---
title: "GameLoop / TAC error: 'Failed to start app. Please exit and try again. Error code: 1'"
canonical_url: https://emudesk.com/issues/tac-error-code-1-failed-to-start-app-fix
content_locale: en
source_locale: en
entity_type: issue
index_status: index
published_at: 2026-08-31T18:22:23.000Z
updated_at: 2026-09-01T00:45:02.014Z
freshness_status: fresh
---

# GameLoop / TAC error: 'Failed to start app. Please exit and try again. Error code: 1'

When launching CODM through GameLoop / TAC or via the GameLoopHub Smart Tool, an error dialog appears:


An error occurred.
Failed to start app. Please exit and try again.
Error code: 1 (or sometimes Error code: 110110)


The dialog has a "Get Help" link and an "Exit" button. Clicking Exit and retrying produces the same dialog. Symptoms reported by multiple users:


  Reinstalling the emulator 3 times doesn't help.
  The error usually appears after a Windows update or a Core Isolation / registry change.
  "It used to work yesterday and now it won't open" is the most common framing.
  "Specs are good, gave it elevated permissions, virtualization is on, still get the dialog."


Code 1 and 110110 share the same fix sequence — both indicate Smart Tool can't complete the hypervisor / process bootstrap.