Hi,
The packages I added to get the right finish install result are listed in the Synaptic logs. They must be at the very beginning, if you look from the Synaptic menu > File > History, the first ones are at the very bottom.
The packages I may have installed more or less the first are related to gnome-desktop, and I also remember having installed matchbox, because at that time, looking into the smallest mini I had succeeded to do by stripping an Openbox version, I was in a wonder what "matchbox" seen in /usr/share was doing in the system, so I looked the description of the package and thought it might have something to do with the look or icons... not sure at all, needed in the last stage of reboot.
Ending several times on an XDM login without having been invited to create a user account was somehow deceiving... looking at the logs and at the date the first one came out, was 4 days. It's not that important I think, but if there is one package I'm sure is not useful and can get rid of without hurting the system, that can be nice.
I this means using lots of time figuring out, then it should not be digged. It's not that important I think.