Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

[Fintan]

I am trying to get a nice grub splash with my now mostly understood grub2 bootloader.

I followed these instructions, well at least the last ones.:
http://blogs.koolwal.net/2008/12/16/...splash-images/

I took my desktop background, changed the size accordingly and saved to /boot/images/backgroundfintan1.tga

I the edited the /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme file to point to /boot/images:

for i in {/boot/grub,/boot/images/}/backgroundfintan1.{png,tga} ; do

and did :

sudo update-grub

fintan@fintanws3:~$ sudo update-grub
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found Debian background: backgroundfintan1.tga
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-4-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-4-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /memtest86+.bin
Found Ubuntu 9.04 (9.04) on /dev/sda1
done
fintan@fintanws3:~$

When reboot I get the default blue box.

I wonder if it has anything to do with my video card?

VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device

[Rog131]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

Have you tried with the pictures from the package: grub2-splashimages ?

[Fintan]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

Yes, I have but with the same result.

grub-update sees it but it is not rendered at boot.

Here is my debian_theme file:

#!/bin/bash -e

source /usr/lib/grub/grub-mkconfig_lib

set_blue_theme()
{
cat << EOF
set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
set menu_color_highlight=white/blue
EOF
}

# check for usable backgrounds
use_bg=false
if [ "$GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT" = "gfxterm" ] ; then
for i in {/boot/grub,/boot/images/}/Lake.{png,tga} ; do
if is_path_readable_by_grub $i ; then
bg=$i
case ${bg} in
*.png) reader=png ;;
*.tga) reader=tga ;;
*.jpg|*.jpeg) reader=jpeg ;;
esac
if test -e /boot/grub/${reader}.mod ; then
echo "Found Debian background: `basename ${bg}`" >&2
use_bg=true
break
fi
fi
done
fi

# set the background if possible
if ${use_bg} ; then
prepare_grub_to_access_device `${grub_probe} --target=device ${bg}`
cat << EOF
insmod ${reader}
if background_image `make_system_path_relative_to_its_root ${bg}` ; then
set color_normal=black/black
set color_highlight=magenta/black
else
EOF
fi

# otherwise, set the traditional Debian blue theme
if ${use_bg} ; then
set_blue_theme | sed -e "s/^/ /g"
echo "fi"
else
set_blue_theme
fi

I have tried this line:

# check for usable backgrounds
use_bg=false

set to:

# check for usable backgrounds
use_bg=true

But no change.

[Rog131]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

Here with an ATI card the Grub2 backgrounds seem to work.


Does your "/boot/grub/grub.cfg" have something like (under the 05_debian_theme):

insmod tga
if background_image /boot/images/Lake.tga ; then
set color_normal=black/black
set color_highlight=magenta/black
else

Probably, if the sudo update-grub was telling: "Found Debian background: Lake.tga".

[Fintan]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

insmod tga
if background_image /boot/images/Lake.tga ; then
set color_normal=black/black
set color_highlight=magenta/black
else

Yep, it is there.

[Fintan]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

Could it be my vbe_mode?

When I do "c" in the grub boot menu and do:

vbeinfo

I get all the supported resolutions without a driver.

I have a few but my vbe_mode is set to:
0x101
which is:
0x101 640x480x8 Packed

I am sure my theme has a higher color depth. (24 or 32)

So how can I change the vbe_mode to:
0x112 640x480x32 Direct, mask: 8/8/8/8 pos:16/8/0/24

Or

0x111 640x480x16 Direct, mask: 5/6/5/0 pos: 11/5/0/0

Both are listed in vbeinfo.

I went to /etc/grub.d/00_header and changed line 36:

if [ "x${GRUB_GFXMODE}" = "x" ] ; then GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480 ; fi

to:

if [ "x${GRUB_GFXMODE}" = "x" ] ; then GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480x32 ; fi

and

if [ "x${GRUB_GFXMODE}" = "x" ] ; then GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480x16 ; fi

doing a updatae-grub every time (still seeing the Lake.tga)

with no change and:

configured vbe_mode

still says:
0x101

[Rog131]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

...
I have a few but my vbe_mode is set to:
0x101
which is:
0x101 640x480x8 Packed

I am sure my theme has a higher color depth. (24 or 32)
...

Have you tried to reduce the pictures color depth to the 8 bit (256 colors) ?

[Nate B.]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

I been posting in this thread over on the Ubuntu.org forums about Grub2 splash images. I have Kubuntu Karmic installed on a Thinkpad T41 with an ATI graphics board and have had no success with the images, even using the converted pixmap that worked with Grub legacy.

The vbeinfo command says it's in mode 0x101 even though all the modes it reports are 400x300! I may try dropping my image down to 8bpp to see if that helps.

On the up side, I found the Kubuntu Karmic installer to be slick and first rate.

[Fintan]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

If I change to 8 bit then the background is awfull:

[Rog131]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

If I change to 8 bit then the background is awfull

Yes, the conversion to the 256 color palette is not good for the large areas with the color slide. The sky and water surfases will get artifacts



but the plasma-lamp still looks good

[Fintan]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

I got my grub splash theme working on my travelmate.

Does anyone know how to change the grub menu font color?

[Rog131]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

Have you tried to edit the /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ?

The > Splashimages for GRUB2 has:

Changing your Font Colors

When you have a beautiful splashimage, the next thing to do is choose a suitable font color to go with it. Changing the font color can make a big improvement to the appearance of your GRUB Menu and splashimage.
Changing the font color would be very important if you have chosen a splashimage which contains a lot of dark shades and you're still using a black font. You might have trouble reading the titles in your GRUB menu. Changing your font color to white or a light color would be a real necessity in that situation.

We can change the font colors by editing /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme...

[Fintan]

Re: Grub2 splash theme a video card issue?

Right, I missed that little line