File or directory damaged or unreadable when launching linux distro

[Kulgar]

Windows Build Number

Microsoft Windows [version 10.0.19043.1237]

WSL Version

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

5.10.16

Distro Version

Ubuntu 18.04

Other Software

N.A.

Repro Steps

The launch of my Ubuntu 18.04 VM just stopped working.
It was working perfectly fine yesterday.

The error message I get is:
File or directory is damaged and unreadable
[process ended with code 4294967295]

I wonder if it stopped working because of a windows update I did recently.
Also, I really don't know what could have corrupted the vhdx file...

Expected Behavior

I just want the VM to launch again... thanks in advance if you have any idea on how I can repair my VM...

Actual Behavior

Getting the error message

File or directory is damaged and unreadable
[process ended with code 4294967295]

I am able to mount the ext4.vhdx file from another Ubuntu VM. I am actually extracting all the files I can to get my environment back... But I'd prefer being able to repair my existing VM.

Diagnostic Logs

Let me know if I can provide you with any relevant logs.

[Kulgar]

Well... I reinstalled another distribution (Ubuntu 20) and got all my files back.
But today, WSL 2 is having the same bug again... It all started with the same problem as in this issue: #6220

I run the adviced fix "sudo e2fsck /dev/sdd -p", and it does find problems that it can "fix". But then the distrib doesn't even start with the error above (file or directory unreadable). So I guess the e2fsck command is doing more harm than good... I'm guessing this is all due to the recent Windows update I did as I never got these problems before (but I had others...)...

I'm sorry but I'm sick of all these issues... I already lost several days of work because of them. I'm going back to VMWare... and I'll maybe come back to WSL 2 once the tech is more stable - for now... it just prevents me from working properly.

[mixxen]

@Kulgar, how did you get all your files back? I'm seeing the same error:

The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.
Press any key to continue...

[process exited with code 4294967295]

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[Kulgar]

@mixxen I mounted the corrupted WSL 2 virtual disk on another fresh WSL 2 install and extracted the files from there... Do you know how to do that?

[mixxen]

@Kulgar, thanks for the advice. I see that my ext4.vhdx file is 0kb. I'm pretty sure that chkdsk corrupted the virtual disk file and everything is lost. I had to start from scratch...I'll be sure the backup the vhdx file regularly from now on.

[Kulgar]

ow, shit... I didn't have this problem, my ext4 wasn't 0 Ko, it was more sth like 30 Go...
What a shame that you lost everything. I would have gone pretty mad if that happened to me :-/

[Xirzag]

Also the same. I notice that when Windows was starting it was fixing the C partition, so I think it saw somthing like ext4 and delete it.
Another great day in the windows enviorement

[stevenlafl]

Same. Complete garbage sometimes. All my work project files that I didn't save into a repository are gone. Thankfully I put important stuff on the cloud.

[SBKK]

@Kulgar how to mount the corrupted WSL 2 virtual disk?

[Kulgar]

@SBKK : It's been a long time so I don't recall exactly how I did it. I think I just followed some tutorial, like this one: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/wsl2-mount-disk

Also look at this : https://superuser.com/questions/1659218/is-there-a-way-to-access-files-from-one-wsl-2-distro-image-in-another-one

[microsoft-github-policy-service]

This issue has been automatically closed since it has not had any activity for the past year. If you're still experiencing this issue please re-file this as a new issue or feature request.

Thank you!