Windows 11 does not read Linux tree

Question

After installing WSL 2 and installing a few Linux VMs, Windows Explorer starts displaying a Linux tree, but whenever I try to access it, I get the following error:

"\wsl.localhost is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.

Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service"

Though my PC is recent with updated specs:

Motherboard: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. ROG STRIX B460-G GAMING

Bios: ver.1101

Processor: Intel i9 10th generation @3.7Ghz

Liquid-cooled by Cool Master

RAM: HyperX 64GB RAM & 2666Mhz

Storage: 1TB SSD, 2TB HDD

GPUs:

Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB GDDR6

OS: Windows 11 Professional (x64) Version 21H2 (build 22000.282)

But when I try browsing manually to \wsl$\ it works. How can I fix this?

Question also posted here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_11-files/windows-11-does-not-read-linux-tree/59cbc911-7e41-44eb-9d06-cc4a2e344370?messageId=cb42a30f-0293-44e7-9b4e-3be86fabb41a

Answer 1

I had the same issue and found a solution at:
https://issueexplorer.com/issue/microsoft/WSL/7499
https://www.reddit.com/r/bashonubuntuonwindows/comments/og727b/accessing_wsllocalhost_through_windows_11_file/

The solution was to use the Registry Editor (regedit.msc) to edit

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkProvider\Order

and change it to

P9NP,cbfsconnect2017,RDPNP,LanmanWorkstation,webclient,wsauth

(For my computers, it seems that P9NP should be at the beginning, and one needs to remove WinFsp.Np and cbfs6 if present. Not sure whether you need all the other values.)

Make sure that ...\HWOrder is also changed to the same value automatically. Close Registry Editor, and then Linux tree is accessible to me.

The registry value gets changed after restarting the computer or installing some network drives, and I will then have to go to the Registry Editor and change it to get it to work.

Answer 2

Yes, that did it! Thank you :)

Answer 3

Unfortunately, I don't know how to make it persistent except to uninstall network drives that cause issues. In my case, RaiDrive always changes the registry whenever it starts but Google Drive and OneDrive do not, so I just uninstalled RaiDrive.