Hannes Worst, Eriefisher, and myself have been playing with fbsplash as you may have seen in the"Screenshots" portion of the forum. I have developed an antiX theme for fbsplash that is ready for download. The download link is at the bottom of this post.

In"simple" mode, Fbsplash limits the rolling boot text and produces a progress bar that moves across the bottom of the screen. Hitting F2 will take you to the complete rolling boot text (verbose mode) if you desire. Fbsplash is also supposed to default to verbose upon an error message.

In simple mode (with"fadein, fadeout" listed in /boot/grub/menu.lst ...see below) the screen gradually gets lighter and fades out at the end of the boot. I chose to spiff up the stock antiX globe by taking a NASA image of the earth at night, mapping it to a sphere, rotating it to center Africa and Greece, and placing a light/flare effect over Greece (the birthplace of antiX). The fadein effect causes the light to increase in brightness lending a nice effect to the splash image.



The natural_antiX theme also includes verbose images. We currently have been unable to get verbose mode to work with these images. Maybe you can be the one that helps us in that regard. Verbose will be without images...the standard rolling boot text.

I also have a revamped grub screen in the works that will incorporate these graphics and create a more seamless transition through the boot process.

FBSPLASH HOW-TO

1. To your /etc/apt/sources.list add"deb
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/fbsplash/debian/splashutils"
linktext was:"ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/fbsplash/debian/splashutils"
====================================
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false sid contrib". The source appears to only contain fbsplash related tools so it is probably safe to leave it uncommented after downloading fbsplash.

2. apt-get update (or open synaptic and"reload")

3. apt-get install splashutils (or utilize synaptic to do the same). Splashutils contains all the necessary files for fbsplash and will also add the necessary miscsplashutils.

4. Download the natural_antix fbsplash theme. Extract it to /etc/splash. You should have a natural_antix folder and a font file....luxisri.ttf

5. Open etc/splash/splash with Geany or preferred editor. Look for the following lines, and edit & uncomment the last line to reflect your chosen theme name...as shown below.

# Which theme to use, probably best left commented out (the theme
# specified on the kernel command line is used).
SPLASH_THEME="natural_antix"

6. Open /boot/grub/menu.lst with Geany or preferred editor. Choose the kernel you are currently using. For most this might be:

title MEPIS at sda1, kernel 2.6.27-1-mepis-smp
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-1-mepis-smp root=/dev/sda1 nomce quiet splash vga=791 resume=/dev/sda2
boot

For me it is:

title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.28-2.slh.1-sidux-686
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-2.slh.1-sidux-686 root=UUID=a81b8902-fd65-4656-840f-aef32f62a82b ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-2.slh.1-sidux-686

Add the following to the end of the kernel line: splash=silent,fadein,fadeout,theme:natural_antix quiet CONSOLE=/dev/tty1 vga=791

In my case the kernel line looks like this:

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-2.slh.1-sidux-686 root=UUID=a81b8902-fd65-4656-840f-aef32f62a82b ro splash=silent,fadein,fadeout,theme:natural_antix quiet CONSOLE=/dev/tty1 vga=791

If you are using a resolution other than 1024x768 you may need to change the vga=791 value if the fbsplash screen is the wrong resolution. See this website,
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gensplash"
linktext was:"http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gensplash"
====================================
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false, and scroll down to the"Table of vga= values" heading.

7. In terminal, su to root and type the following command: update-initramfs -u

8. Re boot to check if fbsplash is working correctly.

DOWNLOAD

You can download the natural_antiX fbsplash theme at:
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?0m2ymzfyowu"
linktext was:"http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?0m2ymzfyowu"
====================================

nice. i'll give it a try after the weekend. OTB in antix boot something goes fail on every boot that means that it will drop in verbose mode? if i remember right the usb allready beeing mounted. need to check

edit: it wants to remove kbd is that ok ?
also in your kernel line is simple to add the text for splash. but in the default mepis, all remains the same? 2 vga=791?
could you tell what to remove and what to let in the boot line, please?
thanks.

title MEPIS at sda1, kernel 2.6.27-1-mepis-smp
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-1-mepis-smp root=/dev/sda1 nomce quiet splash vga=791 resume=/dev/sda2
boot

Impuwat:

Thanks for the detailed instructions and also thanks to you, Hannes Woorst and Erie for your work on this.

I tried it and got a few errors during boot and then a blank screen before getting to slim.

I figured I did something stupid with the kernel boot line. Here's how mine looks:

title MEPIS at hda1, kernel 2.6.27-1-mepis-smp
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-1-mepis-smp root=/dev/hda1 nomce splash=silent,fadein,fadeout,theme:natural_antix quiet CONSOLE=/dev/tty1 vga=791


Is it the nomce? Should I have removed nomce and paste the splash stuff after it?

thanks. It looks great and I hope I get it to work.

Best regards,
Pedro

Thanks Impuwat,

I don't think it's necessary to have both /etc/splash/splash and /boot/grub/menu.lst reflect the splash info. I just use the menu.lst and leave /etc/splash/splash alone. I also use the kopt line for this so I will have splash for any new kernel. Here is my /boot/grub/menu.lst.... Pedro, check the link from above about vga= options. Was it set at 791 before?

