[BUG] - WSL fails to launch with ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND

[coreym]

Before continuing...

• I agree to follow Atlas' Code of Conduct
• I have searched our issue tracker to verify that the issue hasn't been reported already
• I have searched the Atlas documentation beforehand for a solution
• I am on the latest version of Atlas, and didn't do an unsupported upgrade

Description

wsl --install Ubuntu
Downloading: Ubuntu
Installing: Ubuntu
The system cannot find the path specified.
Error code: Wsl/InstallDistro/Service/RegisterDistro/CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND

I get this no matter what, I've checked
BIOS virtualization settings
uninstall/reinstall WSL from microsoft store
uninstall/reinstall from powershell
uninstall/reinstall Hyper-V and all other virtualization-related optional windows components
Atlas Toolbox Troubleshooting / Repair Windows Components
wsl.exe --update

Docker doesn't work either, similar error message.

out of ideas...

Steps to reproduce

go to powershell
run 'wsl --install Ubuntu' (for instance)

Expected behavior

WSL should install and launch Ubuntu distro

Actual behavior

Error code: Wsl/InstallDistro/Service/RegisterDistro/CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND

Atlas Version

Atlas v0.5.0 for Windows 10 22H2

Desktop information

AMD Ryzen AI+ 395
Asus Rog Flow Z13

Additional content

No response

[clarifei]

@coreym this looks more like a broken windows virtualization / host compute stack issue than an ubuntu issue.

the biggest clue is that it fails at CreateVm/HCS/ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND, and docker also fails with a similar error. that usually means something in the hyper-v / host compute backend is missing or broken, not the distro install itself.

since this is atlas, my guess is that some virtualization-related windows components still show as enabled, but the actual backing files/services are missing or corrupted.

i’d check these first:

dir c:\windows\system32\vmcompute.exe
dir c:\windows\system32\vmwp.exe
bcdedit /enum | findstr -i hypervisorlaunchtype
get-service vmcompute,hns,lxssmanager
wsl --status

if vmcompute.exe or vmwp.exe is missing, or vmcompute won’t start, that’s very likely the real cause. in that state, both wsl2 and docker will fail.

i’d also try re-enabling the required features cleanly (run as admin terminal):

dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:microsoft-windows-subsystem-linux /all /norestart
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:virtualmachineplatform /all /norestart
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:microsoft-hyper-v-all /all /norestart
bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto

then reboot and run (run as admin terminal):

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
sfc /scannow

if vmcompute is still broken after that, this is probably windows component corruption, not a normal wsl reinstall issue.