Error HH604 in Hardhat: "The specified module could not be found" on Windows

[bferreirarocha]

Version of Hardhat

2.22.17

What happened?

I'm encountering an issue when running npx hardhat node on my Windows machine. After setting up a new Hardhat project, attempting to start the node results in the following error:

Error HH604: Error running JSON-RPC server: The specified module could not be found.
\\?\C:\test\node_modules\@nomicfoundation\edr-win32-x64-msvc\edr.win32-x64-msvc.node

For more info go to https://hardhat.org/HH604 or run Hardhat with --show-stack-traces

Minimal reproduction steps

Steps I've Taken:

Enabled Long Paths in Windows:

Modified the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\LongPathsEnabled and set it to 1.
Restarted the computer to apply changes.
Updated Node.js:

Upgraded to the latest Node.js 18.x LTS version.
Created a New Hardhat Project:

Initialized a new project using npx hardhat in an empty directory.
Installed Hardhat Locally:

Ran npm install --save-dev hardhat to ensure Hardhat is installed as a development dependency.
Reinstalled Project Dependencies:

Deleted node_modules and package-lock.json.
Executed npm install to reinstall dependencies.
Checked for Detailed Error Logs:

Executed npx hardhat node --show-stack-traces to obtain more information, but the same error persists without additional insights.
Environment Details:

Operating System: Windows 10
Node.js Version: 18.x LTS
Hardhat Version: 2.22.17

Search terms

No response

[schaable]

Hi @bferreirarocha, I’ve tried reproducing your issue on my Windows 11 laptop but wasn’t able to replicate it. Could you provide any additional insights? For example:

1. are you running the command in PowerShell?
2. which version of Windows 10 are you using?
3. Can you verify that \\?\C:\test\node_modules\@nomicfoundation\edr-win32-x64-msvc\edr.win32-x64-msvc.node exists?
4. Also, I know it’s not the same environment, but have you tried using WSL to see if the issue persists there?
5. Anything else you consider relevant.

[schaable]

@bferreirarocha, could you try running echo %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE% in CMD or $env:PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE in PowerShell? This will output your processor architecture, which might be relevant for debugging the issue.

[kanej]

I am going to close this. If there is more information we can re-open.