This is what I do. I installed the spash-utils stuff Impuwat mentioned, unpacked his theme to /etc/splash, added the theme to my /boot/grub/menu.lst and then opened a terminal.
In the terminal as root:

I have a Mepis kernel. My settings for the Grub-menu.lst are:

title Antix
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2 splash=silent.fadein.fadeout.theme:natural_antix quiet CONSOLE=/dev/tty1 vga=791 resume=/dev/sda3
initrd /boot/initrd.img
boot

With it I have an easy boot with the fb splashscreen.

for me it only works on shut down. in verbose i get some errors about splash/cache beeing read-only. but at boot it doesn't work and i get an error about: grep proc mounts no such file and also /var/log/boot is empty __{{emoticon}}__

I get the same results as ice-m, it only works at shutdown with all the other error msg at boot up.

This is an improvement from before when it wasn't working at all, but I realized what the problem was. I untared the file using pcmanfm and it created a sub-directory within a sub-directory. I've had this same problem before and I know we talked about it but I forgot about it and certainly forgot how to fix it. It's certainly an annoying feature. I guess I should just use CLI to untar.

Pedro

Try this as root:

I believe Erie is right about changing /etc/splash/splash. It may not be necessary. I did it to be safe and everything works fine.

plvera & ice-m: I had similar problems until Hans suggested adding vga=791 to grub menu.lst. After that fbsplash worked great.

Which leads me to believe your menu.lst syntax isn't quite right for your particular kernel and setup (assuming you did everything else correctly). nomce appears to be:

This command disables self-diagnosis checks performed on the CPU. The kernel enables self-diagnosis on the CPU by default (called Machine Check Exception). On some older Compaq machines, this check is run too often and may need to be disabled.

So it may not be necessary. You may also find this helpful:

Configure your bootloader (works for me, your turn to tune it to your system - I assume 1024x768 resolution)

In any case you will have to add to your kernel command line the following: splash=silent,fadein,theme:the_theme quiet CONSOLE=/dev/tty1.

* If you use vesafb-tng patch, then add: video=vesafb:1024x768-32,ywrap
* If you use uvesafb patch, then add: video=uvesafb:1024x768-32,ywrap
* If you use native vesafb module, then add: vga=791

I found that at:
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://jeandamiendurand.free.fr/debian/splashutils/#setup"
linktext was:"http://jeandamiendurand.free.fr/debian/ ... ils/#setup"
====================================
, which is a detailed howto for setting fbsplash up on debian/sid.

Other helpful websites are:

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://fbsplash.berlios.de/wiki/doku.php"
linktext was:"http://fbsplash.berlios.de/wiki/doku.php"
====================================


========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gensplash"
linktext was:"http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gensplash"
====================================


========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://www.gentoo-wiki.info/Fbsplash"
linktext was:"http://www.gentoo-wiki.info/Fbsplash"
====================================


A great thing about antiX is the customization possibilities. The problem is with all the different kernels & implementations"one size definitely won't fit all" as far as fbsplash is concerned. I think there are solutions if we stay patient and work through it, however. Hang in there!

I got the bootmessage about the lib/splash/cache/lasterror. I removed it as root, but it came back everytime at boot, until I renamed (natural_antix) and uncommented the line in etc/splash/splash about the theme and after that updated my initramfs. At that point I got the splashscreen as it was supposed to be. There are a lot of different configurations around in Antix. __{{emoticon}}__

Thanks to all for working on this. Since upgrading to antiX8, mine boots with a black screen, so this will help, as soon as I have time to work on it.

@eriefisher: A side note, but thanks for posting your /boot/grub/menu.lst because I see that you are still using i8042.nomux=1 for you touchpad. Mine has been flaky again since the upgrade, so at least now I know to track it down in xorg.conf.

i did make it work, sort of...

in boot i left only this:
splash quiet console=tty1 vga=791
the rest of the commands are in /etc/splash/splash, so there is no need for them.
i have antix m8 test3 upgraded to antix m8, so i did repair the boot with initrd checked. so now i have the theme showing but 2 problems. first i get the error from upsplash that there is no 1024X.... theme then the natural_antix is shown but if i press F2 i go to verbose and then i cannot return to the theme again by pressing it again. ohhh and update-initramfs -u doesn't work no more, it suggests update-initramfs -t but that don't work either. any suggestions ? thanks.

Try update-initramfs -c. this will create one.

Ice-M: I thought the problem would be in the menu.lst options. Glad you are making progress! It does tell us that different kernels will definitely require different syntax.

Not sure about the upsplash errors. I have a few boot lines of text that"leak" through the splash screen even when set to"silent". Mine also exhibits the same behavior in that F2 is a one-way street...you can't come back to the simple screen. I believe that is normal behavior. Wierd about the update-initramfs -u thing.

i think it's a initrd thing not kernel related(i have the latest kernel). the weird thing when i managed to make the splash screen work before i repaired the boot the f2 key worked. but that was one or twice in 30 tries the rest of the time the splash only worked at shutdown. before i repaired the grub the slash didn't work because of the console=tty1 line and that error about grep. it gived the console=tty1 error but the boot line had console=tty1 . after grub repair with initrd option, the slash worked but i got the error about the slash (i think this is for the mepis splash) and the f2 key thing. about the f2 this is a solution but i don't know how to make it work:

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://fbsplash.berlios.de/wiki/doku.php?id=docs:faq"
linktext was:"http://fbsplash.berlios.de/wiki/doku.php?id=docs:faq"
====================================
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

also could you please post the grub menu as well? thanks!

edit: the error by splash is gone, i've removed usplash. the f2 and splash in verbose are the only ones left not working.
and the initrd, i deleted the one i had and created another one. thanks erie.