Sometimes, antivirus software can mistakenly flag certain DLLs as malicious and quarantine or delete them.
Follow these steps in order. Do not skip steps. The solution is almost always in Step 1.
You cannot fix a problem without knowing the root cause. Here are the top reasons you are seeing this error:
TeknoParrot’s error popup might say:
Failed to load DLL: xinput1_3.dll (Error 4)
But xinput1_3.dll is part of DirectX. If it’s missing, the real problem could be:
Deep diagnostic step: Use Dependency Walker (Depend.exe) or Dependencies (modern open-source GUI) on the specific game executable inside the game’s folder. Load TeknoParrot’s loader DLLs as well. The tool will show which DLLs are unresolved. teknoparrot failed to load dll error 4 install
Pro technique: Enable Windows loader snaps via gflags.exe (Debugging Tools for Windows) – set Show loader snaps for TeknoParrot.exe. Run the game from a debugger (WinDbg) and watch LDR: LdrpProcessWork events. Every missing DLL will be logged to the debug output, revealing the true missing file.
Conclusion
If you’re deep into the arcade emulation scene, you’ve almost certainly heard of or used TeknoParrot. It’s a fantastic loader for modern arcade games (Sega RingEdge/RingWide, Taito Type X/X2/X3, and more). But like any powerful emulation tool, it comes with its fair share of frustrating errors. Failed to load DLL: xinput1_3
One of the most common (and vague) errors you’ll encounter is:
"Failed to load DLL. Error: 4"
This usually pops up right when you hit "Play" or during game initialization. It’s cryptic, but fixable. But xinput1_3
In this post, I’ll break down exactly what "Error 4" means, why it happens, and the step-by-step solutions to get you back into the game.
If the error occurs only when launching a particular game: