Error code: Wsl/InstallDistro/Service/RegisterDistro/CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND & WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80070003

[structuredstanza]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.5371]

WSL Version

WSL version: 2.4.8.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

No response

Distro Version

No response

Other Software

Other software that may be impacting the installation includes only Docker Desktop

Repro Steps

Installing any distro, through either .wsl files or through --install -d lead to the following errors:

• WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x8007000
• Wsl/InstallDistro/Service/RegisterDistro/CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND

Looking through the logs, I'm noticing that OneCore is failing to init or even call VM functions:

[Virtual machine 3C72BF82-0280-495A-A41F-0E6A239AF878] onecore\vm\worker\vmb\virtualmotherboard.cpp(7511)\vmwp.exe!00007FF6D0FF4A1C: (caller: 00007FF6D0FF2D4A) LogHr(1) tid(2c34) 80070003 The system cannot find the path specified. CallContext:[\VmInitialize\VmbInitialize\VdevOperation]

[Virtual machine 3C72BF82-0280-495A-A41F-0E6A239AF878] onecore\vm\worker\vmb\virtualmotherboard.cpp(646)\vmwp.exe!00007FF6D0FF4820: (caller: 00007FF6D0FF49F7) ReturnHr(1) tid(2c34) 80070003 The system cannot find the path specified. Msg:[onecore\vm\worker\vmb\virtualmotherboard.cpp(581)\vmwp.exe!00007FF6D0FF44E7: (caller: 00007FF6D0FF49F7) Exception(1) tid(2c34) 80070003 The system cannot find the path specified. Msg:[VDEV Microsoft VmBus ID D41A1872-3740-41CE-A1EE-4522AB82F991] CallContext:[\VmInitialize\VmbInitialize\VdevOperation] ] CallContext:[\VmInitialize\VmbInitialize\VdevOperation]

I've tried forcibly reinstalling the OneCore Windows capability, DISM re-installing WSL & Virtual Machine Platform. Seems like a disconnect between OneCore & WSL?

WSL version: 2.4.8.0
Kernel version: 5.15.167.4-1
WSLg version: 1.0.65
MSRDC version: 1.2.5716
Direct3D version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore version: 10.0.26100.1-240331-1435.ge-release
Windows version: 10.0.19045.5371

Expected Behavior

Full installation of desired distro

Actual Behavior

• WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x8007000
• Wsl/InstallDistro/Service/RegisterDistro/CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND

EVENTS:

[Virtual machine 3C72BF82-0280-495A-A41F-0E6A239AF878] onecore\vm\worker\vmb\virtualmotherboard.cpp(7511)\vmwp.exe!00007FF6D0FF4A1C: (caller: 00007FF6D0FF2D4A) LogHr(1) tid(2c34) 80070003 The system cannot find the path specified. CallContext:[\VmInitialize\VmbInitialize\VdevOperation]

[Virtual machine 3C72BF82-0280-495A-A41F-0E6A239AF878] onecore\vm\worker\vmb\virtualmotherboard.cpp(646)\vmwp.exe!00007FF6D0FF4820: (caller: 00007FF6D0FF49F7) ReturnHr(1) tid(2c34) 80070003 The system cannot find the path specified. Msg:[onecore\vm\worker\vmb\virtualmotherboard.cpp(581)\vmwp.exe!00007FF6D0FF44E7: (caller: 00007FF6D0FF49F7) Exception(1) tid(2c34) 80070003 The system cannot find the path specified. Msg:[VDEV Microsoft VmBus ID D41A1872-3740-41CE-A1EE-4522AB82F991] CallContext:[\VmInitialize\VmbInitialize\VdevOperation] ] CallContext:[\VmInitialize\VmbInitialize\VdevOperation]

Diagnostic Logs

WslLogs-2025-01-31_15-50-35.zip

[github-actions]

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!

Open similar issues:

• Unexpected WSL error for both Docker Desktop and Linux distribution installing, with wierd error code 0x8007001f (#11402), similarity score: 0.81
• Error code: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/CreateVm/ConfigureNetworking/0x80041002 (#9016), similarity score: 0.81
• WSL distro fails to start with "Error code: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND" (#11677), similarity score: 0.81

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Note: You can give me feedback by thumbs upping or thumbs downing this comment.

Diagnostic information

Detected appx version: 2.4.8.0
Detected user visible error: Wsl/InstallDistro/Service/RegisterDistro/CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND

[structuredstanza]

Another thing to note is the "DXCore version: 10.0.26100.1-240331-1435.ge-release" - where I'm seeing most people are using a DXCore tag with 'onecore' somewhere in the middle. Maybe it's related? Scouring online doesn't yield a lot of documentation, but the most common DXCore version I've seen is something along the lines of this:

10.0.25131.1002-220531-1700.rs-onecore-base2-hyp

[OneBlue]

Thank you for reporting this @structuredstanza. Does the C:\Windows\System32\lxss\lib path exist on your machine ? If not, does creating this folder solve the issue ?

[structuredstanza]

Yes, it exists with the following content:

I've also noticed something else troubleshooting - the HyperV Virtual Machine Bus Provider & HyperV Virtual Disk Server both have issues with init:

Device ROOT\storvsp\0000 had a problem starting.

Driver Name: wstorvsp.inf
Class GUID: {4d36e97d-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
Service: storvsp
Lower Filters: 
Upper Filters: 
Problem: 0x25
Problem Status: 0xC0000001

Device ROOT\VMBus\0000 had a problem starting.

Driver Name: wvmbusr.inf
Class GUID: {4d36e97d-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
Service: vmbusr
Lower Filters: 
Upper Filters: 
Problem: 0x25
Problem Status: 0xC0000001