Splash bootloader

[DaCalebMan]

Hi guys,

sorry I've been away for so long, internet has been down...
Just wanted to ask, I have had an 'undefined video number problem' (click here)
which D-cat helped me with, everything worked fine, but the splash boot-loader that says 'Ubuntu' on it, has moved to the top left corner. How do I change this?

Thanks! Caleb.

[robertdaleweir]

Hi guys,

sorry I've been away for so long, internet has been down...
Just wanted to ask, I have had an 'undefined video number problem' (click here)
which D-cat helped me with, everything worked fine, but the splash boot-loader that says 'Ubuntu' on it, has moved to the top left corner. How do I change this?

Thanks! Caleb.

Hi
It is possible that your splash image under your 'grub' directory is corrupted and needs to be restored. One approach might be as set out below:
Ubuntu Tips and Tricks

Add a Splash Image to (K)Ubuntu Bootloader
How to add a splash image to Ubuntu Grub.


By Mihai Marinof, Linux Editor

19th of February 2007, 12:07 GMT

Adjust text size:

The splash image is an image shown in the background, while GRUB displays the list of operating systems available for booting. Unfortunately, Kubuntu has no splash image set by default, which might be upsetting for some people. The good news is, however, that setting a Grub splash image is a rather easy process and anyone with Gimp installed OR ImageMagick should be able to do it.

First of all, you'll need an image. Search the web for a nice image with your distribution's logo or any other image, or open-up Gimp and do it yourself. However, pay attention to the image's resolution, because Grub needs a 640x480 image and we don't want to end-up with a deformed image. Therefore, only search for images with a resolution of 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 etc.



Create the image

Method 1 - ImageMagick:

- Once you found an image, assuming it's called splash.png and you have ImageMagick installed, open a terminal, change directory to where the image is located and run the following command:
CODE
$ cd /path/to/where/splash.png/is/located
$ convert -resize 640x480 -colors 14 splash.png splash.xpm && gzip splash.xpm


Method 2 - Gimp:

- Start Gimp
- Go to File / New (or type Ctrl + N)
- In the Create New Image dialog, choose a 640px Width and 480px Height
- Create the image you'd like to use as splash image. Experiment with Gimp tools or load (open as layer) an image and edit it.
- When you're done, go to Image / Mode / Indexed, select optimal palette, 14 maximum colors and click OK.
- Finally, right click on the image, select File / Save as and choose the name 'splash.xpm' for the image. Save it in a directory of your choice.
- Open a terminal, change dir to that directory:
CODE
$ cd /where/you/saved/splash.xpm

- And add it into an archive:
CODE
$ gzip splash.xpm


Configure GRUB to display the splash image

- Now, create a grub directory and move the splash image to it:
CODE
$ chmod 644 splash.xpm.gz
$ sudo mkdir /boot/grub/splashimages
$ sudo cp splash.xpm.gz /boot/grub/splashimages

- Back-up the current Grub menu.lst:
CODE
$ sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst.old

- Finally, open menu.lst in a text editor and add the following line at the top of the file:
CODE
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splashimages/splash.xpm.gz

NOTE! Check if the numbers between the brackets are THE SAME as the kernel you normally choose from the Grub list at boot time. Scroll down the menu.lst file and find the kernel normally used. Look at root directive to check the numbers in the brackets and then look at the kernel directive and check if there's a /boot/directory before vmlinuz. If there isn't, delete it from the splashimage also:
CODE
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splashimages/linuxinside.xpm.gz

- Save the menu.lst file and reboot. If everything worked out well, Grub should display the new splash image.

This guide should work on any Linux distribution using GRUB as the boot manager. However, alternatively, for (K)Ubuntu, you can install the following packages:
CODE
Ubuntu:
$ sudo apt-get install grub-splashimages

or

CODE
Kubuntu
$ sudo apt-get install kubuntu-grub-splashimages

After the package has been installed, check the /boot/grub/menu.lst file to see if the splashimage directive has been correctly added.
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Cheers...
Robert

[DaCalebMan]

Sorry!

I must have confused you, because I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing.


You know, after grub loads, it shows a picture of Ubuntu in large letters with a progress bar underneath it, and once it loads it takes you to GDM. That what I meant.

But after I made changes to get rid of the 'Undefined video number' screen, it appears in the top left corner instead of center.

How do I change this?

Thanks anyway!

~Caleb

[robertdaleweir]

Sorry!

I must have confused you, because I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing.


You know, after grub loads, it shows a picture of Ubuntu in large letters with a progress bar underneath it, and once it loads it takes you to GDM. That what I meant.

But after I made changes to get rid of the 'Undefined video number' screen, it appears in the top left corner instead of center.

How do I change this?

Thanks anyway!

~Caleb

I am not currently running Ubuntu but rather Fedora. If you have the original install disk and start a new install, but pick upgrade instead of install, it should reinstall anything that might have changed from the original. This may help but barring that I cannot help you further. Cheers...
Robert

[devils casper]

Post the contents of /boot/grub/menu.lst file here.

[D-cat]

Actually, I think Robert's on the right track. The screen with the progress bar is the boot-splash. It comes expecting a certain size screen (I think it's 800x600, but I don't really know), and when you change the framebuffer resolution to something higher, it still draws from point (0,0) on up to the image size, making it appear in the upper left-hand corner. Resizing the splash image to your actual screen resolution size may fix thie issue. (not sure how that'll affect the progress bar though)

I'm the olde-fashioned type; I don't use the boot-splash (I've removed "splash" from the kernel options) so I can see exactly what's going on when.

[DaCalebMan]

Sorry! I don't know what I'm doing anymore...

Here's the file anyway: