A GRUB2 Theme For Ubuntu 13.04

[dniMretsaM]

Update: At the suggestion of morgenstond, I'm working on styling the theme in a similar manner to the Unity greeter for LightDM. You can see the progress of that in post 16 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=12342307&postcount=16).

After installing openSUSE a while back and seeing the default GRUB2 theme, I thought that my favorite distribution, Ubuntu, needed it's own. So this is my attempt at theme that lives up to the high standard of the artwork for Ubuntu. It's not finished, but it's getting there. You can find the theme here (https://github.com/dniMretsaM/Ubuntu-GRUB2-Theme) on GitHub. I hope to get this theme into the final release of 13.04.

Todo List:

Add a drop shodow to the menu and the terminal window.

How To Use:
1) Clone the GitHub repository:

git clone git://github.com/dniMretsaM/Ubuntu-GRUB2-Theme.git2) Move the theme file:

cd Ubuntu-GRUB2-Theme/
sudo mkdir /usr/share/grub/themes
sudo cp --recursive ubuntu/ /usr/share/grub/themes/3) Add this line to /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_THEME=/usr/share/grub/themes/ubuntu/theme.txt4) Update GRUB's configuration:

sudo update-grubNotes:

Although I'm making this theme for 13.04, it will work on other versions. I have included a .xcf of the logo (13.04.xcf), so you can easily change it to be 12.10, or what ever other version you want.
The background image (background.png) is currently the default wallpaper from 12.10. The theme will use Raring's default when it's available later in the development cycle.
The resolution in the screen shot is 1024x768 (I can't get my VinrtualBox install to use 1366x768), but the theme is not resolution dependant. Also, ignore the grey line at the bottom, as that's from VB.

So yeah, feel free to try it out. Make suggestions, contribute graphics, whatever.


Enjoy,
dniMretsaM

[cecilpierce]

Thanks for the nice theme, just installed it...:)

[elliotn]

please can u post the logo xcf please

[Bucky Ball]

Thread moved to Ubuntu +1 (Raring Ringtail)


Looking good. Could you spare a thought for those with slow connections remove the screenshot from the body of your post, keeping the attachment? Cheers. :wink:

[cecilpierce]

please can u post the logo xcf please

There is a '13.04.xcf' file in the zip file, if that is what your lokking for.

[morgenstond]

Good initiative! I'd definitely like to say goodbye to the old-school look we have now.

I'd just like to suggest styling it in a similar fashion as the lightdm greeter is now. That way, there would be more consistency throughout.

(If so, then we could start to use the default wallpaper throughout the entire boot, which will look quite professional, especially when Wayland lands and there are no more mode switches during boot).

[cecilpierce]

Good initiative! I'd definitely like to say goodbye to the old-school look we have now.

I'd just like to suggest styling it in a similar fashion as the lightdm greeter is now. That way, there would be more consistency throughout.

(If so, then we could start to use the default wallpaper throughout the entire boot, which will look quite professional, especially when Wayland lands and there are no more mode switches during boot).

Big +1...:)

[dniMretsaM]

please can u post the logo xcf please

I'll add that as an attachment to the first post.


Thread moved to Ubuntu +1 (Raring Ringtail)

Thanks. I wasn't sure exactly where it belonged, so I went the safe route and put it in the Cafe.


Looking good. Could you spare a thought for those with slow connections remove the screenshot from the body of your post, keeping the attachment? Cheers. :wink:

Done. Didn't think of that, my bad.


I'd just like to suggest styling it in a similar fashion as the lightdm greeter is now. That way, there would be more consistency throughout.

Excellent idea. I guess I never thought of that because I just have the VM set to auto-login and I never see the DM screen. I'll see what I can do.

[morgenstond]

I'll add that as an attachment to the first post.



Thanks. I wasn't sure exactly where it belonged, so I went the safe route and put it in the Cafe.



Done. Didn't think of that, my bad.



Excellent idea. I guess I never thought of that because I just have the VM set to auto-login and I never see the DM screen. I'll see what I can do.

That would be very cool indeed! Thanks!

[GrubThemeArtist]

Thread moved to Ubuntu +1 (Raring Ringtail)


Looking good. Could you spare a thought for those with slow connections remove the screenshot from the body of your post, keeping the attachment? Cheers. :wink:

You could merge it with the GRUB Theme thread.

[GrubThemeArtist]

I'm going to help you out a bit. I've attached an installer script, the only thing you have to edit is the theme name. This was written by Towheed Mohammad here about a year ago. I know he has an updated version, but this one works just fine. I assume that you're going for a resolution independent theme, so the tweak I did to Towheed's installer should make it easier for your users to modify the resolution.

I'm also reading through your todo.
-Avoid scrollbars, they're more trouble than they're worth, and don't really add much to the theme. So set scrollbars to false.
-Make your terminal background larger (which is why it's not working). Grub doesn't like images smaller than 2x2.
-For the navigation label, I recommend creating it in Gimp and adding it like an image. You get the benefit of antialiasing.
-Also make your font larger.
-Your progress bar looks messed up because on the center piece you have a one pixel transparent border on the top and bottom.
-My personal preference is for text to not be on the progress bar, to do this you just set text = ""
-I'm not sure what your issue is with the 1024x768 resoluton is or with your selection images (doesn't stretch all the way?).
-If you want to add a drop shadow to the terminal and the menu, just reconstruct the full images in Gimp, combine them all, do a drop shad (Filters -> Light and Shadow -> Drop shadow),then cut them back up (you'll have to change some parameters in your theme.txt).
-When testing it the selection center part is completely missing. I don't know why that is.

[funicorn]

To be clear, are the font and background settings still effective when a grub theme is applied ?

[dniMretsaM]

I'm going to help you out a bit. I've attached an installer script, the only thing you have to edit is the theme name. This was written by Towheed Mohammad here about a year ago. I know he has an updated version, but this one works just fine. I assume that you're going for a resolution independent theme, so the tweak I did to Towheed's installer should make it easier for your users to modify the resolution.

I looked at the script from his GRUB theme guide, but it didn't work. The one you have attached, however, does. The thing is, the theme doesn't need anything specific for the different resolutions. Also, the script installs to /boot/grub/themes/, but Ubuntu, I believe, uses /usr/share/grub/themes/.


I'm also reading through your todo.
-Avoid scrollbars, they're more trouble than they're worth, and don't really add much to the theme. So set scrollbars to false.
-Make your terminal background larger (which is why it's not working). Grub doesn't like images smaller than 2x2.
-For the navigation label, I recommend creating it in Gimp and adding it like an image. You get the benefit of antialiasing.
-Also make your font larger.
-Your progress bar looks messed up because on the center piece you have a one pixel transparent border on the top and bottom.
-My personal preference is for text to not be on the progress bar, to do this you just set text = ""
-I'm not sure what your issue is with the 1024x768 resoluton is or with your selection images (doesn't stretch all the way?).
-If you want to add a drop shadow to the terminal and the menu, just reconstruct the full images in Gimp, combine them all, do a drop shad (Filters -> Light and Shadow -> Drop shadow),then cut them back up (you'll have to change some parameters in your theme.txt).
-When testing it the selection center part is completely missing. I don't know why that is.

It appears to me that you're not using the latest commit. The only item in the todo in the current commit is the drop shadow, which I'm probably going to work on tomorrow.


To be clear, are the font and background settings still effective when a grub theme is applied ?

The font is set by the theme. The background image is preempted by the theme, but the color is still used, but only in the terminal window (this theme is made to use Ubuntu's default GRUB color.

[elliotn]

After installing openSUSE a while back and seeing the default GRUB2 theme, I thought that my favorite distribution, Ubuntu, needed it's own. So this is my attempt at theme that lives up to the high standard of the artwork for Ubuntu. It's not finished, but it's getting there. You can find the theme here (https://github.com/dniMretsaM/Ubuntu-GRUB2-Theme) on GitHub. I hope to get this theme into the final release of 13.04.

Todo List:

Add a drop shodow to the menu and the terminal window.

How To Use:
1) Clone the GitHub repository:

git clone git://github.com/dniMretsaM/Ubuntu-GRUB2-Theme.git2) Move the theme file:

cd Ubuntu-GRUB2-Theme/
sudo mkdir /usr/share/grub/themes
sudo cp --recursive ubuntu/ /usr/share/grub/themes/3) Add this line to /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_THEME=/usr/share/grub/themes/ubuntu/theme.txt4) Update GRUB's configuration:

sudo update-grubNotes:

Although I'm making this theme for 13.04, it will work on other versions. I have included a .xcf of the logo (13.04.xcf), so you can easily change it to be 12.10, or what ever other version you want.
The background image (background.png) is currently the default wallpaper from 12.10. The theme will use Raring's default when it's available later in the development cycle.
The resolution in the screen shot is 1024x768 (I can't get my VinrtualBox install to use 1366x768), but the theme is not resolution dependant. Also, ignore the grey line at the bottom, as that's from VB.

So yeah, feel free to try it out. Make suggestions, contribute graphics, whatever.


Enjoy,
dniMretsaM

thanks m8

[GrubThemeArtist]

I looked at the script from his GRUB theme guide, but it didn't work. The one you have attached, however, does. The thing is, the theme doesn't need anything specific for the different resolutions. Also, the script installs to /boot/grub/themes/, but Ubuntu, I believe, uses /usr/share/grub/themes/.

