Plymouth splash screen basics

[Jechem]

If the plymouth is not accepted it defaults into a blank screen.

Just choose the default ubuntu logo plymouth for now see if it works.

Most of the fixes require setting a different resolution based on the big and ugly ubuntu plymouth(link on my signature).

Usually my simple plymouth script works with nvidia graphics cards. That's the simplest I could make. Sorry.

[dredmal]

The default plymouth ubuntu logo is working and has been showing since I resolved my black screen issue at first.

I followed the link in your signature but it doesn't seem to match my issue. My resolution seems fine, but I can't change the image.

Are you suggesting that I try to change the resolution anyway?

[Jechem]

no don't change the resolution if it is working properly for you.

[Jechem]

you can give this a try:

http://internauta2000.deviantart.com...lash-174707078

it's a nice plymouth theme i use.

[Krytarik]

Actually, even if there were issues with your video card, with the splash theme set to "manual", there were either (a) graphical glitches, (b) the splash wouldn't load at all, or (c) Plymouth crashes while trying to do so.

To really rule out the video, install the splash "ubuntu-text" and try it:

sudo apt-get install plymouth-theme-ubuntu-text

And, more importantly, please post the outputs of these commands, after selecting anything else than "ubuntu-logo":

ls -al /lib/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth
ls -al /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth

Also, you could try reinstalling "plymouth":

sudo apt-get install --reinstall plymouth

[dredmal]

you can give this a try:

http://internauta2000.deviantart.com...lash-174707078

i personally don't see how trying this theme will help me when i've tried 3 other themes, i'm going to avoid this suggestion without understanding how it can help me solve and understand my problem

@krytarik how will installing a text theme rule out video? i'm fine with doing this but i'd like to understand what i'm doing before i do it.
after i install the text theme how do i go back to the way it was before?

what do the ls -al commands do?

also, can reinstalling plymouth put me at risk of not being able to boot? what are the risks of reinstalling?

sorry i'm not trying to be hard headed i am simply afraid of blindly entering these commands with no idea of what the outcome could be. i've had alot of problems just trying to accomplish a simple task and i'm trying to take caution and learn more in the process

[Krytarik]

i personally don't see how trying this theme will help me when i've tried 3 other themes, i'm going to avoid this suggestion without understanding how it can help me solve and understand my problem

I wouldn't do that either.

@krytarik how will installing a text theme rule out video? i'm fine with doing this but i'd like to understand what i'm doing before i do it.

Jechem pointed to the possibility of insufficient driver combatibility. But we know that the default splash runs just fine (with the framebuffer workaround). So, to be sure that its really not related to a driver issue, we need to try one splash theme that is either comparable with the default splash, or is even more simple, in terms of graphics.

after i install the text theme how do i go back to the way it was before?

Just by running the commands you already know too good.

what do the ls -al commands do?

They just list the specified files, with all details, in our case the interesting part is their symlink target. At my system the output is this:

krytarik@krytarik-desktop:~$ ls -al /lib/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 34 2011-04-04 16:27 /lib/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth -> /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth
krytarik@krytarik-desktop:~$ ls -al /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 53 2011-04-04 16:27 /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth -> /lib/plymouth/themes/ubuntu-logo/ubuntu-logo.plymouth

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal

also, can reinstalling plymouth put me at risk of not being able to boot? what are the risks of reinstalling?

No, not really. Plymouth is really just the boot splash, one could even disable/remove it at all without affecting the wider system.

sorry i'm not trying to be hard headed i am simply afraid of blindly entering these commands with no idea of what the outcome could be. i've had alot of problems just trying to accomplish a simple task and i'm trying to take caution and learn more in the process

I do understand this, and I'm perfectly fine with it. A lot of people are spewing out commands here without even knowing for theirselves what they do, obviously.

[dredmal]

i ran the provided command to install the text theme and then ran
sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth in order to select it as my theme but it is not listed as an option

do i have to use another method to use this theme?

[Krytarik]

i ran the provided command to install the text theme and then ran
sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth in order to select it as my theme but it is not listed as an option

I was thinking -based on some guides about package based install- that it runs the install command itself, apparently not. And I didn't remember what I needed to do to install it. So, just install it manually as an alternative, like the others:

sudo update-alternatives --install /lib/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth default.plymouth /lib/plymouth/themes/ubuntu-text/ubuntu-text.plymouth 100

It seems like it's because it usually serves as fallback option, and is installed to another alternative list, "text.plymouth".

[dredmal]

I got the text theme installed ran the config to select it and ran the initramfs command and rebooted. it still looks the same

But i did notice one piece of information that I incorrectly stated before. What I was calling the ubuntu logo was actually just the text 'ubuntu 10.10' I'm rather embarrassed that I didn't notice that before. It still has the pink background and the red/white dots but the logo itself is plain text, not an image. I'm terribly sorry for any time this oversight may have wasted.

Does this mean I have been using a text theme the entire time? Does this point to the resolution issue? Should I reinstall plymouth?

Sorry once again for making such a silly mistake in my observation. I expect more from myself and I believe I have simply been glazing over when I see that pink color everytime I think I fixed it.