Regression: Docker Desktop fails to start on Raspberry Pi 5 (ARM64) since 4.44.0 — QEMU VM exits with status 1

[softartdev]

Description

On Raspberry Pi 5 (ARM64, Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm 64-bit), Docker Desktop 4.44.0 and newer cannot start the Linux engine VM and shows a fatal error dialog:

running engine: engine linux/qemu failed to run: running VM: qemu: process terminated unexpectedly: exit status 1

All releases 4.39.0 → 4.43.2 work on the same device; 4.44.0+ consistently fail. This points to a regression introduced in 4.44.0.

Reproduce

1. Install Docker Desktop 4.44.0+ ARM64 .deb on Raspberry Pi 5.
2. Start Desktop (GUI or systemctl --user start docker-desktop).
3. After ~30 s the engine fails to start; Desktop shows the modal error above; the UI shows Engine “Stopped/Starting…”.

Verification: uninstall 4.44.0+, install 4.43.2 → engine starts; docker run hello-world prints the expected output. Re-upgrade to 4.44.0+ → failure returns.

Expected behavior

On ARM64 Linux hosts, Desktop should either:

• launch an ARM64 LinuxKit VM (using KVM on ARM), or
• at least fallback to QEMU TCG when KVM accel is not viable for cross-arch x86 guests (this is what effectively happened in ≤4.43.2).

docker version

Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:           28.5.1
 API version:       1.51
 Go version:        go1.24.8
 Git commit:        e180ab8
 Built:             Wed Oct  8 12:18:25 2025
 OS/Arch:           linux/arm64
 Context:           desktop-linux
Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///home/rpi/.docker/desktop/docker.sock. Is the docker daemon running?

docker info

Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:    28.5.1
 Context:    desktop-linux
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.9.11
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-ai
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.26.1-desktop.1
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
  cloud: Docker Cloud (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.4.11
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-cloud
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v2.39.1-desktop.1
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.42
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-debug
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.0
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-desktop
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.29
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-extension
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-init
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.13.0
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-mcp
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-sbom
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.18.2
    Path:     /home/rpi/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-scout

Server:
Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///home/rpi/.docker/desktop/docker.sock. Is the docker daemon running?

Diagnostics ID

552FFA38-F2A8-40D4-BC1A-46DBB1093797/20251024061355

Additional Info

Environment

• Device: Raspberry Pi 5 Model B (BCM2712, 8 GB), ARM64
• OS: Raspberry Pi OS (Debian 12/Bookworm), 64-bit
• Kernel: tried both RPi 16 KB and upstream 4 KB page variants — same outcome on 4.44.0+
• Prereqs: qemu-system, qemu-user-static, binfmt-support installed (/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 present); /dev/kvm exists (ARM KVM for ARM guests; no HW virt for x86 on ARM)

Version window

• Last Known Good (LKG): 4.43.2 (build 199162) — engine starts, docker run hello-world works
• First Bad: 4.44.0 (build 201307) — engine fails with the error above
• Also failing: every version from 4.44.0 up to current (e.g., 4.49.0) on this device

Suspected root cause

In 4.44.0, Desktop likely removed or tightened the QEMU-only emulation path (QEMU removal noted in 4.44 notes on other platforms). The Linux engine path appears to always attempt an x86_64 VM with KVM acceleration; on ARM this cannot succeed (no cross-arch KVM), and there is no TCG fallback, so QEMU aborts immediately.

Workarounds

• Pin Desktop to 4.43.2 (last working).
• Or use Docker Engine directly on Pi OS (works fine) + optional Portainer UI.

Request

• Please acknowledge and fix the regression by either:
  1. restoring a TCG fallback when KVM accel cannot be used, or
  2. providing an ARM64 engine VM path on Linux/ARM64 hosts (preferred; use KVM on ARM).
• If not feasible short-term, surface a clear message that this host/arch is unsupported instead of a generic QEMU crash.

Thanks — happy to test experimental builds on real Pi 5 hardware.

[BlossomSylveon]

it seem to trying to start using qemu-system-x86_64 that it wasn't suppose to do that.
It suppose to use qemu-system-arm in every docker desktop arm builds instead of that however its never been patched in every update.
Everyone with arm64 had this issue and never been patched in every version they update.
imo if this continues what else are we gonna do?