Ubuntu reads from /boot/grub/themes. :)
My tweak just lets the user adjust his resolution or else it would just keep the resolution grub already had. Also, Towheed updated the script last night to reflect some changes for Grub 2.00. We have a grub theme thread and you can find it at the end.




It appears to me that you're not using the latest commit. The only item in the todo in the current commit is the drop shadow, which I'm probably going to work on tomorrow.


I was tired last night and was reading your Completed list like it was part of the todo. :P

I was still having some odd behavior though.

[dniMretsaM]

Ok, so in the unity-greeter-style branch, there is the beginning of a theme that will hopefully look like the Unity Greeter for LightDM (screen shot attached). A few things to note. Due to the limitations on GRUB theming, I don't think it's possible to do have the boot menu stay in place while the options scroll though it like the login window does in the greeter. I'm also not sure if I can do the dots on the wallpaper. I could put it on the wallpaper directly, but then it would be resolution dependent, which I don't want. If anybody knows how I could accomplish this, let me know.


Ubuntu reads from /boot/grub/themes. :)
My tweak just lets the user adjust his resolution or else it would just keep the resolution grub already had. Also, Towheed updated the script last night to reflect some changes for Grub 2.00. We have a grub theme thread and you can find it at the end.

I guess it can technically read from anywhere that you point GRUB_THEME. And I'll take a look at the updated script, though the one you posted seems to work just fine.


I was tired last night and was reading your Completed list like it was part of the todo. :P

I was still having some odd behavior though.

What issues are you having? Still a problem with the selection center image?

[morgenstond]

Ok, so in the unity-greeter-style branch, there is the beginning of a theme that will hopefully look like the Unity Greeter for LightDM (screen shot attached). A few things to note. Due to the limitations on GRUB theming, I don't think it's possible to do have the boot menu stay in place while the options scroll though it like the login window does in the greeter. I'm also not sure if I can do the dots on the wallpaper. I could put it on the wallpaper directly, but then it would be resolution dependent, which I don't want. If anybody knows how I could accomplish this, let me know.



I guess it can technically read from anywhere that you point GRUB_THEME. And I'll take a look at the updated script, though the one you posted seems to work just fine.



What issues are you having? Still a problem with the selection center image?

Wow, you work fast! That's looking quite nice already! I'm very curious to see how closely you'll be able to mimic the unity greeter in the end.
Have you thought about contacting the designers to try and get their feedback on this undertaking? They may have some invaluable ideas, and I guess that would be the first step in eventually getting this in as default.

[dniMretsaM]

Wow, you work fast! That's looking quite nice already! I'm very curious to see how closely you'll be able to mimic the unity greeter in the end.
Have you thought about contacting the designers to try and get their feedback on this undertaking? They may have some invaluable ideas, and I guess that would be the first step in eventually getting this in as default.

Thanks! And I plan on contacting them, I just wanted to make sure I could get something that is at least fairly similar so as to not waste their valuable time.

[serdotlinecho]

I totally want this. Even though i'm not dual booting...beautiful and sleek!

[dniMretsaM]

The theme now uses Raring's default wallpaper. I'll update the thread with a screenshot soon.

[cecilpierce]

Just installed the new theme, looks nice.
Wish someone would make icons for all distros, I made a few but its a pain when your not an expert..:P

[TREESofRIGHTEOUSNESS]

#ubuntu-design

I posted this webpage on there, This really needs to occur in ringtail. With as smooth as unity is running, it would be great to have a complete beautiful experience

[AestheticArson]

Thank you very much for this theme! It looks good. I'm running Ubuntu 12.10, and was able to install quick without any problems.

My first suggestion for you is to either increase the terminal window's width and height, it seemed very small especially with the default font for the terminal window.
The second suggestion would be to change the default font that you have for the terminal window, I noticed that the underscore "_" doesn't show up after being input.

Besides that it's awesome! Thank you very much.

[morgenstond]

Has there been any word on getting this in by default from the powers that be?

[pqwoerituytrueiwoq]

Now that is a nice theme, any chance of a xubuntu version? (just change the background and change 'Ubuntu' to 'xubuntu')
almost makes me want to change the timeout on my menu just to see it

[pqwoerituytrueiwoq]

Why can't i get the partedmagic icon to work? all of my other icons work???

~$ ls -l /media/chad/10A9-AFCE/boot/grub/themes/ubuntu/icons/
total 1440
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 65909 Mar 13 20:27 arch.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 17205 Mar 13 21:53 dban.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 65909 Mar 13 20:27 debian.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 4283 Mar 13 20:27 fedora.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 65909 Mar 13 20:27 gentoo.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 29156 Mar 13 21:49 gnomeubuntu.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 395473 Mar 13 20:27 gnu-linux.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 37643 Mar 13 20:27 kubuntu.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 65946 Mar 13 20:27 linuxmint.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 7380 Mar 13 20:27 lubuntu.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 16087 Mar 13 20:27 mandrivalinux.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 141927 Mar 13 20:27 opensuse.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 7777 Mar 13 20:27 osx.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 4449 Apr 20 23:21 partedmagic.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 8631 Mar 13 20:27 recovery.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 23422 Mar 13 20:27 sabayon.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 214373 Mar 13 20:27 slackware.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 40292 Mar 13 20:27 submenu.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 8852 Mar 13 20:27 ubuntu.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 17049 Mar 13 20:27 windows.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 chad chad 11882 Mar 13 20:27 xubuntu.png
http://pastebin.com/YVXSdkbN - partedmagic's entry is on line 66

to make my partedmagic.png

wget http://partedmagic.com/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=logo.gif -O /tmp/logo.gif
convert /tmp/logo.gif /tmp/partedmagic.png
echo "open /tmp and get you will see the png file"

[Baldrick_NZ]

Update: At the suggestion of morgenstond, I'm working on styling the theme in a similar manner to the Unity greeter for LightDM. You can see the progress of that in post 16 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=12342307&postcount=16).

After installing openSUSE a while back and seeing the default GRUB2 theme, I thought that my favorite distribution, Ubuntu, needed it's own. So this is my attempt at theme that lives up to the high standard of the artwork for Ubuntu. It's not finished, but it's getting there. You can find the theme here (https://github.com/dniMretsaM/Ubuntu-GRUB2-Theme) on GitHub. I hope to get this theme into the final release of 13.04.

Todo List:

Add a drop shodow to the menu and the terminal window.

How To Use:
1) Clone the GitHub repository:

git clone git://github.com/dniMretsaM/Ubuntu-GRUB2-Theme.git2) Move the theme file:

cd Ubuntu-GRUB2-Theme/
sudo mkdir /usr/share/grub/themes
sudo cp --recursive ubuntu/ /usr/share/grub/themes/3) Add this line to /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_THEME=/usr/share/grub/themes/ubuntu/theme.txt4) Update GRUB's configuration:

sudo update-grubNotes:

Although I'm making this theme for 13.04, it will work on other versions. I have included a .xcf of the logo (13.04.xcf), so you can easily change it to be 12.10, or what ever other version you want.
The background image (background.png) is currently the default wallpaper from 12.10. The theme will use Raring's default when it's available later in the development cycle.
The resolution in the screen shot is 1024x768 (I can't get my VinrtualBox install to use 1366x768), but the theme is not resolution dependant. Also, ignore the grey line at the bottom, as that's from VB.

So yeah, feel free to try it out. Make suggestions, contribute graphics, whatever.


Enjoy,
dniMretsaM

I really love the concept of this! Looks totally professional.

The only thing, which I think is a bug, is once I've timed out (or made my selection and entered enter), I get a large terminal-like box which centres itself in the middle of my screen pretty much blocking out your excellent work! It actually looks like some sort of splash screen, but entirely blue, with no writing on it.

Removing the 'terminal.png' and associated font from the theme.txt file helps, but doesn't remove it altogether.

Is there anyway to remove this completely?

Keep up the awesome work!!
heers.
C

[edkmho]

Great theme. Thanks.

I am experiencing the same issue with the big square poping up after selecting the OS. Would appreciate if you could help.

Many thanks.

[disPlay]

The theme looks great. Thanks

[ruffxl]

Great work, Keep it up
And Thanks! :D

[Cavsfan]

Not intending to steal anyone's thunder but, the green link in my signature does this.
I change the picture and the font colors once in a while. Other than that it never has to be touched unless you install or delete an OS.
Here is a picture of my current Grub2 screen in Raring:

243240

You pretty much just have to point each entry to the correct partition e.g. sda2 for each OS.


cavsfan@cavsfan-MS-7529:~$ grep -e "menuentry " -e "submenu" /boot/grub/grub.cfg | sed 's/^[ \t]*//' | cut -d "'" -f1,2 | nl --starting-line-number=0
0 menuentry "Precise Pangolin 12.04" {
1 menuentry "Precise Pangolin 12.04 (Recovery Mode)" {
2 menuentry "Quantal Quetzal 12.10" {
3 menuentry "Quantal Quetzal 12.10 (Recovery Mode)" {
4 menuentry "Raring Ringtail 13.04" {
5 menuentry "Raring Ringtail 13.04 (Recovery Mode)" {
6 menuentry "Saucy Salamander 13.10" {
7 menuentry "Saucy Salamander 13.10 (Recovery Mode)" {
8 menuentry "Linux Mint 14 Nadia" {
9 menuentry "Linux Mint 14 Nadia (Recovery Mode)" {
10 menuentry "Windows 7" {