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I tried running Node RED after I tried to install another node red because I didn't know that I needed to copy the IP address on the console and type it in the search bar (I might be wrong; I'm still very new to the Raspberry Pi) but when the console lists that it removed the preinstalled Node RED it won't install Node.js LTS.

Now I can't get into the pre installed Node RED; it says:

Invalid desktop entry file: '/usr/share/applications/Node-RED.desktop'.

How can I resolve this error?

menu://applications/Development/Node-RED.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Node-RED
Comment=Flow based application composer for the Internet of Things
Icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/apps/node-red-icon.svg
Exec=node-red-start
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Terminal=true
Categories=Development;
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  • Could you open up /usr/share/applications/Node-RED.desktop and edit in the contents in to your post? It sounds like there's something wrong with it, and you can probably just fix it by hand as soon as we find the problem. – Aurora0001 Jan 6 '18 at 10:38
  • [Desktop Entry] Name=Node-RED Comment=Flow based application composer for the Internet of Things Icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/apps/node-red-icon.svg Exec=node-red-start Type=Application Encoding=UTF-8 Terminal=true Categories=Development; This is what it gave me when i used the cat command on the file – user78917 Jan 6 '18 at 17:59
  • You should edit that into your post instead of in a comment; the formatting in comments makes it a little hard to read because comments can only be one line. – Aurora0001 Jan 6 '18 at 18:01
  • However, try running node-red-start from your terminal too. I suspect you get an error — correct? – Aurora0001 Jan 6 '18 at 18:04
  • yes, i get an error – user78917 Jan 6 '18 at 18:15
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It sounds like Node RED isn't installed properly after all. Your .desktop file is throwing an error because node-red-start doesn't exist (not because the .desktop file is in any way invalid or corrupt).

I'm not sure exactly what steps you've done so far, so it might be easier to start with a fresh Raspbian image and follow along with the official instructions. Node RED is preinstalled in the Raspbian image (for any version later than November 2015), so you can just use that. It'll be a little out of date, though, so you should also run:

update-nodejs-and-nodered

to update to the latest Node RED. You'll then be able to use it (either from the menu or the terminal) without any issues.

If you don't want to try the 'nuclear' option of wiping your SD card and starting from scratch, you'll need to reverse all the extra steps you did, and then follow the installation instructions given on their website. That said, I personally would just start with a new image, because it avoids any potential problems that could be caused by the broken Node RED install you currently have.

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  • 1
    Ok, thank you, i might just go for the nuclear option because i haven't done any projects anyway. – user78917 Jan 6 '18 at 18:21

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