Slackware 12 bootsplash nightmare

1337ln · 09-07-2007, 12:47 PM

I am absolutely fascinated with those crazy ass pretty things out there on the interweb known as
Bootsplash screens!!

but in every distro that I have attempted it I fail miserably!
well, for a while I was on a Debian kick, so thats understandable XD

Let me make myself clear though, I am in NO WAY interested in these methods like splashy, or usplash!! I
prefer to compile my own kernel with bootsplash enabled, partially because I'm more interested in the nice
borders around my verbose mode.

Anyway, I get down to it with this tutorial here:
http://slackwiki.org/Bootsplash

and everything goes off without a hitch, except the actual booting!!
my configuration is of 2 IDE hard disks. /dev/hda1 is my swap partition, /dev/hda2 is my root partition,
and /dev/hdb is mounted whenever I need to backup/restore.

I am running Slackware 12, and using LILO version 22.8. I realized LILO was an out of date bootloader to
start but haven't gotten much further with grub either.

my lilo.conf looks like:

Code:

  boot = /dev/hda
       message = /boot/boot_message.txt
       prompt
       timeout = 300
       change-rules
        reset
       vga = 791
       image = /boot/vmlinuz
         root = /dev/hda2
         label = Linux
         read-only
       image = /boot/vmlinuz-bootsplash
         root = /dev/hda2
         label = Bootsplash
         initrd=/boot/initrd.splash
         append="splash=verbose"

and lilo -v says:

Code:

LILO version 22.8, Copyright (C) 1992-1998 Werner Almesberger
Development beyond version 21 Copyright (C) 1999-2006 John Coffman
Released 19-Feb-2007 and compiled at 01:09:42 on Jun 10 2007.

Warning: LBA32 addressing assumed
Reading boot sector from /dev/hda
Using MENU secondary loader
Calling map_insert_data
Mapping message file /boot/boot_message.txt
Calling map_insert_file

Boot image: /boot/vmlinuz -> vmlinuz-huge-smp-2.6.21.5-smp
Added Linux *

Boot image: /boot/vmlinuz-bootsplash
Mapping RAM disk /boot/initrd.splash
Added Bootsplash

Writing boot sector.
/boot/boot.0300 exists - no boot sector backup copy made.
One warning was issued.

but when I chose the Bootspash option, I see my amazing bootsplash, along with a not so amazing kernel
panic

Code:

RAMDISK: Couldn't find valid RAM disk image starting at 0.
No filesystem could mount root, tried:
Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (3,2)

lost, dazed and confused
any help would be mucho appreciated =D

johnhamiltion · 09-07-2007, 06:21 PM

You might find this article of some help:

"Getting the Boot Splash Working."
[url removed] or
[url removed]
[url removed]

OR this article: Boot Splash HOWTO.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=581102

perry · 09-07-2007, 07:35 PM

will you let us know...

i'd love to set something like that up myself

thanks

- perry

moob8 · 09-07-2007, 07:57 PM

Ironically enough, I had been wrestling with this today (before seeing this thread) and I finally had to give up. What is more humiliating is that I had this working years ago in another distro, before I went to slackware. I've given up.

Maybe Pat will add bootsplash to the kernel in slackware 13. I think it's the only way most of us are gonna get a working bootsplash.

hutyerah · 09-07-2007, 11:10 PM

Looks to me like you need a normal initrd, and not having that is making your kernel bork. Check out the changes and hints file in the slackware install disc to make sure you have it blah blah, and this thread which solves the problem of merging a bootsplash initrd with a normal one. http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=569642

Sorry about my short and dodgy answer, I've gotta run :P

MannyNix · 09-08-2007, 01:18 AM

To avoid

Code:

Warning: LBA32 addressing assumed

add to /etc/lilo.conf: lba32 & compact.

Code:

....
timeout = 70
lba32
compact
....

Take a look at man lilo.conf
I have to thank onebuck for telling about it on this post

1337ln · 09-09-2007, 03:06 PM

wow thanks for all the advice guys, its more help than I ever got trying this on Debian XD. I do hope Pat includes this with 13 (he shocked the hell out of me when he included Compiz in 12!)

I'll try merging my initrd.splash with a normal one, I didn't seem to need one before bootsplash but can certainly see the need for one now that I'm trying to configure it.

Quote:

add to /etc/lilo.conf: lba32 & compact.

thanks a lot for that, it was making me nervous for a while.

anyway, I'll check out these links, play with some packages, post some results and see what I get going.

also I don't think this is possible, but is there anything I can compile into my kernel/attach to an initrd that will allow me to take boot time/bootsplash screenshots? Would certainly help resolving these issues quicker.

KhaoSlacker · 09-09-2007, 04:16 PM

I will be updating the wiki after posting this.
But it seems the part about Slamd64's .config in it's kernel sources package just mirror's what has happened in Slackware.

cd /usr/src/linux
rm .config
zcat /proc/config.gz > .config

rebuild the kernel and reinstall it as mentioned on the wiki and you should be fine

Edit: The Slackwiki has been updated.

perry · 09-09-2007, 04:40 PM

if i were you, anything of this nature, you would want a backup plan!

here's a correction to overcome a slight problem 12 is having this checkinstall:
/usr/local/sbin/mcheckinstall:

Code:

checkinstall --fstrans=no $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9

to build a tgz file, go into the project directory and enter:

Code:

mcheckinstall -S

and then answer prompts from there

when it's done, do a ls -la and notice your newly formed <package>.tgz ready to be installpkg'ed or removepkg'ed depending on what you encounter!

