Error VNC'ing in on Raspberry Pi systems specifically (Orange Pi has no issues)

Troubleshooting
1

Creating a bug report/issue

I have searched the existing open and closed issues

Required Information

  • DietPi version | G_DIETPI_VERSION_CORE=10
    G_DIETPI_VERSION_SUB=2
    G_DIETPI_VERSION_RC=3
    G_GITBRANCH=‘master’
    G_GITOWNER=‘MichaIng’

  • Distro version | echo $G_DISTRO_NAME $G_RASPBIAN

  • Kernel version | Linux DietPi 6.12.75+rpt-rpi-2712 #1 SMP PREEMPT Debian 1:6.12.75-1+rpt1 (2026-03-11) aarch64 GNU/Linux

  • Architecture | arm64

  • SBC model | RPI5 and RPI4

  • Power supply used | Canakit 5A 45W power supply

  • SD card used | samsung evo select (matches official raspberry pi micro sd card specs, microsd xc I, U3, A2, V30

Additional Information (if applicable)

Steps to reproduce

VNC’ing into dietpi after installing gnome and rebooting

Expected behaviour

Getting to a working desktop environment

Actual behaviour

image
image668×368 6.19 KB

Extra details

I’ve gotten this issue after installing Gnome - the weird thing is that Gnome works no problem on my Orange Pi, also running Gnome. I installed Gnome using ‘apt install gnome’ from Discover exciting X11 desktops for your DietPi - DietPi blog
The guide for this also includes ‘dietpi-autostart 16’ which references microblog.pub so I didn’t do that.
The weird thing is that it worked until my next restart.
I’m aware this isn’t an officially supported desktop environment so I ran ‘apt purge gnome’ and installed xfce through dietpi-software and rebooted but the issue persists.
This issue keeps cropping up across several reflashes of dietpi, I’ve been using ssh to manage the server for several months so I didn’t post here until I really needed a graphical environment

2

That’s a misunderstanding, dietpi-autostart 16 is the auto start option for LightDM login mask

    ●─ Local Terminal -------------------------●
 0  : Manual login (default)                    
 7  : Automatic login                           
    ●─ Desktops -------------------------------●
 16 : LightDM login mask                        
 2  : Automatic login                           
    ●─ Browser Kiosk --------------------------●
 11 : Chromium - Dedicated use without desktop  
    ●─ Media ----------------------------------●
 1  : Kodi                                      
 10 : CAVA Spectrum                             
    ●─ Gaming/Emulation -----------------------●
 6  : Amiberry fast boot                        
 8  : Amiberry standard boot                    
 9  : DXX-Rebirth - Descent 1/2                 
 4  : OpenTyrian                                
    ●─ Other ----------------------------------●
 14 : Custom script (background, no autologin)  
 17 : Custom script (foreground, with autologin)
 5  : DietPi-CloudShell

and has nothing to do with the software option 16 microblog.pub.

Anyway, I did a test an my RPi5 and got it working without issue

apt install gnome                 #Gnome
dietpi-software install 6         #X11
dietpi-software 28                #TigerVNC Server

As this is a headless system, I skipped the auto start option.

afterwards I was able to connect via VNC app from my windows desktop.

3

thanks joulinar, I reinstalled completely - I’m considering the hardware good since all of it has either been thoroughly tested on my flawless dietpi orange pi system or, in the case of the raspberry pi 5, freshly purchased.

the weird issue was that GNOME would work no problem but was permanently broken after restarting, but I’ll give it another try once I finish rebuilding my network (new hardware firewall to integrate) and try your suggestions