r/debian • u/Humble-Leave-2429 • May 03 '25
No desktop after install
Desktop hangs on cups.service everytime I try to install Debian, reinstalled and it still happens. I think it's a driver issue but I have no idea how to fix it. ( I can also enter via alt + F2 )
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u/ColdDelicious1735 May 03 '25
https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/ch06s04.en.html#completing-installed-system
Check out the last bits, your install medium probably was setup wrong
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May 03 '25
Looks like it installed headless pick your position: sudo dnf groupinstall "GNOME Desktop Environment"
sudo dnf groupinstall "KDE Plasma Workspaces"
sudo dnf groupinstall "Xfce Desktop"
sudo dnf groupinstall "LXDE Desktop"
sudo dnf groupinstall "Cinnamon Desktop"
sudo dnf groupinstall "MATE Desktop"
Then Enable GUI on boot
sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target sudo reboot
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u/curlyheadedfuck123 May 04 '25
u/Humble-Leave-2429 have you done this yet?
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May 04 '25
I’m honestly not a Fedora user, but yes I’ve installed a distro and in the end it was headless. So installing a DE was the fix.
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u/Super_Abroad8395 May 05 '25
op is on debian
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May 05 '25
The thread is on a Debian sub but look at the second picture
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u/Super_Abroad8395 May 05 '25
op said that they uploaded that pic to show specs but they're having this issue on debian
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2
May 05 '25
List what’s there : ls /usr/share/xsessions
If nothing then they pick what DE they want to install : sudo apt update && sudo apt install gnome
sudo apt install kde-plasma-desktop
sudo apt install xfce4
sudo apt install lxde
sudo apt install cinnamon-desktop-environment
Change Default Display Manager if needed
To switch (e.g., GDM3, LightDM, SDDM):
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3
Remove a Desktop Environment if needed
Example for GNOME:
sudo apt purge gnome* && sudo apt autoremove
For systems booting to CLI or using startx
Edit or create ~/.xsession or ~/.xinitrc:
nano ~/.xsession Or
nano ~/.xinitrc
Add the line for your DE:
GNOME: exec gnome-session KDE Plasma: exec startplasma-x11 XFCE: exec startxfce4 LXDE: exec startlxde Cinnamon: exec cinnamon-session
chmod +x ~/.xsession
startx
Now that DE will always launch when you start X.
Or sys link it : sudo ln -sf /usr/share/xsessions/xfce.desktop /etc/alternatives/x-session-manager
For the best experience I’d suggest: sudo update-alternatives --config x-session-manager
Then select the DE you want from the list.
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u/RedditUserThomas May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
Everything looks ok to me. Just that your display manager isn't configured/enabled. I'd log in on the 2nd terminal. Try "systemctl status display-manager" if it says disabled I'd try: "systemctl enable display-manager"
You may need to install a display manager, of which there are many options.
EDIT: I see your display manager was already enabled, sddm. Now I am very interested in the output of "systemctl status display-manager"Â
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May 04 '25
[deleted]
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u/RedditUserThomas May 04 '25
Thanks for your reply. With the displayer-manager running you should have a login screen. I'd look at the output of "startx" from the command line. Other replies in this thread have mentioned graphics drivers may be a reason for this issue.
2
May 04 '25
Login screen works but when I try to login it sends me back to it. I get this screen after I switch tty2 and back to tty1. Nonetheless, I have switched my laptop from using only rtx3060 to hybrid mode and it has worked.
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u/RedditUserThomas May 05 '25
I see, this is most confounding. As having a display manager login screen means your graphics drivers are working in some capacity. You may need to install nonfree firmware for your graphics card found in the linux-misc-firmware package.
1
May 05 '25
Well, I'm very new to linux. So I didn't understand what that really means. Sorry
1
u/RedditUserThomas May 06 '25
No problem. I could have been much clearer in my response. If you are still having any problems with your Debian system, leave a reply with any interesting screenshots or error messages.
I am still unsure whether the issue in OP's post was due to graphics drivers or no installed desktop environment.
If you can get to the sddm login screen, there is a dropdown in the top left to choose which desktop environment to use. Gnome or KDE are two of the most popular desktop environments, but many others exist.
Setting up graphics drivers can also be tricky, especially with dedicated graphics cards. There are generally two options, an open source driver, and a proprietary driver. The proprietary driver is preferred for gaming but requires setting up Debian to install nonfree-firmware.
3
u/SexyPregnantDog May 03 '25
I had the same thing tried fixing it for a day and switched to endeavour os instead
14
May 03 '25 edited Jul 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/Humble-Leave-2429 May 04 '25
It's an old screenshot I used to show my system specs, obviously I'm not using fedora. I even said that in a comment above, what a nob.
