Howto : GfxBoot ( Grub like suse )

[PingunZ]

Gfxboot makes grub look nicer but with the same features
In this howto you will install gfxboot and a suse theme for it, soon I'll make an ubuntu one
Ok, let's start

Download the grub-gfxboot.deb
And the message.suse

First remove your old grub

sudo apt-get remove grub

Then Install the gfxboot-grub

sudo dpkg -i grub-gfxboot_0.97-5_i386.deb

then we're going to move the message

sudo cp message.suse /boot/grub/ # the suse can be replaced by the one you downloaded

Then edit your menu.lst

sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst_backup
sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

and make it use gfxboot

gfxmenu /boot/grub/message.suse # the suse can be replaced

Then do :

sudo grub

grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
 (hdx,y) # this will be the output
grub> root (hdx,y)
grub> setup (hdx)

-- Howto make you own theme --

mkdir /home/name/whatever
cpio -i < /boot/grub/message.suse # replace it by the name of you message
edit the pictures
sudo ls . |cpio -o > /boot/grub/message.new

Reboot and enjoy
Thanks to Quasar_freak and kno

here are some themes posted in this thread ( ty )

Light Green generic theme [message.gobo] | Link | Screenshot
Dark Brown (Dapper look) generic theme [message.new] | Link | Screenshot
Medium blue kubuntu theme [message.kubuntu] | Link | Screenshot
Dark grey ubuntu theme [message.ubugrey] | Link | Screenshot
Medium brown ubuntu theme [message.ububrown] | Link | Screenshot
Light orange ubuntu theme [message.ubu] | Link | Screenshot
Red ubuntu theme [message.new] | Link | Screenshot
Fuzzy blue and black ubuntu theme [message.bluspash] | Link | Screenshot
White / Grey Snowish generic theme [message.snow] | Link | Screenshot
Linspire-style blue kubuntu theme [message.kubu] | Link | Screenshot
Old- Grub style dark blue and light blue [message.kubu] | Link | Screenshot
Light blue / grey Xubuntu theme [message.xubu] | Link | Screenshot[/quote]


Grtz PingunZ

[bohboh]

Originally Posted by PingunZ Then install it grub-install /dev/X Then do : sudo fdisk -l and if it talks about hda replace X with hda, if it talks about sda ...

Sorry, first thicko question...

Do you mean that we should do "sudo fdisk -l" then with the result of that command do "grub-install /dev/hda" or "grub-install /dev/sda"

If so then your guide suggests to do "grub-install /dev/X" first. Being a newcomer i really down want to mess up my grub installation and so want to be sure.

[PingunZ]

yes, if fdisk tells you about sda you should replace the X with sda
so /dev/sda
same thing for hda
fdisk has nothing to do with grub, its just for you to know if you got sda or hda

Grtz PingunZ

[PingunZ]

Any comments ?

[kno]

Hello,

The command grub-install doesn't work for me, instead I do :

grub
> root (hd0,0)
> setup (hd0)

Now, it runs very well.

Thanks for this howto.

PS: I use the theme GoboGrub.

[PingunZ]

Ty kno, I changed it

Grtz PingunZ

[bohboh]

Originally Posted by PingunZ Ty kno, I changed it Grtz PingunZ

Here is my fdisk -l output:

Disk /dev/sda: 203.9 GB, 203928109056 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24792 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6375    51207156    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            6376       24791   147926520    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5            6376       12748    51191091    b  W95 FAT32
/dev/sda6           12749       24791    96735366    7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 81.9 GB, 81964302336 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9964 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1        9964    80035798+   7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/hdc: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdc1   *           1        9351    75111876   83  Linux
/dev/hdc2            9352        9729     3036285    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hdc5            9352        9729     3036253+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

What is my boot disk?

I tried root (sda1,0) and got an parse number error.

[kno]

Originally Posted by bohboh Here is my fdisk -l output: ... What is my boot disk? I tried root (sda1,0) and got an parse number error.

You should try :

sudo grub
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
 (hdx,y)
grub> root (hdx,y)
grub> setup (hdx)

[d3x7r0]

hum... I tried the how to but my grub still looks exactly the same as it did before... did I do something wrong?

[bohboh]

Cool, thanks Kno, that worked. Kind of. Turned out that i needed to run grub as root (sudo).

Problem is that i followed the guide and rebooted, still the old boot menu.

Erm, I:

1. Downloaded the files
2. Uninstalled grub
3. Installed debs
4. Copied file to /boot/grub
5. Added line to menu.lst (added it at the very top, i.e. line 1)
6. Entered the Grub commands
7. Rebooted

Did i miss a step?