WSL2 with Ubuntu not starting anymore - Blinking cursor

[gennaris]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Versione 10.0.22631.3958]

WSL Version

2.2.4.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• [X] WSL 2
• [ ] WSL 1

Kernel Version

No response

Distro Version

Ubuntu (Windows Store)

Other Software

Docker Desktop 4.33.1

Repro Steps

WSL2, which I use with Ubuntu, suddenly stopped working without any apparent reason, only showing a blinking cursor when launched.

I suspect that the issue might be somehow related to Docker Desktop, as the problem started after I updated it to the latest version.

When I launch Docker Desktop, I get the following error:

bootstrapping in the main distro: listing WSL distros: running WSL command wsl.exe C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe -l -v --all: context deadline exceeded

Running wsl -v returns:

WSL Version: 2.2.4.0
Kernel Version: 5.15.153.1-2
WSLg Version: 1.0.61
MSRDC Version: 1.2.5326
Direct3D Version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore Version: 10.0.26091.1-240325-1447.ge-release
Windows Version: 10.0.22631.3958

However, wsl -l -v hangs indefinitely.

I have already tried the following steps without success:

Uninstalling/reinstalling "Ubuntu" from the Windows Store Completely uninstalling/reinstalling Docker Desktop Disabling/re-enabling WSL and Virtual Machine Platform from the Windows Features. I am attaching the logs generated by the diagnostic script for your reference.

Expected Behavior

I expect wsl.exe running correctly, I have used it for over a year without any problems

Actual Behavior

WSL shows a blinking cursor when launched

Diagnostic Logs

WslLogs-2024-08-14_09-33-45.zip

[github-actions[bot]]

View similar issues

Please view the issues below to see if they solve your problem, and if the issue describes your problem please consider closing this one and thumbs upping the other issue to help us prioritize it!

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• Cursor and windows blinking when WSL is running (#9752), similarity score: 0.78

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• WSL 2 no longer starts - Server execution failed 0x00000001 (#8662), similarity score: 0.77

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Diagnostic information

Detected appx version: 2.2.4.0

[hyugai]

You can try to see if the "Window Update Health Tools" is running in the background.

[OneBlue]

Thank you @gennaris. Looks like WSL is stuck. Can you capture share process dump of when WSL is in that state ?

/dumps

[fscheuMoba]

I have the same problem since this morning. Suddenly nothing is working anymore. I have multiple WSL instances of Ubuntu installed. Neither of them is starting since today. I have the same versions as in the original post:

WSL-Version: 2.2.4.0
Kernelversion: 5.15.153.1-2
WSLg-Version: 1.0.61
MSRDC-Version: 1.2.5326
Direct3D-Version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore-Version: 10.0.26091.1-240325-1447.ge-release
Windows-Version: 10.0.22631.3958

Most of the instances have the same behavior like @gennaris described. But one instance (my oldest one) shows after some cursor blinking (1 or 2 minutes) this error (sorry for the german language 😀):

Der Netzwerkname wurde nicht gefunden.
Error code: Wsl/0x80070043

[Verarbeitung des Prozesses mit Code 4294967295 (0xffffffff) beendet]
Sie können dieses Terminal jetzt mit STRG+D schließen oder zum Neustart die EINGABETASTE drücken.

So maybe there is something going on with the network? I also cannot access my WSL file systems in the windows explorer. It simply shows nothing and the round waiting indicator in the Linux Tab on top keeps spinning:

Commands like wsl --list are not working and hang infinitely. (Only command to work seems wsl --version) Yesterday I installed the newest Windows update. Maybe this introduced some kind of bug?

[fscheuMoba]

I have just checked again for Windows updates. And there really was a new one. This seemed to fix the problem. After updating everything is working again. This are the version numbers now:

WSL-Version: 2.2.4.0
Kernelversion: 5.15.153.1-2
WSLg-Version: 1.0.61
MSRDC-Version: 1.2.5326
Direct3D-Version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore-Version: 10.0.26091.1-240325-1447.ge-release
Windows-Version: 10.0.22631.4037

The only part that changed is the windows version (from 10.0.22631.3958 to 10.0.22631.4037)

So @gennaris maybe you should check for available Windows updates

[gennaris]

@fscheuMoba I downloaded and applied the latest mentioned Windows Update, and after a reboot, I was able to successfully launch WSL and use the Ubuntu CLI. However, as soon as I launched Docker Desktop, the blocking condition described at the beginning of the issue reoccurred and WSL is getting stuck until a new reboot. I also tried downgrading Docker Desktop again from version 4.33.1 to version 4.29 (which was previously working), but I still have the same problem.

@OneBlue How can i provide the process share dump?

I tried :

Taskmgr.exe /dump {pid_of_one_of_the_wsl.exe_processes} /Full /file "C:\dump.dmp"

but nothing got written on disk.

[gennaris]

I've had a chance to do some more testing these days (uninstalling/reinstalling) but I'm not getting to the bottom of it.

I managed to get the situation where WSL works correctly with any distribution after reboot, but as soon as I launch “Docker Desktop” , WSL crashes and enters the situation described at the beginning of the ticket - At that point a reboot is needed to make WSL working again.

[benja2998]

Installing Docker CLI directly in WSL will be a much better experience than using Docker Desktop.