Cfrgtkky

I have been messing around with Plymouth themes and have managed to bungle them. After some deleting and reinstalling, if I run the terminal line

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

I get the error message

update-alternatives: error: no alternatives for default.plymouth

I have the usr/bin/share/plymouth folder and everything should be running, but right now I don't have a splash screen and do not know how to get one. My boot-load time is pretty slow now.

Including Screenshots of requested commands

After some fiddling, this is now the error I have which I think is the source of the problem
The problem does not rely on not having Plymouth installed

It appears you are missing a symbolic link compared to my old installation:

$ ll /mnt/old/usr/share/plymouth/themes/

total 32

drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Feb 28  2018 ./

drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Feb 28  2018 ../

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   39 Feb 28  2018 default.grub -> /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth.grub

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   34 Feb 28  2018 default.plymouth -> /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 28  2018 details/

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 22  2017 earth-sunrise/

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 28  2018 text/

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   31 Feb 28  2018 text.plymouth -> /etc/alternatives/text.plymouth

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 28  2018 tribar/

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 28  2018 ubuntu-logo/

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Feb 28  2018 ubuntu-text/

I've use the Earth Sunrise plymouth theme in the past but it goes by too fast on an NVMe SSD nowdays. Below are the installation instructions from: Newly Added Plymouth Theme Not Showing Up During Boot

Change path names from <16.04 to 16.04 format

The file /usr/share/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth had old paths from Ubuntu 14.04 and had to changed to reflect Ubuntu 16.04.

Make sure yours contains path names like this:

[Plymouth Theme]

Name=Earth Sunrise

Description=This theme is a modification of Andre "Osku" Schmidt's Space sunrise plymouth theme

ModuleName=script



[script]

ImageDir=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/earth-sunrise

ScriptFile=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/earth-sunrise/earth-sunrise.script

Frame Buffer in initramfs-tools

Edit the file /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash and add this line:

FRAMEBUFFER=y

Smooth transition to GDM

To enable smooth transition you have to disable your display manager unit, e.g.

systemctl disable gdm.service

Enable the respective DM-plymouth Unit (GDM, LXDM, SLiM units provided), e.g.

systemctl enable gdm-plymouth.service

Turn on debug

Edit the file /etc/default/grub and search for LINUX_DEFAULT line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash vt.handoff=7 kaslr"

and change it to this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="plymouth:debug splash vt.handoff=7 kaslr"

Note plymouth:debug is the important thing. Also splash is always required to invoke plymouth.

After rebooting look into the file /var/log/plymouth-debug.log and it should look something like this:

[main.c:1865]                                 check_logging:checking if console messages should be redirected and logged

[main.c:1874]                                 check_logging:logging will be enabled!

[main.c:1946]                        initialize_environment:source built on May 10 2016

[main.c:1957]                        initialize_environment:Making sure /run/plymouth exists

[ply-utils.c:703]                          ply_create_directory:directory '/run/plymouth' already exists

[main.c:1961]                        initialize_environment:initialized minimal work environment

[main.c:716]                       get_cache_file_for_mode:returning cache file '/var/lib/plymouth//boot-duration'

[main.c:321]                                 load_settings:Trying to load /etc/plymouth//plymouthd.conf

[ply-key-file.c:83]                        ply_key_file_open_file:Failed to open key file /etc/plymouth//plymouthd.conf: No such file or directory

[main.c:449]                    find_system_default_splash:failed to load /etc/plymouth//plymouthd.conf

[main.c:321]                                 load_settings:Trying to load /usr/share/plymouth//plymouthd.defaults

[ply-key-file.c:83]                        ply_key_file_open_file:Failed to open key file /usr/share/plymouth//plymouthd.defaults: No such file or directory

[main.c:463]              find_distribution_default_splash:failed to load /usr/share/plymouth//plymouthd.defaults

[main.c:873]           plymouth_should_show_default_splash:checking if plymouth should show default splash

[main.c:901]           plymouth_should_show_default_splash:using default splash because kernel command line has option "splash"

[ply-device-manager.c:668]                   create_seats_from_terminals:checking for consoles

[ply-device-manager.c:555]                        add_consoles_from_file:opening /sys/class/tty/console/active

[ply-device-manager.c:563]                        add_consoles_from_file:reading file

[ply-device-manager.c:601]                        add_consoles_from_file:console /dev/pts/17 found!

