SOLVED Black screen, no desktop after pm2 stop MagicMirror

[popeofmope]

I have MagicMirror up and running on a RPi3b+ and a 4" HDMI touch screen. It autoloads MM on boot via PM2. I can ssh and run pm2 stop MagicMirror and MM exits but I don’t see the rasbian desktop, just a black screen. I can get the file menu via alt but there’s nothing helpful there. Minimizing works but it’s just a black screen and no desktop. ctrl + q will quit but PM2 restarts MM a few seconds later. How can I get back to the raspbian desktop? I want to configure some OS stuff like other WiFi networks etc.

[mlcampbe]

It sounds like the pi does not have the desktop running. Did you happen to configure the ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart and put lines in it? If so then there is a good chance that perhaps this file is taking precedence over the /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart file. If that is the case then the entries to start the desktop may not get executed. Try removing/renaming the ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart and reboot and see what happens. If you get the desktop GUI that way then you may want to add these lines to the ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart file:

@lxpanel --profile LXDE-pi
@pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE-pi
@point-rpi

[bhepler]

@popeofmope - You can try Ctrl + Alt + t to open a terminal window. You can switch to it using Alt+Tab with or without closing the Magic Mirror interface.

[popeofmope]

@bhepler Ctrl + Alt + t opens the file menu, just like if I only pressed alt. I see the switcher with alt + tab but only MM listed

[bhepler]

@popeofmope - That sounds like your keyboard is set to some near-English version. If you get the chance, run sudo raspi-config and carefully select the keyboard layout that corresponds to your location. The defaults for the RasPi are weird. It starts with British English and the default US keyboard is Cherokee for some weird reason.

[popeofmope]

@bhepler I’m able to get the terminal up with ctrl + alt + t, I think it may have had to do with the mini wireless USB keyboard/mouse combo I was using. Worked after using a more traditional wireless keyboard. So I have the terminal up but pm2 stop MagicMirror behaves the same as when I issue the command via SSH, just a blank screen and no desktop

[popeofmope]

@bhepler if I quit or minimize MM, should I expect to see the rasbian desktop?

[mlcampbe]

It sounds like the pi does not have the desktop running. Did you happen to configure the ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart and put lines in it? If so then there is a good chance that perhaps this file is taking precedence over the /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart file. If that is the case then the entries to start the desktop may not get executed. Try removing/renaming the ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart and reboot and see what happens. If you get the desktop GUI that way then you may want to add these lines to the ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart file:

@lxpanel --profile LXDE-pi
@pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE-pi
@point-rpi

[popeofmope]

@mlcampbe That did it! Thanks! I did edit the ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart according to the Configuring the Raspberry Pi instructions. It didn’t mention the desktop disappearing though.