Setup stopped at Windows can't connect to your workspace

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joshhorne · 9d ago

Filed from Hydrogen Desktop 1.0.701 on JOSH-DESKTOP (setup card).

What the setup card said: Your workspace is installed and running, but Windows could not connect to it. A VPN, a security tool or a firewall policy that blocks WSL is the usual cause: pause it, then run setup again. There is no need to remove the workspace or download it again.

Device: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-7D77 (AMD64, 63.2 GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12-Core Processor). Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 26H2 build 26300. WSL: WSL version: 2.7.12.0.

Attachments: hydrogen-desktop-tail.log (last 300 KB of the app log), diagnostics.json (health, setup state, WSL status, the Doctor checks, build info, device), setup-steps-wsl.json (setup step log), setup-timing-wsl.json (setup step log).

Last 40 log lines:

15:40:53.981 [heartbeat] alive 1080s
15:40:54.161 [telemetry] heartbeat ensure-workspace : HTTP 200
15:41:03.982 [heartbeat] alive 1090s
15:41:13.983 [heartbeat] alive 1100s
15:41:23.983 [heartbeat] alive 1110s
15:41:24.124 [net] ensure-workspace: Windows could not reach the workspace; NAT switch skipped: WSL runs 'none', not mirrored
15:41:24.264 [setup] network check: WSL networking mode 'none', workspace internet UNREACHABLE, network gate not confirmed
15:41:24.271 [run_all_wsl] DONE 'ensure-workspace' in 442.1s (failed)
15:41:24.282 [run_all_wsl] HALT: step 'ensure-workspace' failed after 1 attempts; not advancing to later steps
15:41:24.284 [run_all_wsl] persisted setup-state.txt = in-progress (GET /setup/state matches the cascade)
15:41:24.284 [run_all_wsl] TIMING total 442.1s over 1 steps; slowest: ensure-workspace 442.1s
15:41:24.285 [cascade] setup released the editor (opportunistic healers re-armed)
15:41:24.287 [run_all_wsl] install-approval window closed, normal prompting restored
15:41:24.288 [taskbar] cascade ended with a failure, leaving the red progress bar up
15:41:24.345 [telemetry] setup_step ensure-workspace fail: HTTP 200
15:41:24.416 [telemetry] error_screen ensure-workspace : HTTP 200
15:41:33.983 [heartbeat] alive 1120s
15:41:43.984 [heartbeat] alive 1130s
15:41:53.984 [heartbeat] alive 1140s
15:42:03.985 [heartbeat] alive 1150s
15:42:13.985 [heartbeat] alive 1160s
15:42:23.986 [heartbeat] alive 1170s
15:42:28.679 [first-run] focus_signin_window: we have not opened a sign-in for this intent, so there is nothing to raise
15:42:28.749 [telemetry] error_screen ensure-workspace : HTTP 200
15:42:29.016 [auth] Auth intent created, URL: https://hydrogen.adom.inc/auth/intent?token=[redacted]&install_id=05bc05bd-89d3-453a-870a-8cc82cba7822
15:42:29.016 [auth-ttl] adom intent created claimed_ttl=3598s expires_at=2026-11-01T23:42:28Z
15:42:29.016 [auth] backend poll armed for 1830s (intent ttl 3598s)
15:42:29.018 [browser] open-in-profile: https://hydrogen.adom.inc/auth/intent?token=[redacted]&install_id=05b in default:Default fresh=true
15:42:29.019 [caption] auth narration suppressed (assisted sign-in OFF): Opening the Adom sign-in in your default browser (Default)…
15:42:29.072 [telemetry] signin_screen: HTTP 200
15:42:29.365 [browser] raised the opened window hwnd=595328 for the user -> true
15:42:29.365 [approve] assisted sign-in OFF, Adom auto-approve loop NOT armed; the user clicks Approve themselves
15:42:29.366 [browser] recorded consent window hwnd=595328 (direct open), so it can be raised and closed later
15:42:33.986 [heartbeat] alive 1180s
15:42:37.488 [auth] Intent authenticated, session token saved (+ replay copy)
15:42:37.488 [auth] Bringing HD to the foreground after Adom auth completion…
15:42:37.527 [cmd] $ wsl -d Adom-Workspace -u root -- <write /home/adom/.adom/api-key + /run/adom/api-key + /etc/tmpfiles.d/adom-api-key.conf>
15:42:37.602 [wsl] api-key persistence ensured (tmpfiles.d boot re-materialization + persistent copy + fresh token written to both layers)
15:42:37.602 [auth] fresh login token propagated to workspace (both persistence layers)
15:42:37.605 [updater] signed-in user changed, checking now so the fleet ping carries who this is

2 Replies

John Lauer · 8d ago

Thanks for the report and the logs, they told us exactly what happened.

What went wrong. Hydrogen asks WSL for mirrored networking. On this PC, WSL could not start mirrored networking and quietly fell back to running the workspace with no network at all (WSL reports its mode as none). Hydrogen already switches a PC to NAT networking when mirrored fails, but it only did that when WSL said mirrored, so with none it skipped the switch and stopped at the workspace step every time.

The fix. The next Hydrogen build treats none with mirrored configured as mirrored failing, switches the PC to NAT once and carries on. It is also a new check every build must pass before release.

To get going today, without waiting for the build:

Quit Hydrogen.
Open %USERPROFILE%\.wslconfig in Notepad. Under [wsl2], change networkingMode=mirrored to networkingMode=nat and save.
In PowerShell, run wsl --shutdown.
Start Hydrogen and press Retry on the setup card.

Hydrogen keeps your NAT choice; Settings, Workspace networking switches it back any time. If it still stops, reply here and we will dig in.

Colby Knox · 6d ago

The fix for this is now public in Hydrogen 1.0.703. Please update and run setup again. If networkingMode is mirrored and WSL falls back to no network, setup should now switch this PC to NAT on its own and carry on. If you already switched to NAT by hand, there is nothing else you need to do. Let us know here whether setup finishes.