Updated Windows Terminal and now Ubuntu won't load. process exited with code 4294967295 (0xffffffff)

Question

Initially posted to the Unix \ linux stack exchange and was pointed here instead.

I recently updated Windows Terminal from 1.2.X to 1.12.X and the Ubuntu install refuses to run, giving the error [process exited with code 4294967295 (0xffffffff)]. The older Ubuntu-18.04 runs fine however.

Entry in settings

    {
        "guid": "{2c4de342-38b7-51cf-b940-2309a097f518}",
        "hidden": false,
        "name": "Ubuntu",
        "source": "Windows.Terminal.Wsl"
    }

Any ideas on this one?

Command line options tried

C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsl.exe -d Ubuntu
C:\Windows\system32\wsl.exe -d Ubuntu
wsl.exe -d Ubuntu <- this copied from wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-18.04

@harrymc it's because I'm running the WSL Ubuntu terminal through Windows Terminal. If I run the independent Ubuntu terminal, it works. — Alistair Hardy, Feb 25 '22 at 11:28
@AlistairHardy - Can you provide the relevant information from your profile json for Windows Terminal? — Ramhound, Feb 25 '22 at 13:22

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 14 '22 at 08:06

8

This problem is detailed in the bug-report
Unable to launch WSL Ubuntu - The system cannot find the file specified. #12474.

The workaround there was to change the commandline to:

<path_to>/wsl.exe ~ -d Ubuntu.<Version>

edited Apr 14 '22 at 08:06

MartinJ

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answered Feb 25 '22 at 11:36

harrymc

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No joy for me I'm afraid – Alistair Hardy Feb 25 '22 at 14:28
2

Another workaround in this post was to change the starting directory to `%USERPROFILE%` or something near. – harrymc Feb 25 '22 at 14:31
1

`%USERPROFILE%` worked! – Alistair Hardy Feb 28 '22 at 15:18
1

@AlistairHardy Great to hear that worked. I'm curious, though, since I *think* that would mean that Windows Terminal is setting the default path to something that WSL can't handle. When you start Command Prompt or PowerShell from Windows Terminal, what directory do they start in? – NotTheDr01ds Feb 28 '22 at 18:45
CMD & Powershell start in c:\Users\USERNAME & Ubuntu is starting in /mnt/c/Users/USERNAME – Alistair Hardy Mar 03 '22 at 10:18

score 5 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 11 '22 at 09:49

5

Click on arrow down on upper tab bar
Select Ubuntu Profile on left menu
Find Starting Directory option
Overwrite to %USERPROFILE%
Save

edited Jul 11 '22 at 09:49

Greenonline

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answered Jul 11 '22 at 05:04

Henrique Vilela

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Thanks for editing I wasn't able to put the image directly – Henrique Vilela Jul 11 '22 at 20:19

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 27 '23 at 04:50

3

So in my case

Open PowerShell terminal
Stop the virtual machine by executing the following command in PowerShell:

wsl --shutdown

Reopen Ubuntu terminal and it ran smoothly.

I hope it will help some of you!

answered Jan 27 '23 at 04:50

Slokem

31
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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 25 '22 at 15:34

1

Some things to try:

First, delete the existing Ubuntu profile (back up settings.json if you want), exit Windows Terminal, and restart. Windows Terminal should detect the Ubuntu installation and recreate the profile automatically. See if the newly autogenerated one works.

If it doesn't:

Start PowerShell and try from there:
```
wsl -l -v # Sanity check the installations themselves
wsl ~ -d Ubuntu
wsl ~ -u root -d Ubuntu
wsl ~ -d Ubuntu -e bash --noprofile --norc
```
Does wsl -l -v show the correct profile? If so, do any of the other commands work? If the wsl ~ -d Ubuntu doesn't work but the other two do, then it's likely something in your bash startup config that is causing the issue.

If none of that helps:

Was there any /etc/wsl.conf file in the Ubuntu instance? Did it have a Command= line by any chance that could be failing?

answered Feb 25 '22 at 15:34

NotTheDr01ds

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wsl.conf only has `generateResolvConf = false` in it. Tried editing the settings.json as you said and that's had no luck. The `wsl` commands all worked as expected. – Alistair Hardy Feb 28 '22 at 15:15
Thank you I tried everything else and the only thing that worked for me was adding -e bash, I have no idea why it's needed (shouldn't be), but ever since adding that it started working – neoakris Apr 03 '23 at 01:01
@neokyle Glad to hear that it helped. Was it the `-e bash` alone that worked or the `--noprofile --norc` as well? If the former, then it sounds like the user shell may be changed. If the later, then there's something wrong in the startup files. Either way, we can troubleshoot from there. – NotTheDr01ds Apr 04 '23 at 01:56
-e bash was all I needed to add, the weird thing is `sudo cat /etc/passwd | grep $USER` suggests that my shell was configured to use /bin/bash, and I don't recall changing it. Only thing I can think of is that maybe WSL has some other location to determine shell. The only other customization I have is /etc/wsl.conf sets systemd=true – neoakris Apr 04 '23 at 15:44

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 18 '22 at 08:13

1

I had the same issue for me changing the executable path worked. see this image

from

C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-20.04

to

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-20.04

answered Jun 18 '22 at 08:13

Karthikeyan

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How is this different from accepted answer? – Toto Jun 18 '22 at 08:44
accepted answer didn't work for me – Karthikeyan Jun 24 '22 at 05:04
this worked for me!!!!! – Nikhil.Nixel Mar 03 '23 at 12:47

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered May 06 '22 at 12:03

0

I had the same issue today and found that the drive letter of my disk had changed (to E:). Reverting it back (to D:) and rebooting helped resolve this wsl issue.

answered May 06 '22 at 12:03

Shoan

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 08 '22 at 13:00

similar issue:

ubuntu run istelf fine.
ubuntu dont run from "windows terminal" // error: [process exited with code 4294967295 (0xffffffff)]

fix:

open terminal
terminal setting
select ubuntu profile.
Right hand pane hange command line executable path to folowing C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe ~ -d Ubuntu or C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsl.exe ~ -d Ubuntu.
save profile, run again.

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 21 '22 at 09:39

0

This worked for me:

wsl --shutdown

answered Sep 21 '22 at 09:39

Niikola

101

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Sep 21 '22 at 09:42
1

[The author's question was caused by a bug that has since been fixed since it was asked six months ago.](https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/12249#issuecomment-1198547733) – Ramhound Sep 22 '22 at 01:58

Updated Windows Terminal and now Ubuntu won't load. process exited with code 4294967295 (0xffffffff)

8 Answers8