SharePoint .wsp retraction error

Question

I am deploying a solution by Visual Studio.
I get the error during Retraction:

The solution does not have a WSP file associated with it.

I tried to do IISRESET and also to restart the server.

Answer 1

This solved my problem:

remove-spsolution -identity {name of wsp file.wsp} -force

Answer 2

Make sure

1. Open the debug/release folder and make sure a WSP file is generated
2. Open central admins -> system settings -> farm solutions. If a solution with the name exists, then retract and remove it.
3. Check log files