Enable desktop then cant login

[rasp_renegade]

Hi all/ I just got a Piv4 and installed the image 4/400 from https://retropie.org.uk/download/

I set it to boot into desktop with auto loin. I also set the password from raspi-config. After a reboot it goes to the Debian 10 desktop just fine, but will not load anything. It accepts the password then bounces right back to the login prompt. I did verify an incorrect password would throw an error.

[mitu]

What do you mean 'would not load anything' ? Are you referring to the programs available through the desktop menu ?

[rasp_renegade]

@mitu
Enter the password, the screen goes blank as if the desktop is loading, but returns to the login screen. I also ran the command sudo apt-get install lightdm

[mitu]

@rasp_renegade Look into /var/log/daemon.log and see if any errors are shown, after you try to login.

[rasp_renegade]

@mitu

To confim the credentials are correct, I am able to use SSH. See pastebin log. You can see near the end how a new session is opened then nothing more. Then repeats each time I attempt.

https://paste.ubuntu.com/p/F92FgGXSNy/

Edit: What is "SIGTERM"? It kills two process after session opens.

[mitu]

There's nothing telling in the logs that shows an issue. SIGTERM means the program was stopped when the desktop session started.
Did you install the needed desktop packages ? It looks to me that the login is fine, but there's no desktop to be started after. See https://retropie.org.uk/docs/FAQ/#how-do-i-boot-to-the-desktop-or-kodi.

[rasp_renegade]

@mitu

Its the little things... I didnt have to read far into that article to see PIXEL is no longer installed by default in the image. Installed now and working. No wonder startx was not working before. Thank you very much. =)

[BuZz]

@rasp_renegade the desktop was never installed by default.

[rasp_renegade]

@buzz Yup, I stand corrected. I think it is the NOOB image that it was installed on by default. or maybe something else I downloaded.