RPi 4B - No Desktop Icons

Standard vanilla Gmoccapy 2.9.4, 3-axis turret mill, no internet connection,
Has operated fine, no problems, no faults, for quite some time,

Now it powers up with a blue screen devoid of icons,
Can still launch with/Applications/Accessories/LinuxCNC/drop-down-dialog-box/Gmoccapy/.

Web search tells me the absence of desktop icons is normal for Debian 12 Gnome desktop.
Also found a Gnome extension, "desktop-icons-ng", that can be applied to add the icons.

Will I break something if I attempt to apply this extension ?

Is there a better way ?

Thanks,
John.

Is it possible that you have accidentally switched to a different "workspace"?

Andy,
Thanks for the suggestion, but all the workspaces are devoid of icons.

My post was only to alert the RPi developers in case there is something deeper going on.

I plan to re-install LC 2.9.4 from my back-up to see if that cures the problem.
Then, perhaps, try LC 2.9.8.

Thanks
John.

The standard 4b installer should install the xfce desktop.

The gnome-desktop is empty by default until you find stuff in the search bar and add it. I have not run it for years (last was on bullseye) but it was a bit daunting!

Sounds like something has gone wrong....

You could choose a desktop if you
sudo apt update
sudo apt install tasksel
sudo tasksel