[ply-device-manager.c:793]                ply_device_manager_watch_seats:udev support disabled, creating fallback seat

[ply-device-manager.c:635]    create_seat_for_terminal_and_renderer_type:creating seat for /dev/pts/17 (renderer type: 0) (terminal: /dev/pts/17)

[ply-renderer.c:230]                      ply_renderer_open_plugin:trying to open renderer plugin /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/plymouth/renderers/x11.so

[ply-renderer.c:250]                      ply_renderer_open_plugin:opened renderer plugin /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/plymouth/renderers/x11.so

[ply-seat.c:80]                            add_pixel_displays:Adding displays for 1 heads

[ply-terminal.c:600]                             ply_terminal_open:trying to open terminal '/dev/pts/17'

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 80x24 text cells

[ply-seat.c:113]                             add_text_displays:adding text display for terminal /dev/pts/17

[main.c:1034]                                 on_seat_added:listening for keystrokes

[main.c:1038]                                 on_seat_added:listening for escape

[main.c:1042]                                 on_seat_added:listening for backspace

[main.c:1046]                                 on_seat_added:listening for enter

[main.c:2243]                                          main:entering event loop

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 81x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 82x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 85x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 89x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 92x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 97x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 101x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 104x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 108x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 111x24 text cells

[ply-terminal.c:395]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:looking up terminal text geometry

[ply-terminal.c:409]                 ply_terminal_look_up_geometry:terminal is now 112x24 text cells

[ply-boot-server.c:388]             print_connection_process_identity:connection is from pid 8073 (plymouth --ping) with parent pid 7812 (sudo plymouth --ping)

[ply-event-loop.c:1060]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1064]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:done calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1144]   ply_event_loop_free_destinations_for_source:freeing destination (1, 0x406490, 0x406350) of fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:643]             ply_event_loop_remove_source_node:failed to delete fd 12 from epoll watch list: Bad file descriptor

[ply-boot-server.c:388]             print_connection_process_identity:connection is from pid 10838 (plymouth show-splash) with parent pid 10837 (sudo plymouth show-splash)

[ply-boot-server.c:484]                ply_boot_connection_on_request:got show splash request

[main.c:843]      plymouth_should_ignore_show_splash_calls:checking if plymouth should be running

[main.c:942]                                on_show_splash:at least one seat already open, so loading splash

[main.c:873]           plymouth_should_show_default_splash:checking if plymouth should show default splash

[main.c:901]           plymouth_should_show_default_splash:using default splash because kernel command line has option "splash"

[main.c:476]                           show_default_splash:Showing splash screen

[main.c:495]                           show_default_splash:Trying old scheme for default splash

[main.c:1610]                                    load_theme:Loading boot splash theme '/usr/share/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth'

[ply-key-file.c:171]                       ply_key_file_load_group:trying to load group Plymouth Theme

[ply-key-file.c:171]                       ply_key_file_load_group:trying to load group script

[ply-key-file.c:259]                      ply_key_file_load_groups:key file has no more groups

[main.c:1625]                                    load_theme:attaching plugin to event loop

[main.c:1628]                                    load_theme:attaching progress to plugin

[ply-boot-splash.c:178]                                attach_to_seat:adding pixel displays

[ply-boot-splash.c:191]                                attach_to_seat:Adding 1920x1080 pixel display

[ply-device-manager.c:841]         ply_device_manager_activate_renderers:activating renderers

[ply-boot-splash.c:491]                          ply_boot_splash_show:showing splash screen

[./plugin.c:424]                            show_splash_screen:starting boot animation

[./plugin.c:302]                               start_animation:parsing script file

[./plugin.c:280]                        start_script_animation:executing script file