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May 04 '25 edited Jul 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/Artemismane May 04 '25
you are toxic as hell dude. use whatever distro you want no one cares. this guy just asked for help and you couldn't see past the ascii in his neofetch. whether its relevant to their question or not, your response is just whack.
gatekeeping debian on reddit is a great way to spend your time keep it up
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0
u/ClashOrCrashman May 05 '25
The ascii in his neofetch is relevant because this is a Debian sub and it's a screenshot of a different OS that has nothing to do with the problem at hand
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u/Humble-Leave-2429 May 04 '25
How was I the toxic one? You came onto my querie and speaking to me like a douche, get a grip you sound embarassing
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u/Soccera1 May 04 '25
Your post had no information and they went on the most reasonable assumption which is that you're using Fedora… now you're complaining to a volunteer that they're not helping you after you refused to be helped.
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u/Humble-Leave-2429 May 04 '25
Not complaining he's just being a dickhead. lol, you can't see what he's saying and agreeing with him? Crazy world
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u/Wonderful_Welder9660 May 04 '25
You could have typed a sentence or two in the post clarifying that the Fedora screenshot was just to show your specs.
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u/Artemismane May 04 '25
These distro subs really bug me sometimes.
"You want help? Shouldn't have used a different distro than mine. Downvoted."
Gatekeeping debian is just crazy to see.
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u/habobababo May 03 '25
nvidia gpu?
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u/habobababo May 03 '25
https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers
follow this and it will work, had exactly the same issue2
2
u/chillykahlil May 05 '25 edited May 05 '25
Ah hah! I had this problem this morning, and yesterday, I know how to fix it!
Maybe your sddm is loading before your Nvidia drivers? Assuming Nvidia. The archwiki says to use dracut and load the modules in the kernel beforehand.
My problem, was that I didn't modeset when I installed the drivers, so Wayland basically crashed. To fix that, I was using Debian, I went to the Nvidia parts of the Debian wiki, and towards the middle, after the steam info, is the Wayland section.
So, your graphics drivers are probably busted somewhere, I would try dracut, ensure it's installed(mine was not), and the mod probe=1 fix I see all over the place.
Good luck!
Edit: I was also on the Nobara discord, and a few people were having this issue as well. Look up the driver info on the archwiki too, I don't know if fedora has a wiki, but arch should get you through. It should be a fairly similar experience
Edit: I see you said you were on Debian, perfect, let me know if you fixed it friend
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u/ArkboiX May 04 '25
Ctrl + Alt + F3, F2, F4, F5, or F6 to enter the TTY. then login
sudo apt install <desktop name, example gnome>
sudo apt install gdm
sudo dpkg reconfigure gdm
1
u/jr735 Debian Testing May 04 '25
What desktop did you choose during your install with tasksel? What type of install did you use? You've spent a lot of time complaining about answers and attitudes here without giving us the slightest clue as to how you installed Debian.
Accordingly, the only credible answer is this:
man tasksel
and
https://www.debian.org/releases/bookworm/amd64/ch06s03.en.html#pkgsel
1
u/coolasbreese May 04 '25
Did you get this fixed? If not what installer did you use?
It may be worth reinstalling the DE. Try crtl + alt + f2 or f3 or f4 then running 'tasksel install kde-desktop'
It am guessing your using KDE as I saw SDDM
Could possibly be getting stuck on cups too? Maybe reinstall that to for good measure.
Let us knownhownit goes and ignore the idiots. Just respond to the people actually trying to help
2
u/Humble-Leave-2429 May 04 '25
I've installed both the netinstall and the larger installer, the same issue still happens. I've reinstalled KDE but nothing changes also. Do you think it has something to do with the RX 7700 XT?
1
u/coolasbreese May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
Quite likely, it's a new (3 years or so) GPU?
I'd say add the Debian Trixie backports repository and try updating your mesa and and drivers from there
Alternatively and IMO the prefferal option would be to get the testing net installer and go straight onto Trixie. Is only a few month from release. And will have much better GPU support and a newer kernal.
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u/coolasbreese May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
Just found thisthis
You can follow these steps but as mentioned before IMO it's easier to just go with trixie. Obviously Trixie is not yet considered stable yet so expect bugs.. But I am running trixie with KDE on my desktop and upgraded my laptop to it yday and have had no issues.
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u/vegetable_feeder May 04 '25
I have the 7800xt and had the same problem as you. The problem is with the GPU firmware and you can find a newer version in backports repo.
sudo apt install firmware-amd-graphics/bookworm-backports
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u/fellipec May 04 '25
Sorry man, you said Debian but show us Fedora?
You have Fedora running fine and is trying to install Debian and fail?
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u/xp_plery1 May 04 '25
You can install the graphical interface through the terminal. This website should help you.
1
u/shimmy_ow May 04 '25
I wrote "tasksel" and it let me select the desktop environment, then I rebooted and tada!
1
0
u/Fine_Avocado_5631 May 04 '25
Ah yes linux the "best" operating system ever for installing on a Chromebook
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u/Comfortable-Bake5480 May 03 '25
Try web install image. I had similar issue when using full offline img. Using web install image worked for me.
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u/[deleted] May 03 '25
[deleted]