[13.04_64Bit] - Ugly Boot/Shutdown Screens?

[Philip Muskovac]

On Monday 27 May 2013 10:33:33 Jesse Palser wrote:
> On 05/26/2013 02:09 PM, Kaj Haulrich wrote:
> > On 05/26/2013 07:00 PM, Jesse Palser wrote:
> >> [13.04_64Bit] - Ugly Boot/Shutdown Screens?
> >> 
> >> Hi,
> >> 
> >> I recently switched from openSUSE 12.3 64Bit KDE
> >> to Kubuntu 13.04 64Bit on my thin client with Intel CPU and nVidia GPU.
> >> 
> >> I have one problem(well not a problem, but annoyance)
> >> During boot or shutdown, I have ugly text screen:
> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> ----->> 
> >>                                          Kubuntu
> >>                                          .   .   .   .
> >> 
> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> -----
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> How do I get back the pretty boot/shutdown screens?
> >> I do have the proprietary nVidia display driver installed(nVidia ION
> >> 512MB GPU)
> >> Thanks!
> >> 
> >> Nice OS...
> > 
> > I guess the word "pretty" i a matter of personal taste. Many *buntu
> > users ask the opposite question: "how to get rid of the
> > not-so-informative eye candy" and see whats really going on when a
> > linux system boots in all its glory.
> > 
> > I do, for example. So in the file /etc/default/grub I have removed the
> > words "quiet splash". After doing so and saving the edits (as root, of
> > couse), one will need to run 'sudo update-grub'. On next reboot
> > there's no more eye candy, just a lot of information scrolling by.
> > 
> > Regards
> > Kaj Haulrich.
> > 
> > --- Sent from a 100% Microsoft-free computer---
> > --------- Running Linux Kubuntu 13.04 ---------
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Anyone know how to fix this?
> Thanks!

HI,

Some (not too deep) technical background to begin with:
The linux kernel has 2 modes it can usually start in: text and graphical.
Text mode is the old default that exists since the last millenia and is what 
usually provides you with a small 640x480 px text console (which is used by 
the plymouth text splash theme).
Graphical mode relies on a working framebuffer which is usually provided by KMS 
today.

The proprietary nvidia driver does not support KMS and expects the kernel to 
boot in text mode so you get the text splash. (That's the only supported mode 
actually)

If you really want the pretty graphical splash with the nvidia driver, you can 
set a framebuffer resolution yourself in /etc/default/grub which works for most 
systems:

In /etc/default/grub you find this:
# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

So start by checking what resolutions you *can* use:
1) reboot and hold shift pressed after the bios screen so the grub menu is 
displayed
2) press 'c' to get to the commandline and run 'vbeinfo' there
3) note down the appropriate resolution that you want to use (note: your 
display's native resolution might not be in that list)
4) reboot back into kubuntu

Once you're back, you edit /etc/default/grub and set 2 things (remove the # 
before GRUB_GFXMODE first):
GRUB_GFXMODE=1280x800
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=1280x800x32
replacing 1280x800 with your resolution.
After that run update-grub as root.

That will force the kernel into graphical mode with the set resolution and you 
should have the pretty splash back.

Note: Another thing it does is cause your system log to have a warning from 
the nvidia driver that running it together with a framebuffer is unsupported, 
but I haven't had any issues so far.

Regards,
Philip