If instead nothing at all happens on the first press: the Stream Deck app shows an install prompt for the deck’s detail profile the first time, and until it is accepted the deck stays put. The plugin quietly forgets the attempt after 30 seconds; accepting later than that returns you to where you were, and the next press opens the view directly (the profile is installed now, so there is no second prompt).

The detail view says “No detail / selected”

The detail profile is visible but the plugin was restarted underneath it (plugin update, crash recovery), so it no longer knows which sensor opened the view. Press the Back tile (top left) to return to your profile, then open details again. Back always works there, even in this state.

Dial gestures do nothing

1. You’re on a plain Stream Deck, not a Stream Deck + or + XL. The Sensor Dial action needs a Stream Deck + or Stream Deck + XL encoder (dial + touchscreen). Regular keys use the Sensor Reading action instead.
2. No sensor picked yet: a fresh dial shows “rotate to pick.” Rotate to select a reading, or pick one in the settings panel.
3. Turns specifically do nothing: check whether Ignore turns is on, or the dial is pinned (the bottom line says “pinned”; unpin via the gesture or an HWiNFO Control key).

Dial gesture reference (Legacy preset, the default): rotate cycles your rotation set if you built one, otherwise the readings of the same sensor source · push resets session min/max/avg · touch cycles current/min/max/avg · long touch returns to the live value. The Elite and Custom presets remap these; see Dial controls & presets.

High memory, high CPU, or a stuck process

The plugin runs one poller regardless of how many keys are visible, and is designed to idle when no keys are shown.

1. Perceived high CPU. Lower the poll rate: Advanced → Poll every (default 1 second; options 250 ms–5 s). There’s no benefit polling faster than HWiNFO’s own update cycle (~2 s by default).
2. Process lingering after Stream Deck quits. The plugin watches its parent and exits when Stream Deck dies; if you ever find an orphaned plugin.js/Node process, ending it is safe and Stream Deck respawns it on next launch. If it recurs, capture the log (below) and file an issue.
3. Memory climbing. The plugin is memory-stable under long soaks in testing. If you observe real growth, note how many keys/dials are live and attach the log.

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Reading the plugin log

Stream Deck writes this plugin’s log to its own folder:

com.lawrensen.hwinfo.sdPlugin/logs/

On a normal install that folder lives under your Stream Deck plugins directory, typically:

%APPDATA%\Elgato\StreamDeck\Plugins\com.lawrensen.hwinfo.sdPlugin\logs\

Files rotate as com.lawrensen.hwinfo.0.log (newest) through .9.log. Each line is TIMESTAMP LEVEL Scope: message, for example:

2026-07-05T19:22:50.649Z INFO  HwinfoPoller: Started (1000 ms interval)
2026-07-05T19:22:50.650Z INFO  HwinfoPoller: Opened HWiNFO data source: gadget
2026-07-05T19:29:12.294Z INFO  HwinfoPoller: Stopped (no visible actions)

Useful lines to look for:

• Opened HWiNFO data source: shared-memory / gadget: which interface is actually in use.
• A Shared memory returned line: auto-fallback recovered and upgraded from the gadget registry.
• HWiNFO unavailable [<reason>]: … names the exact failure reason (not-running, disabled, access-denied, gadget-empty, bridge-failed, invalid, unsupported-platform).
• Data source layout changed; reopened in place (shared-memory): HWiNFO’s sensor list grew or shrank (starting a game that adds GPU readings does it) and the poller reopened at the new size and re-read within the same tick, so the values never left the keys. Logged at INFO; it is not an error.
• Holding last values while the data source reopens [<reason>]: …: a transient open failure (invalid or not-running). The last values stay on the keys for up to 15 seconds after the last fresh reading, then a status screen appears.
• Deck theme = … (source: …): the resolved deck-wide theme.
• Stopped (no visible actions): the poller correctly idled (no leak).
• Parent probe failed [<code>]: the plugin could not inspect the Stream Deck app’s process. It keeps running; the code names why (EPERM means the app is there but sealed off, anything else is unusual).
• Parent watchdog disabled / watchdog standing down: the app-liveness check found it cannot answer reliably on this machine and switched itself off, which is the safe direction.
• Parent process gone, and the app did not answer: exiting.: the app was absent by both the process check and a direct question, so the plugin exited rather than poll for nobody. Seeing this while the app is plainly running is a bug worth reporting.

Note: The log is local-only: the plugin has no telemetry and never uploads anything. You choose what to share.

Need more detail? Set the user environment variable HWINFO_LOG_LEVEL=debug and restart the Stream Deck app; the plugin then logs where every key and dial appeared (device and position). Levels are trace, debug, info (the default), warn and error. trace needs a debug launch of the plugin; on a normal Stream Deck launch it falls back to debug and the log says so. The log also names each connected deck’s model and key grid, so it shows exactly what hardware was involved.

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Before you file an issue

Run through this first; most problems resolve here:

• HWiNFO is running and its Sensors window is open.
• At least one interface is enabled: Shared Memory Support or Gadget reporting (“Report value in Gadget” on the sensors you need).
• Data source (Advanced) is Auto unless you have a specific reason otherwise.
• HWiNFO and Stream Deck are at the same elevation (both normal, or both admin).
• Stream Deck 6.9+, 64-bit Windows 10+.
• You re-picked the sensor if it went missing after a hardware/driver change.
• Threshold values are in the displayed unit, with the right Direction.

If it still fails, open an issue at the project repository and include:

1. What you see: the exact status-screen text (e.g. “Access denied / un-elevate”) or a photo of the key/dial.
2. HWiNFO version and edition (free or Pro), and which interface(s) you enabled.
3. Plugin version (see the Marketplace listing or manifest.json).
4. Stream Deck software version and device model (regular, Stream Deck +, Stream Deck + XL).
5. Windows version.
6. The relevant lines from the log (com.lawrensen.hwinfo.0.log), especially any HWiNFO unavailable […] and the Opened HWiNFO data source lines.
7. The support report: the Sensor Reading and Sensor Dial panels have a Copy support report button in their advanced section, and the HWiNFO Control panel has one under Support. It copies a local JSON summary (plugin and app version, devices by model and hashed ID, data-source state, action states; no sensor values, no sensor names, nothing uploaded). Paste it into the issue.
8. Whether either HWiNFO or Stream Deck is running elevated.