@rasp_renegade said in Switch to desktop with CLI (not startx):

What am I doing wrong?

Did you install the desktop environment on your system ? As noted in the https://retropie.org.uk/docs/FAQ/#where-did-the-desktop-go, you need to install the Pixel DM from the script, then exit ES and execute startx only.

@Ummagitcha Either what has already been suggested, or Ctrl+C during boot/loading time.

Alternatively, if you can SSH into the Pi, you can kill the process yourself.