img/SLyES-2012.gif

Splashy mini-howto

Author: Luis Mondesi
url:lemsx1@gmail.com
Date: 14/12/2006

Hello all,

Sorry that we didn't update the README file in the current stable release. This is the new file to be included in future releases:

Readme

Thank you for trying Splashy!

Features

What makes Splashy special over other boot-splash systems is:
  • There is NO need to patch the kernel
  • It supports millions of colors as well as alpha channels (transparency)
  • All resolutions are supported
  • It supports all the formats provided by directfb: jpg, png, gif, mpg, swf...
  • It run in user-space as any other application. So, it can be run at any time by simply typing "splashy" at the command prompt
  • initramfs support, which allows Splashy to run early at boot [See
Initram File System below]
  • XML configuration
  • Multiple and easy to create themes
  • Lots of effects (animations, fade in/out, smooth progress, etc)
  • TrueType2 fonts support
  • And many other features, too numerous to list here...

Requirements

In order to start using Splashy you will need to have the following:
  • A video card
  • A kernel that supports framebuffers (default for the mayority of Linux distributors)
  • On Linux, a 2.6 kernel or later is requiered (because directfb requires it)
  • Splashy itself
In order to compile Splashy you will also need to have the following:
  • glib2
  • directfb 0.9.22 or later
  • libjpeg and/or libpng (optional)

Installation (Quick)

  1. Unpack Splashy's sources and run as super-user in the extracted directory:
./configure --prefix=/ && make && make install

2. Add splash vga=791 quiet to the append= line on your bootloader configuration

NOTE: For Grub, this is /boot/grub/menu.lst For lilo you need vga=791 in its own line before the kernel stanzas, and add only quiet splash to append= Other bootloaders will use the same options, but they need to be passed differently. Check your bootloader's manual
  1. Make sure that /etc/init.d/splashy is symlinked from /etc/rcS.d/S01splashy, or whatever the first script is when your computer boots.
  2. For /etc/lsb-base-logging.sh to work, make sure that /lib/lsb/init-functions sources this file:
$> cat /lib/lsb/init-functions | tail -2
[ -e /etc/lsb-base-logging.sh ] && . /etc/lsb-base-logging.sh || true
  1. Reboot and have fun!

Installation (Detailed)

  1. Compile Splashy following the usual ./configure && make && make install procedure (check ./configure --help to see the available options)

2. Edit your bootloader's configuration file to set up the framebuffer mode: * In Grub, edit /boot/grub/menu.lst HINT: In Debian, look for "#kopt" and append vga=0x317 to it. Then run update-grub. Other distros edit the kernel root= line appropriately. * In lilo, edit /etc/lilo.conf HINT: Look for the default image= and edit append= by appending vga=0x317 to it * In Quik, edit /etc/quik.conf and append vga=0x317 to the kernel argument line

If you use a different framebuffer driver, then you would need to tell the kernel, through the kernel's parameters, to use that other driver. For example, to use the radeonfb framebuffer driver:

  • Grub: #kopt: quiet video=radeonfb:1024x768-32 at 100
  • Lilo: append= quiet video=radeonfb:1024x768-32 at 100

For intel i810 internal cards the lilo line would look like:

append="video=i810fb:vram:2,xres:1024,yres:768,bpp:8,hsync1:30,hsync2:55,vsync1:50,vsync2:85,accel,mtrr"

Splashy will support any video mode the framebuffer supports The following is a table for the vide modes and their corresponding codes

                 640x480    800x600    1024x768       1280x1024       1600x1200
256 colors (8b)    769        771         773            775             796
32K colors (15b)   784        787         790            793             797
64K colors (16b)   785        788         791            794             798
16M colors (24b)   786        789         792            795             799

For example, for 1024x768 at 16bit (64K colors or "thousands of colors"), you could pass an argument to the kernel like:

vga=791

These values could be used in base16 (hexadecimal) also, like:

vga=0x317
  1. Make sure scripts/splashy-update-progress-steps is in /etc/init.d/splashy and /etc/rcS.d/S01splashy symlink that points there
  2. Copy scripts/lsb-base-logging.sh to /etc/ and make sure that /lib/lsb/init-functions sources this file:
::
$> cat /lib/lsb/init-functions | tail -2 [ -e /etc/lsb-base-logging.sh ] && . /etc/lsb-base-logging.sh || true
  1. Reboot and have fun!

Configuration

Splashy's configuration file is /etc/splashy/config.xml

To know about it read it's man page: man splashy-config.xml

Initram File System

In order to enable Splashy running early at the initramfs level, you need to ensure the following:

1. Make sure that you edit /etc/default/splashy and set ENABLE_INITRAMFS= to 1 like:

ENABLE_INITRAMFS=1

2. From a terminal run:

update-initramfs -u -t -k `uname -r`

Notes: (On Ubuntu and Debian) you might have to change /etc/init.d/keymap.sh like:

#!/bin/sh
pidof splashy > /dev/null && exit 0

In other words, if splashy is running, do not bother to run keymap.sh (which stops splashy and waits for input in tty2). /etc/lsb-base-logging.sh will do the right thing and run these scripts again when the percentage goes to 100% (when gdm/kdm/xdm calls log_msg_end() or when X is detected running, our percentage goes to 100% automatically)

Themes

To install a new theme, download it and install it with splashy_config:

splashy_config -i <theme>

To use some theme as the default theme, run:

splashy_config -s <theme_name>

You can get a list of available themes with:

splashy_config --info

To create a theme, run "splashy_config -c" and answer all the questions

Uninstallation

>From within the extracted sources directory just run as super-user:

make uninstall

You might need to remove vga= and splash from your kernel parameters.

Developers Information

For making changes to Splashy sources or scripts, please refer to the HACKING file.