[ply-device-manager.c:881]         ply_device_manager_activate_keyboards:activating keyboards

[main.c:294]                                 show_messages:not displaying messages, since no boot splash

[ply-event-loop.c:1060]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1064]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:done calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1144]   ply_event_loop_free_destinations_for_source:freeing destination (1, 0x406490, 0x406350) of fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:643]             ply_event_loop_remove_source_node:failed to delete fd 12 from epoll watch list: Bad file descriptor

[ply-boot-server.c:388]             print_connection_process_identity:connection is from pid 13320 (plymouth message --text=hello world) with parent pid 13319 (sudo plymouth message --text=hello world)

[ply-boot-server.c:637]                ply_boot_connection_on_request:got show message request

[main.c:595]                            on_display_message:displaying message hello world

[ply-event-loop.c:1060]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1064]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:done calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1144]   ply_event_loop_free_destinations_for_source:freeing destination (1, 0x406490, 0x406350) of fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:643]             ply_event_loop_remove_source_node:failed to delete fd 12 from epoll watch list: Bad file descriptor

[ply-boot-server.c:388]             print_connection_process_identity:connection is from pid 16361 (plymouth show-splash) with parent pid 16360 (sudo plymouth show-splash)

[ply-boot-server.c:484]                ply_boot_connection_on_request:got show splash request

[main.c:920]                                on_show_splash:show splash called while already shown

[ply-event-loop.c:1060]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1064]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:done calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1144]   ply_event_loop_free_destinations_for_source:freeing destination (1, 0x406490, 0x406350) of fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:643]             ply_event_loop_remove_source_node:failed to delete fd 12 from epoll watch list: Bad file descriptor

[ply-boot-server.c:388]             print_connection_process_identity:connection is from pid 17411 (plymouth pause-progress) with parent pid 17410 (sudo plymouth pause-progress)

[ply-boot-server.c:672]                ply_boot_connection_on_request:got progress pause request

[main.c:665]                             on_progress_pause:pausing progress

[ply-event-loop.c:1060]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1064]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:done calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1144]   ply_event_loop_free_destinations_for_source:freeing destination (1, 0x406490, 0x406350) of fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:643]             ply_event_loop_remove_source_node:failed to delete fd 12 from epoll watch list: Bad file descriptor

[ply-boot-server.c:388]             print_connection_process_identity:connection is from pid 21148 (plymouth show-splash) with parent pid 20299 (sudo plymouth show-splash)

[ply-boot-server.c:484]                ply_boot_connection_on_request:got show splash request

[main.c:920]                                on_show_splash:show splash called while already shown

[ply-event-loop.c:1060]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1064]   ply_event_loop_handle_disconnect_for_source:done calling disconnected_handler 0x406350 for fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:1144]   ply_event_loop_free_destinations_for_source:freeing destination (1, 0x406490, 0x406350) of fd 12

[ply-event-loop.c:643]             ply_event_loop_remove_source_node:failed to delete fd 12 from epoll watch list: Bad file descriptor

[ply-boot-server.c:388]             print_connection_process_identity:connection is from pid 29215 (plymouth --quit) with parent pid 29214 (sudo plymouth --quit)

[ply-boot-server.c:519]                ply_boot_connection_on_request:got quit request

[main.c:1290]                                       on_quit:quitting (retain splash: false)

[main.c:1307]                                       on_quit:system not initialized so skipping saving boot-duration file

[main.c:1566]         tell_systemd_to_stop_printing_details:telling systemd to stop printing details

[main.c:1316]                                       on_quit:closing log

[ply-device-manager.c:901]       ply_device_manager_deactivate_keyboards:deactivating keyboards

[ply-seat.c:185]                  ply_seat_deactivate_keyboard:deactivating keyboard

[main.c:1322]                                       on_quit:unloading splash

[ply-boot-splash.c:689]                   ply_boot_splash_become_idle:telling splash to become idle

[ply-boot-splash.c:668]                                       on_idle:splash now idle

