Upgraded from 4.15.0 to 4.16.1 docker stuck in starting mode forever

[jeffrozica]

• I have tried with the latest version of Docker Desktop
• I have tried disabling enabled experimental features
• I have uploaded Diagnostics
• Diagnostics ID:

Actual behavior

Expected behavior

Information

• Windows Version:
• Docker Desktop Version:
• WSL2 or Hyper-V backend?
• Are you running inside a virtualized Windows e.g. on a cloud server or a VM:

Output of & "C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\com.docker.diagnose.exe" check

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. ...
2. ...

[jeffrozica]

I just upgraded from docker desktop for windows version 4.15.0 to 4.16.1 on my laptop with windows 11 running wsl2 and ubuntu. After upgrading docker desktop is stuck in starting mode forever... It will not start and is hung. It worked great in version 4.15.0 and prior versions.... I downloaded 4.16.1 and tried install again, but did not work. I rebooted my laptop and that did not work. I do a lot of development and I am dead in the water. The only way I can see to fix this is to uninstall 4.16.1 and reinstall 4.15.0 and see if I can get it back up and running, but that's a lot of work...

[feynmanliang]

This happened to me as well on both 4.16.0 and 4.16.1, but not 4.15.0. Possible bug in $USER interpolation?

From %APPDAATA%/Local/Docker/log.txt

[2023-01-13T21:37:15.327970500Z][com.docker.backend.exe][I] WSLEngine: start handler error exit: 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328328600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* provisioning docker WSL distros: deploying "docker-desktop": preparing directory "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro" for distro "docker-desktop": decompressing "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328328600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* decompressing file "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": The parameter is incorrect.
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328328600Z][com.docker.backend.exe][W] (022eb604) 7b25e335-BackendAPI S->C 750ed8b2-GoBackendClient-CSharp POST /wsl/engine/start (4.3219861s): 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328835600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* provisioning docker WSL distros: deploying "docker-desktop": preparing directory "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro" for distro "docker-desktop": decompressing "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328835600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* decompressing file "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": The parameter is incorrect.

[jeffrozica]

This happened to me as well on both 4.16.0 and 4.16.1, but not 4.15.0. Possible bug in $USER interpolation?

From %APPDAATA%/Local/Docker/log.txt

[2023-01-13T21:37:15.327970500Z][com.docker.backend.exe][I] WSLEngine: start handler error exit: 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328328600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* provisioning docker WSL distros: deploying "docker-desktop": preparing directory "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro" for distro "docker-desktop": decompressing "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328328600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* decompressing file "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": The parameter is incorrect.
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328328600Z][com.docker.backend.exe][W] (022eb604) 7b25e335-BackendAPI S->C 750ed8b2-GoBackendClient-CSharp POST /wsl/engine/start (4.3219861s): 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328835600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* provisioning docker WSL distros: deploying "docker-desktop": preparing directory "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro" for distro "docker-desktop": decompressing "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328835600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* decompressing file "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": The parameter is incorrect.

Thanks for your response. I uninstalled v4.16.1 and am in the process of re-installing v4.15.0. Hopefully this will work for me.

[jeffrozica]

I just installed 4.15.0 and now I am getting failed to start. Frustrated.

[jeffrozica]

I uninstalled docker docktop, then rebooted my laptop and then re-installed docker desktop for windows version 4.15.0 and I am now back up and running. I am rebuilding all of my docker images. Many thanks for the help. I hope version 4.16.1 is fixed as I cannot upgrade until it is.

[jafin]

Similar issue,
Issue: updating 4.15 to 4.16.1 stuck on Starting Docker.
TempFix: Reverting to 4.15 resolved the issue.

I could not see anything in the log.txt about <USER> per @feynmanliang comment.
Feel free to let me know if there is anything else I can post to help troubleshoot.

• Windows 11 22H2
• WSL2 backend

Things tried:

• Uninstalling/reinstalling docker.
• Updating wsl --update

[Hombre2014]

The same problem here. I upgraded from 4.10 to 4.16.1 and it stuck in Starting forever. I uploaded the diagnostics to Docker. My diagnostic ID is: C84E282B-A40C-4C57-8B55-2C7E146FBACD/20230114112020
I am using Windows 10 Pro latest package.

[thaJeztah]

This happened to me as well on both 4.16.0 and 4.16.1, but not 4.15.0. Possible bug in $USER interpolation?

From %APPDAATA%/Local/Docker/log.txt

[2023-01-13T21:37:15.327970500Z][com.docker.backend.exe][I] WSLEngine: start handler error exit: 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328328600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* provisioning docker WSL distros: deploying "docker-desktop": preparing directory "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro" for distro "docker-desktop": decompressing "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328328600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* decompressing file "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": The parameter is incorrect.
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328328600Z][com.docker.backend.exe][W] (022eb604) 7b25e335-BackendAPI S->C 750ed8b2-GoBackendClient-CSharp POST /wsl/engine/start (4.3219861s): 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328835600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* provisioning docker WSL distros: deploying "docker-desktop": preparing directory "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro" for distro "docker-desktop": decompressing "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": 1 error occurred:
[2023-01-13T21:37:15.328835600Z][GoBackendProcess][I] 	* decompressing file "C:\\Users\\<USER>\\AppData\\Local\\Docker\\wsl\\distro": The parameter is incorrect.

👋 I work at Docker (but not on the Docker Desktop team); I think the <USER> should be unrelated to the issue; it looks like that's part of code that obfuscates personal data in logs (to prevent personal data being included in diagnostic reports). It seems a bit premature to obfuscate the local logs though, so perhaps I should ask the Desktop team if it would be better to obfuscate the data only when generating a diagnostic report (not for the local logs), or at least a more descriptive placeholder (<REDACTED_USER>).

[Hombre2014]

In my case, even 4.14.1 did not work and experienced the same freezing. I had to go back to 4.10.1. Did not try any in-between versions.

[zejji]

I experienced the same issue with Docker Desktop 4.16.1 not starting after an upgrade from 4.15.0. I'm running on Windows 10 Pro with WSL 2 integration.

The only solution was completely uninstalling Docker Desktop, restarting and then reinstalling 4.15.0, after which everything works normally again.

[kng]

Updated from 4.14.? to 4.16.1 and got the same issue, downgrade to 4.15.0 did not work, 4.14.1 works.
Cleaned up all appdata and reboot between tries.

On a Windows 10 Pro fresh PC installation, I added Ubuntu to WSL after installing Docker, then pressed refresh and the UI didn’t acknowledge the Ubuntu instance. Yes, it’s version 2 and I followed the directions in learn more. I restarted Docker Desktop and even restarted my PC — nothing. I went back to 4.15 and it worked fine only after deleting everything in %APPDATA%\docker, C:\ProgramData\docker.

[podling0ne]

I had the same issue with a fresh install of 4.16.1, tried 4.16.0 and same again. I tried 4.15.0, and then docker desktop asked me to download the update of wsl2. I did it and it worked fine.
So i tried to update to 4.16.1, and it finally worked for me.
Don't know if it would help.
I'm on Windows 11 familly .

[BlueAlder]

Same thing happened to me, uninstalled and tried to reinstall 4.16.1 and got installation errors. Ended up just reverting to install 4.16.0 which is working so far.

[amoisis]

• wsl --unregister docker-desktop-data
• wsl --unregister docker-desktop
• Uninstall Docker for Windows
• Install Docker for Windows

Not sure if the uninstall was required but it works again.
Found from here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/71702448/docker-daemon-not-running-on-windows-11