Recipe 12.16. Creating a GRUB Splash Image

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12.16.1 Problem

You're totally bored with the default GRUB splash screen that came with your distribution, and you'd like to use an image that you created.

12.16.2 Solution

You can create a GRUB splash image from any kind of image file. You must convert the image to a specific format and size, then make an entry in menu.lst that points to the image.

GRUB splash images must meet these specs:

xpm.gz file type
640 480
14 colors only

Start with an image of your own creation, at least 640 480, in any graphical file format. Use ImageMagick and gzip to do the rest. In this example, we'll convert a .jpg:

$ convert -depth 14 -resize 640x480 image.jpg newimage.xpm && gzip newimage.xpm

Move the new file, newimage.xpm.gz, to the /boot directory. Edit menu.lst, and add (or edit) an entry for the splash image:

# Display a splash screen splashimage (hd0,5)/boot/newimage.xpm.gz

When you reboot, the GRUB menu will be adorned with your nice, new custom splash screen.

12.16.3 Discussion

ImageMagick does not create a backup of your original image, so you'll probably want to work from a copy.

ImageMagick is a suite of command-line utilities:

animate

composite

conjure

convert

display

identify

import

mogrify

montage

There is no "imagemagick" command. See imagemagick(1) for full details.

Try a Google search on "grub splashimage" to find all sorts of interesting online splash image galleries, as well as tips and tricks for creating them.

12.16.4 See Also

imagemagick(1), gzip(1), info grub
The GRUB Manual (http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html)

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