- perry

1337ln · 09-10-2007, 12:11 AM

it seems messing around with my kernel (and other things) has forced me to reinstall. The installation is underway and shouldn't take long but the first thing I'm going to do (as in after every fresh Linux installation) is compile a kernel for my needs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KhaoSlacker

I will be updating the wiki after posting this.
But it seems the part about Slamd64's .config in it's kernel sources package just mirror's what has happened in Slackware.

cd /usr/src/linux
rm .config
zcat /proc/config.gz > .config

rebuild the kernel and reinstall it as mentioned on the wiki and you should be fine

Edit: The Slackwiki has been updated.

I'll be sure keep the wiki in my bookmarks, its an excellent source. As for checkinstall I have to say I'm going to pass. I like knowing were things are going, so if I obtain binaries I'll install them by hand. I agree with the idea that package managers should'nt be automated (like apt or emerge) and handling things myself is the best way to get it done =]

thanks for all the help guys
I'll post results

arubin · 09-10-2007, 03:27 AM

I always prefer to compile ext3 into my kernel when compiling my own so doing away with that need for initrd. It only makes the kernel slightly larger.

KhaoSlacker · 09-10-2007, 03:29 AM

For those who have had problems with bootsplash after using http://slackwiki.org/Bootsplash ...
Thanks to those who have made their problems known, the wiki has been updated extensively.

Thanks for the input guys, and keep it coming

szob · 09-13-2007, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KhaoSlacker

For those who have had problems with bootsplash after using http://slackwiki.org/Bootsplash ...
Thanks to those who have made their problems known, the wiki has been updated extensively.

Well, maybe it was updated, but when I tried yesterday to follow the instructions, I could not make the splash working.

This part of the wiki is really not clear:

"splash -s -f /home/username/Downloads/bootsplashtheme/config/bootsplash-1024x768.cfg >> /boot/initrd.splash

For generic kernel users, you'll have to converge your stock initrd.gz and the bootsplash initrds.
mkinitrd
cp /boot/initrd.splash /boot/initrd-tree/"

Ok, the command for splash produces the proper bootsplash, but why not directly to the initrd-tree directory?

Also, why running mkinitrd before actually copying the initrd.splash to the initrd-tree?

Then:

"After putting the initrd-splash into the mkinitrd's initrd-tree you'll need to run mkinitrd again with some computer specific options. Example:
mkinitrd -c -m reiserfs"

Again, why run -c option when according to the mkinitrd help it "clears the existing initrd tree first"?

So, you carefully prepare your bootsplash, copy it to the initrd-tree and then wipe it out with the c option? Makes no sense.

This article:

http://linuxhelp.150m.com/boot/bootsplash.htm

mentioned above, explains how to get it right, although it suggests to uncompress the existing initrd.gz.

In Slackware after creating the first initrd.gz the initrd-tree directory is left in /boot. Therefore, there is no need to uncompress the initrd.gz. It is enough to add the bootsplash to the initrd-tree and regenerate the initrd with mkinitrd command.

Here is briefly how I have done that producing successfully the initrd with bootsplash:

1. Go to /boot and create the initrd with 'mkinitrd -c -m modulename' command. If you use the 2.6 generic kernel you are already using initrd, so you can safely skip this point and you should already have the initrd-tree in the /boot.

2. Cd to /boot/initrd-tree and issue:
splash -s -f /etc/bootsplash/themes/mytheme/config/bootsplash-1024x768.cfg >> /boot/initrd-tree/bootsplash

Now, you have the bootsplash initrd in the proper place. Notice, I called it bootsplash instead of initrd.splash.

3. Cd to /boot and regenerate your initrd with this command:
mkinitrd -o /boot/initrd.splash

This will regenerate the initrd with the modules you used in 1. This initrd.splash will already boot correctly.

4. Re-run lilo making sure you have append="splash=silent" and initrd=/boot/initrd.splash in the lilo.conf. Simply type lilo as root.

5. Reboot Slackware and you should have a working bootsplash and the linux will boot properly.

You can repeat this procedure as many times as you want simply removing the previous bootsplash files from initrd-tree and generating new ones based on different themes and producing initrd.splash files with consecutive numbers and change them by editing lilo.conf at will. As a matter as fact I have 3 themes which I like and change them when I feel like it.

This will also fix the mounting of the root partition under /media in KDE which does not work in Slackware 12 when fs modules are compiled to the kernel.

Hope this helps.

Oliwer

orbit · 09-14-2007, 03:37 AM

Hi all,

I have already done everything mentioned above here and have a fully working bootsplash

To make your life easier and save you a lot of time, I have gathered my working bootsplash enabled initrd, my working bootsplash config files, the kernel patch and some nice easy to read instructions into one zip file, which can be downloaded here: Bootsplash-Pack

Myself and others have tested this bootsplash pack many times on standard and non-standard installations of Slackware12 and it works great!

Because I have done all the work for you already, you can get your bootsplash working in 15 minutes flat!

Hope this helps

Cheers

Orbit

1337ln · 09-14-2007, 10:52 AM

even though other methods have been suggested, I can testify success using the updated method located here: http://slackwiki.org/Bootsplash.

Thanks all for all your help, my resulting boot looks something like this:
http://kde-look.org/content/show.php...?content=51656

Loads up in verbose of course ;]