WSL usbip: error: Attach Request failed - Device in error state

[Girmii]

Issue

I'm trying to set up a serial connection with an Arduino Mega 2560 R3 in WSL. I know this is possible because it has worked for the last couple of months. However, since last week I can't get the device to show up in WSL.
The device is still accessible and responsive through Putty on the Windows host.

Environment info

PS> usbipd --version
5.1.0-41+Branch.master.Sha.fe06088bb6916e6722bd66b03d245141ae8ec6c1.fe06088bb6916e6722bd66b03d245141ae8ec6c1

> uname -a
Linux DESKTOP 6.6.87.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Mon Apr 21 17:08:54 UTC 2025 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

> lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
Release:        22.04
Codename:       jammy

Connection logs

Bind without force

PS> usbipd bind --busid 1-6
PS> usbipd attach --wsl --busid 1-6
usbipd: info: Using WSL distribution 'Ubuntu' to attach; the device will be available in all WSL 2 distributions.
usbipd: info: Detected networking mode 'nat'.
usbipd: info: Using IP address 172.26.176.1 to reach the host.
WSL usbip: error: Attach Request for 1-6 failed - Device in error state
usbipd: error: Failed to attach device with busid '1-6'.

PS> usbipd server Logging:LogLevel:Default=Trace
dbug: Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host[1]
      Hosting starting
dbug: Usbipd.PcapNg[1000]
      usbipd:PcapNg:Path = ''
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      usbipd:Port = 3240
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      5.1.0-41+Branch.master.Sha.fe06088bb6916e6722bd66b03d245141ae8ec6c1
info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0]
      Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down.
info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0]
      Hosting environment: Production
info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0]
      Content root path: C:\Users\GirmiSchouten
dbug: Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host[2]
      Hosting started
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      new connection from 172.26.184.4
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      connection close: Unable to read beyond the end of the stream.
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      connection closed
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      new connection from 172.26.184.4
dbug: Usbipd.ConnectedClient[1000]
      Received opcode: OP_REQ_IMPORT
fail: Usbipd.ConnectedClient[3]
      An exception occurred while communicating with the client:
      System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Unable to find the specified file.
         at Usbipd.ConfigurationManager.GetVBoxDevice(BusId) + 0x153
         at Usbipd.VBoxUsb.<ClaimDeviceOnce>d__0.MoveNext() + 0x6b
      --- End of stack trace from previous location ---
         at Usbipd.VBoxUsb.<ClaimDevice>d__1.MoveNext() + 0x17e
      --- End of stack trace from previous location ---
         at Usbipd.VBoxUsb.<ClaimDevice>d__1.MoveNext() + 0x2b9
      --- End of stack trace from previous location ---
         at Usbipd.ConnectedClient.<HandleRequestImportAsync>d__8.MoveNext() + 0xf03
      --- End of stack trace from previous location ---
         at Usbipd.ConnectedClient.<HandleRequestImportAsync>d__8.MoveNext() + 0x18f9
      --- End of stack trace from previous location ---
         at Usbipd.ConnectedClient.<RunAsync>d__5.MoveNext() + 0x32f
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      connection close: Unable to find the specified file.
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      connection closed

Bind with force

PS> usbipd bind --force --busid 1-6
PS> usbipd attach --wsl --busid 1-6
usbipd: info: Using WSL distribution 'Ubuntu' to attach; the device will be available in all WSL 2 distributions.
usbipd: info: Detected networking mode 'nat'.
usbipd: info: Using IP address 172.26.176.1 to reach the host.

PS> usbipd server Logging:LogLevel:Default=Trace
dbug: Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host[1]
      Hosting starting
dbug: Usbipd.PcapNg[1000]
      usbipd:PcapNg:Path = ''
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      usbipd:Port = 3240
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      5.1.0-41+Branch.master.Sha.fe06088bb6916e6722bd66b03d245141ae8ec6c1
info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0]
      Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down.
info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0]
      Hosting environment: Production
info: Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime[0]
      Content root path: C:\Users\GirmiSchouten
dbug: Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host[2]
      Hosting started
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      new connection from 172.26.184.4
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      connection close: Unable to read beyond the end of the stream.
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      connection closed
dbug: Usbipd.Server[1000]
      new connection from 172.26.184.4
dbug: Usbipd.ConnectedClient[1000]
      Received opcode: OP_REQ_IMPORT
dbug: Usbipd.ConnectedClient[1000]
      Claiming took 316 ms
info: Usbipd.ConnectedClient[1]
      Client 172.26.184.4 claimed device at 1-6 (USB\VID_2341&PID_0042\33436323438351100331).
dbug: 1-6.0[1000]
      Endpoint created
dbug: 1-6.0[1000]
      USBSUP_XFER_STALL -> EPIPE -> -32
dbug: 1-6.0[1000]
      USBSUP_XFER_STALL -> EPIPE -> -32
dbug: 1-6.0[1000]
      USBSUP_XFER_STALL -> EPIPE -> -32
dbug: 1-6.0[1000]
      USBSUP_XFER_STALL -> EPIPE -> -32
dbug: 1-6.0[1000]
      USBSUP_XFER_STALL -> EPIPE -> -32
dbug: 1-6.0[1000]
      USBSUP_XFER_STALL -> EPIPE -> -32
dbug: 1-6.0[1000]
      Endpoint created
dbug: 1-6.0[1000]
      Trapped SET_CONFIGURATION: 1

> lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2341:0042 Arduino SA Mega 2560 R3 (CDC ACM)
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

> dmesg
[ 2619.122359] vhci_hcd vhci_hcd.0: pdev(0) rhport(0) sockfd(3)
[ 2619.123452] vhci_hcd vhci_hcd.0: devid(65542) speed(2) speed_str(full-speed)
[ 2619.124901] vhci_hcd vhci_hcd.0: Device attached
[ 2619.302078] vhci_hcd: vhci_device speed not set
[ 2619.366370] usb 1-1: new full-speed USB device number 4 using vhci_hcd
[ 2619.438034] vhci_hcd: vhci_device speed not set
[ 2619.498083] usb 1-1: SetAddress Request (4) to port 0

Before, attaching the device worked without the bind --force. However, even with the --force flag the device does not show up under /dev/ttyACM where it did before.

[dorssel]

  System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Unable to find the specified file.
    at Usbipd.ConfigurationManager.GetVBoxDevice(BusId) + 0x153

This indicates that the dynamic driver switching (which we cannot control, it is part of VBoxUSBMon) didn't work within the timeout of 10 seconds. Does the error indeed take about 10 seconds to show after the attach attempt?

Why it doesn't work, I don't know. This is why I came up with --force in the first place. To force the VBoxUSB driver even on reboot, such that we don't depend on the dynamic driver switching of VBoxUSBMon. With --force the VBoxUSBMon driver switching is bypassed entirely.

Do you perhaps have also a full VirtualBox installation? That may very well interfere with usbipd-win; they both use the same drivers, but in an incompatible way with respect to each other.

[Girmii]

There does seem to be a pause of approximately that duration before the error shows up. I don't have VirtualBox or any other VM software installed.

On another PC the bind command (without --force) works just fine with the same Arduino, the main difference being that the WSL distro is Ubuntu 24.04 (usbipd and WSL kernel are the same version). But after binding, it behaves similarly as my current system with the --force flag; the serial device gets picked up in lsusb and dmesg, but fails shows up in /dev/ even though the device error state does not occur.

[dorssel]

The problem is entirely Windows-side. And all about drivers. Maybe there are different (versions) of host drivers installed that behave differently when they are being unloaded. Or maybe there is software running that somehow holds a lock to a driver resource that prevents it from unloading. Or maybe it isn't the device drivers, but instead the drivers of the USB hub it is connected to.

[Girmii]

Maybe due to a Windows (driver) update then? It's strange that it was working on both systems a couple of weeks ago and now it isn't. I haven't installed any drivers or external-device-related software myself recently.

Just to be clear; both the Device in error state problem and the issue of the device showing up in lsusb/dmesg but not under /dev/ can be attributed to Windows driver interference?

[dorssel]

Just to be clear; both the Device in error state problem and the issue of the device showing up in lsusb/dmesg but not under /dev/ can be attributed to Windows driver interference?

No, sorry. I hadn't realized that there were two problems.

The "Device in error state" is the (Windows-side) driver issue; as in: the dynamic driver switching isn't working. Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer as to why this happens. All I know is that --force will work around it.

When lsusb/dmesg reports the device present, but it doesn't show in /dev/ then this is entirely WSL side. The device is attached and usbipd-win is doing its job. For it to show up as a usable device 2 things must be present: a) (certainly) a Linux driver (either as part of the older WSL monolithic kernel, or as a module in the recent WSL kernel), and b) (possibly) udev rules and a udev reload/restart. For common devices/distro's this is automatic. But more esoteric devices / distro's may need some manual help.

[Girmii]

Any guess to what might have changed to cause this? I know for sure that the Arduino worked with usbipd-win a couple of weeks ago (and I've been on WSL2 the whole time), so it's not that it isn't supported.

I look into setting up a udev rule myself in the meanwhile.

[dorssel]

Any guess to what might have changed to cause this?

Could be a (Windows) driver update for the device, or for the hub it is connected to. Or maybe some software that was installed that accesses the device, bringing the driver into a different state than before.

[Girmii]

I was thinking more about the --force case where the device is connected to WSL but not showing up under /dev/. That worked before as well and now it doesn't anymore. Just wondering what the root cause could be.

[dorssel]

The driver model for WSL changed. With the recent WSL version (kernel 6.6), it switched to using modules. Maybe the Linux driver isn't loaded?