Bug Hunt - WSL Hang
This is the first post in a series of candid bug hunt posts where I will describe an interesting bug I ran into, and how I eventually fixed it. As this is the first of these posts, I will explain the general structure that I will try to follow in future posts.
Date Encountered - the official date that the bug went from a minor annoyance to something I needed to actually fix
Overview of Bug - general description of what was happening and why it was an issue
Steps I Took - pretty self explanatory. Steps I took while trying to address the issue
What I Learned - any technical or practical takeaways from the whole process
Original Bug Hunt - my original notes while troubleshooting the bug
Date Encountered
Monday, June 9, 2025, 4:55:12 PM
Overview of Bug
I was running into an issue with WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) where I was unable to start it at random times. Specifically, I do most of my development on WSL, and I would frequently try to open it and get
Catastrophic failure
Error code: Wsl/Service/E_UNEXPECTED
or
The operation timed out because a response was not received from the virtual machine or container.
Error code: Wsl/Service/HCS_E_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT
Steps I Took
When I first ran into the issue, I tried restarting WSL with wsl --shutdown, but this was a flaky fix. This was a bandaid–acceptable for how frequently I was using WSL at the time. Once my fellowship started ramping up (and I would have to use WSL more frequently) I started searching for a cure. Skimming some GitHub issues led me to believe that Docker Desktop was the root issue though I wasn’t sure exactly why. I lazily removed and reinstalled DD on my computer, hoping this would be the fix I was looking for. After this failed, I tried messing around with some virtualization settings through the Windows interface, but this was fruitless too.
After a little more careful reading of this GitHub issue and testing on my end, I confirmed Docker Desktop’s Resource Saver Mode was the root issue. Restarting DD or disabling Resource Saver Mode resolved the issue.
What I learned
I learned that Docker Desktop runs on the WSL2 engine, meaning it runs on the same virtual machine that powers all the different Linux distributions I have installed. Resource Saver Mode pauses this machine, thus freezing all the other distributions running via WSL. It was also cool to see GitHub Issues in action while hunting for a fix—I’d mostly seen them used for feature requests, and hadn’t realized they were also active spaces for discussions and troubleshooting, which makes sense in hindsight.
Original Bug Hunt
## Message:
```
Catastrophic failure
Error code: Wsl/Service/E_UNEXPECTED
```
## What I Tried
Uninstalling then reinstalling Docker Desktop (with restart)
```
wsl –shutdown
wsl
```
^ this is a temporary fix but it just keeps happening
## My Thoughts
I’m not sure why this is happening. I skimmed a few issues on the wsl GitHub page and was led to believe Docker Desktop could have something to do with it but honestly I don’t know
## Things to try
remove Docker Desktop from startup apps
# But this also happens (seemingly at random)…
```
PS C:\Users\darth> wsl
The operation timed out because a response was not received from the virtual machine or container.
Error code: Wsl/Service/HCS_E_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT
```
It takes like a whole… fucking… minute. And sometimes it just stops working completely. It freezes on the wsl command. wsl –shutdown also stopped working. Heh
Update from one day later:
wsl started working. I didn’t run any command or restart my computer (as far as I know)
I tried turning WSL off then on again through Windows features. It seems to have worked so far, wsl is still a little slow to start up though but this is fine
Unfortunately, the problem came back after some time
*virtualization*
In Task Manager, vmicrdv (Hyper-V Remote Desktop Virtualization Service) is Stopped, but wsl is still working so this is unlikely to be the root issue
## GitHub Issues
https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/10546 (distribution disk was corrupted)
https://github.com/docker/for-win/issues/14827 (docker resource saver mode causes WSL to lock) <— winner winner chicken dinner
## Docker Resource Saver
Trying to open WSL while DD is in resource saver mode leads to this message
```
PS C:\Users\darth> wsl
The operation timed out because a response was not received from the virtual machine or container.
Error code: Wsl/Service/HCS_E_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT
```
Taking DD out of resource saver mode and trying to open WSL leads to this message
```
Catastrophic failure
Error code: Wsl/Service/E_UNEXPECTED
```
until WSL is restarted with `wsl –shutdown`. The issue is still open but the current workaround is “to restart Docker engine, WSL will continue to work, or to disable “Resource Saver” option in Docker.”