[main.c:1202]                           on_boot_splash_idle:boot splash idle

[main.c:1209]                           on_boot_splash_idle:hiding splash

[ply-device-manager.c:861]       ply_device_manager_deactivate_renderers:deactivating renderers

[ply-seat.c:200]                  ply_seat_deactivate_renderer:deactivating renderer

[ply-event-loop.c:951]      ply_event_loop_stop_watching_for_timeout:multiple matching timeouts found for removal

[main.c:1214]                           on_boot_splash_idle:quitting splash

[main.c:1070]                                   quit_splash:quiting splash

[main.c:1072]                                   quit_splash:freeing splash

[ply-boot-splash.c:406]                          ply_boot_splash_free:freeing splash

[ply-event-loop.c:965]      ply_event_loop_stop_watching_for_timeout:no matching timeout found for removal

[ply-boot-splash.c:385]                             detach_from_seats:detaching from seats

[ply-boot-splash.c:110]                              detach_from_seat:removing keyboard

[ply-boot-splash.c:116]                              detach_from_seat:removing pixel displays

[ply-boot-splash.c:131]                              detach_from_seat:Removing 1920x1080 pixel display

[ply-boot-splash.c:139]                              detach_from_seat:removing text displays

[ply-boot-splash.c:153]                              detach_from_seat:Removing 112x24 text display

[ply-device-manager.c:901]       ply_device_manager_deactivate_keyboards:deactivating keyboards

[main.c:1081]                                   quit_splash:Not retaining splash, so deallocating VT

[ply-terminal.c:919]                    ply_terminal_deactivate_vt:terminal is not for a VT

[ply-terminal.c:669]                            ply_terminal_close:restoring color palette

[ply-terminal.c:673]                            ply_terminal_close:stop watching tty fd

[ply-event-loop.c:759]               ply_event_loop_stop_watching_fd:stopping watching fd 11

[ply-event-loop.c:775]               ply_event_loop_stop_watching_fd:removing destination for fd 11

[ply-event-loop.c:784]               ply_event_loop_stop_watching_fd:no more destinations remaing for fd 11, removing source

[ply-terminal.c:679]                            ply_terminal_close:stop watching SIGWINCH signal

[ply-terminal.c:683]                            ply_terminal_close:setting buffered input

[main.c:1216]                           on_boot_splash_idle:quitting program

[main.c:1144]                                  quit_program:cleaning up devices

[ply-device-manager.c:521]                       ply_device_manager_free:freeing device manager

[ply-device-manager.c:422]                                    free_seats:removing seats

[main.c:957]                               on_seat_removed:no longer listening for keystrokes

[main.c:961]                               on_seat_removed:no longer listening for escape

[main.c:965]                               on_seat_removed:no longer listening for backspace

[main.c:969]                               on_seat_removed:no longer listening for enter

[ply-seat.c:307]                           free_pixel_displays:freeing 1 pixel displays

[ply-seat.c:328]                            free_text_displays:freeing 1 text displays

[main.c:1147]                                  quit_program:exiting event loop

[ply-boot-server.c:350]          ply_boot_connection_on_quit_complete:quit complete

[main.c:2245]                                          main:exited event loop

[ply-boot-splash.c:406]                          ply_boot_splash_free:freeing splash

[main.c:2255]                                          main:freeing terminal session

[main.c:2261]                                          main:exiting with code 0

Update initramfs

After making any of the above changes run:

sudo update-initramfs -u -k all

ok by looking at your screenshot, I figured somethings out.

• first: you doctored around alot,


• second: the symbolic link "default.plymouth" is only pointing to the folder not a *.plymouth file therein.

So for a quick and dirty fix lets use the standard ubuntu one:

• make sure it is installed: sudo apt install plymouth-theme-ubuntu-logo


• remove the old symlinks:
  sudo rm /usr/share/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth and sudo rm /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth


• now let's recreate them: sudo ln -s /usr/share/plymouth/themes/ubuntu-logo/ubuntu-logo.plymouth /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth and sudo ln -s /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth /usr/share/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth
  

As said this is only a dirty fix, for more keep commenting ;)