Since Splashy is no longer part of the package tree for Debian, I decided to give usplash a go.
Its the same splash loaded that Ubuntu use, and it works quite nicely on my Ubuntu desktop machine at work.
I run Debian testing (its not THAT bad.. sheesh)
I needed it for my MythTV, for WAF (Wife approval factor).
If anyone has a nice MythTV style boot image, please do send it on.
So here’s what I’ve got so far…
update your apt packages
apt-get update
install usplash and a theme from the debian packages
apt-get install usplash usplash-theme-debian
Now you need to create a working directory, and a fifo for usplash
mkdir /var/lib/usplash mkfifo /var/lib/usplash/usplash_fifo
Then you’ll have to rebuild your initrd with all the usplash bits in it
dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-$(uname -r)
and if you don’t have an initrd, you’ll have to create one
mkinitramfs -k -o /boot/initrd.img-$(uname -r)
I was using grub as my bootloaded, which I think is the default, so this should suffice for all.
You’ll need to edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst in your favourite editor
vi /boot/grub/menu.lst
Look for the section where your current kernel is booted. I’ve added the vga=788 quiet splash, as below
You’ll need to add these to your default kernel options.
# defoptions=vga=788 quiet splash
The # infront is important. That line isn’t processed by grub, its processed by update-grub. So that when you run the command below, it automatically adds those options to all your kernel boot options.
Then, update the grub settings
update-grub
With any luck, everything will just work after a reboot.
If not, a few things might happen.
If you see nothing, and you’re quite sure it should have booted by now, try booting into your failsafe kernel, then troubleshoot
If it tells you that you’ve got an invalid VGA mode, pick one from the list provided and see if it works. Remember the number that you picked, and update your /boot/grub/menu.lst with it. Don’t forget to update-grub
If you’re wanting to do a little customisation, and maybe create your own themes for booting, this Ubuntu guide has instructions which will work out for Debian too