r4ndom h4x

I don’t like the default Ubuntu boot splash screen. It’s boring and impersonal. Thankfully, it’s fairly simple to change.

Out of the box Ubuntu uses a package called Usplash to control the graphical boot screen. The simplest way to change it is to look for a replacement usplash image that someone else has made. If you don’t want to compile it yourself then you will need to get one that is pre-compiled and suitable for your particular machine’s architecture (32bit vs 64bit etc).

Take a peek here and see if anything floats your boat : ubuntu-art.org and gnome-look.org but make sure you only look for usplash screens.

1. To install a usplash screen that has already been compiled, check to see if you have “Startup Manager” installed. (System menu -> Administration -> StartUp-Manager) If you don’t have it installed (it’s not by default) open a Terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and type:

sudo apt-get install startupmanager

2. Download a usplash screen you like. It’s probably compressed via gzip or bzip2. Either let Firefox automatically open it up in the archive manager, or save it and double-click on the file to open archive manager.

3. The archive should contain a file that ends in .so.   For example, here’s a Dell one I grabbed from the above site:

Just Extract the file somewhere – I’d chuck it in /tmp because we only need it for a short time.
You only need the .so file – if there’s anything else there you don’t need it- it might be the source code or a Readme file.

4. Now, open up Startup Manager. It should look something like this:

Click on the Appearance tab and select the “Manage uspash themes” button. Now just click “Add” and browse to where you saved the .so file (/tmp perhaps?). Now the file will become available as a choice in the usplash themes drop-box.

5. Click Close to all the windows. Let the startup-manager finish! It will probably take it a little while. (All your initrd files are being regenerated with the new theme included.)

Done! But what do you do if you can’t find a theme you like? Well, you’ll need to compile one. That’s a subject for another day though.