Resolving the "usbipd Warning: The Service Is Currently Not Running" Error in Windows (WSL 2)

Introduction

If you are a developer working with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL 2) and need to attach USB devices from your Windows host directly into your Linux environment, you have likely encountered usbipd-win. This open-source project allows you to share USB devices connected to Windows with WSL 2 instances.

Step-by-Step Fixes: From Basic to Advanced

Fix 1: The Obvious (But Often Incorrect) Reboot

Go ahead and restart your computer. After rebooting, open PowerShell or Command Prompt as Administrator and run:

• If installed via winget or an installer, reinstall to repair missing files or corrupted service registration.
• Example (winget):

  winget install --id=cezanne.usbipd-win --source=msstore
  

• Or uninstall then reinstall the official usbipd-win release from its GitHub or package source.

If you see a result, another process is blocking USBIPD. You may need to identify that software and disable it or change its port settings. Step 5: Reinstall the MSI (Repair Mode)

or

If you are a developer, system administrator, or advanced Windows user working with the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL 2), you have likely encountered the usbipd tool. This powerful utility allows you to attach physical USB devices from your Windows host directly into a Linux distribution running under WSL.

The warning "usbipd: error: The service is currently not running; a reboot should fix that"

If the service fails to start or the error returns after a reboot, try these steps:

Path Conflicts: Ensure there isn't another sc.exe or usbip executable in your PATH environment variables that might be intercepting commands.