Official 7" screen goes to blinking cursor after setup

This sounds similar to others posts, but not identical so here I go.

1. Pi 3b+
2. Fresh install of RpiOS 32bit from 4-4-22 flashed to 16GB using official Rpi Imager
3. LCD is powered separately from Rpm because I was having under voltage issues
4. Rpi booted, went through initial setup, connected to wifi, did location, created account, etc. I did NOT do any updates at that time.
5. Rebooted, boot looked clean, then blinking white cursor.
6. Online it was recommended I check to see if x was running with a alt-ctrl-f1,2,3 etc (I think that was the combo).
7. I would show a command prompt as I would have expected if I was doing no-GUI, but just for a second when I did F1.
8. This tells me there is a problem loading X or something, right? 9 Disconnnected the LCD ribbon cable, and connected via HDMI to a TV, and it works perfect, Desktop loads, works great.
9. I'm sure it is something small I'm missing, a resolution issue, something.

thank you!