How to Fix the Big and Ugly Plymouth Logo in Ubuntu 10.10

You installed graphic drivers in Ubuntu 10.10, only to find that the plymouth (starting screen) has been screwed up with an ugly resolution. So much for installing graphic drivers. Well we had already covered how to get back the good looking plymouth screen in Ubuntu 10.04. The procedure was mentioned in the post Fix Big and Ugly Plymouth in Ubuntu 10.04 {Lucid Lynx}. This procedure is still valid for Ubuntu 10.10. However, if you want to avoid the hassle of doing it manually and following the step one by one, you can run a small script and fix your ugly looking plymouth screen on Ubuntu 10.10 and 10.04.

The script is written by Kyle Baker based on the steps available from Softpedia. You can find the script here at the post written by Kyle. We did not wanted to hotlink to downloading the script as the script is hosted at Kyle’s servers and it’s only fair that he takes all the credit for the script along with Softpedia.
Follow the steps mentioned by Kyle.
Warning: Please use the script at your own risk!

Alternative One – Fixing Plymouth’s resolution

Step 1: Hit the ALT+F2 key combination, paste the following command and check the “Run in terminal” option:
sudo apt-get install v86d
…a terminal window will appear. Enter your password when asked, hit the Enter key and wait for the package to be installed. The terminal window will automatically close!
Step 2: Hit the ALT+F2 key combination, paste the following command and check the “Run in terminal” option:
gksu gedit /etc/default/grub
…enter your password when asked and hit the Enter key.
- Replace the following line (line number 9):
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash”
with this one:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=”quiet splash nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1280×1024-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap”
- Replace the following line (line number 18):
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640×480
with this one:
GRUB_GFXMODE=1280×1024
The file should look like this:
Save the file and close it!
Step 3: Hit the ALT+F2 key combination, paste the following command and check the “Run in terminal” option:
gksu gedit /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
When the text window appears, add the following line at the end of the file:
uvesafb mode_option=1280×1024-24 mtrr=3 scroll=ywrap
It should look like this:
Save the file and close it!
Step 4: Hit the ALT+F2 key combination, paste the following command and check the “Run in terminal” option:
echo FRAMEBUFFER=y | sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash
…a terminal window will appear for a second or two. The terminal window will automatically close!
Step 5: Hit the ALT+F2 key combination, paste the following command and check the “Run in terminal” option:
sudo update-grub2
…a terminal window will appear. Enter your password when asked, hit the Enter key and wait for the command to finish. The terminal window will automatically close!
Step 6: Hit the ALT+F2 key combination, paste the following command and check the “Run in terminal” option:
sudo update-initramfs -u
…a terminal window will appear. Enter your password when asked, hit the Enter key and wait for the command to finish. The terminal window will automatically close!
Step 7: Reboot your computer. When the system starts, you should see a better looking Ubuntu logo!
Alternative Two – No logo at boot
Click the link below to install the Startup Manager application.
Install Startup Manager
If you use Firefox, choose “apturl” when asked and install the package. Wait for the installation to finish and go to System -> Administration -> StartUp-Manager.
Wait a few seconds for the program to start, and then choose 1280×1024 and 24 bits in the “Resolution” and “Color depth” drop-down menus. Also, check the “Show boot splash” option, and you can reduce the “Timeout in seconds” option to 0 (zero)! It should look something like this:
Close the application and wait a few seconds to apply the changes. Reboot your computer!
From our tests, this will make the Ubuntu logo disappear. All you will see is a dark screen, until GDM (GNOME Diplay Manager) appears.