Bug with the boot logo for 18.04 to 21.04 Xubuntu or any Ubuntu Derivative.

[Ajay Gumma]

So i followed most of the stuff i read on the forums and finally had to post this.

I figured the Links were broken so we have to install a version of the kernel similar or the same as the one we are shown in cubic. which in my case was 5.4.0-91.

so here is how i proceeded :

1. loaded a .iso file. apt update.
2. apt install linux-headers-5.4.0-91 linux-headers-5.4.0-91-generic linux-image-5.4.0-91-generic

3.cd /usr/share/plymouth/theme
4. paste my plymouth theme in this folder which is just a plain image and it works since i did the change on a regular install of xubuntu i use now.

5.update-alternatives --install /usr/share/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth default.plymouth /usr/share/plymouth/themes/ambrosia-simple/simple-image.plymouth 200

#( i also tried 100, 150, 160)

update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

chose the plymouth theme i wanted.

6. update-initramfs -u -k all

i then went and chose the kernel which DID NOT SAY this will be used for bootstrapping. I chose the second one i installed.

after making the iso it gives me a bug everytime, it just goes to the Xubuntu Text logo.

so i did :

 apt remove plymouth-themes-xubuntu-logo

apt remove plymouth-themes-xubuntu-text

it then goes to the ubuntu text logo.

so i tried a apt remove plymouth-themes-ubuntu-text

and i also did apt autoremove. (PS i also tried without auto remove.)

Same error.
it would not load my plymouth theme.

and in the case i removed all themes except mine. it would flat out fail the install process itself. it would take me to a login screen.
it would display a bunch of errors instead of the plymouth theme. and finally dump me when i tried to install.

i'm kinda outta options so posting this as a last resort after exhausting all my options. Do try to help if possible. Thanks.

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

Ajay,

There's two boot themes...
# 1) Shown during live ISO boot.
# 2) Shown during boot of your installed system.

I assume you are trying to get # 2 to work?

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

let me clarify.

i have made the iso. and created a bootable media or a VM.

The Live ISO boot is when it is pre-installation. i.e # 1 that does not work.

The install fails and in some cases it installs but all of my changes are reversed and a vanilla build of the OS is loaded and the install itself fails.

So getting to #2 is out of the question.

But in most cases i have found it not to work and usually default to the Text theme or flat out bug out and just go to the login screen.

That's what's been happening.

I know i should change the kernel cause the symlinks are broken. but honestly when i did not change the kernel. I got all my changes incorporated and the Boot anims too changed post install.

It was only the Live ISO boot that did not change.

I have a issues with #1 and #2. and the Install failing as a consequence of this Plymouth bug.

Hope that clarifies it, any further info please let me know, i am available.

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

i can attest to the fact that the software overall is flawless. I have been able to change almost everything. Logos, Ubiquity, Slideshow, add software and remove software, add PPAs and remove ppas, everything works but this one small bug seems to derail the whole build for some odd reason and i tried to even go to the extent that i tried to unmkinitramfs and mkinitramfs and remake the initrd file itself in the iso to add my files in the main folder of the unzipped initrd file to replace the inbuilt plymouth but the file is not re integratable into the iso even with a multitude of tools.

The only last option i had was to post this. i tried :

1. Installing the new kernel
2. Leaving it on the default kernel.
3. Updating the initrd
4. updating the initramfs with -u -k all
5. changing the plymouth themes.
6. Making sure to not touch other files and just edit the plymouth theme to see if that works,
7. reading documentation of plymouth(as rare as it is) and scouring all over the web for these topics.

i found out that i need to update the kernel, update the default plymouth files, set the theme as the one we want, update initramfs with the right parameters, and set the right kernel.

i have tried with the lz4, gzip and every other compression format to generate the iso in case that would be a reason.

Nothing worked.

So this is my last option. to report it. After 210 failed builds and 30 days later. :)

FYI i tried this with Xubuntu 18.04 and 21.04. Same results. The bug persists across versions and across types of the distro. i.e Lubuntu. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mate and Xubuntu. and even in other derivatives like mint.

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

OK.
So the customized Live ISO does not boot.

You are doing two things:
    (a) Installing a new Kernel
    (b) Trying to change the Plymouth theme

Let's see if we can get (a)to work first.

I'll do the following test...

    1. Customize: ubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso
    2. Install kernel: 5.4.0-91
    3. Select the new kernel as (5.4.0-91) the ISO boot kernel
    4. Try to boot into the customized ISO

If there is a bug with Cubic while generating a new ISO with the selected kernel, this will help identify it.

Would you please conduct this same test on your end, so we can compare?

If this test passes, the next step will be to look at what happens when Plymouth is changed.

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

Sure on it right now.update you in 10 Mins.

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

Ok so i made the iso with the kernel changed. here is what i observed.

1. even though i did not touch the plymouth theme, the Normal Live iso uses the text mode.
2. I spun up a vm and tried it there as well and put it on a balena burnt usb on a test machine i have. same results.

I have attached the picture which shows that i selected the other kernel.

apt install linux-headers-5.4.0-91 linux-headers-5.4.0-91-generic linux-image-5.4.0-91-generic

used this to install the kernel in the chroot screen. did not do any other changes.

The build installs. and retains the minimum changes i made, i.e gdebi stays installed. and the system installs but the Boot logo at live install time and post install are set to the text mode. and even the normal boot anim is replaced by the text logo for some odd reason.

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

I did the same thing, and it worked fine for me.

Do you see a "Test" button on the Finish page in Cubic?
(You can just click that to quickly test your ISO, so you don't have boot into an external virtualization tool or flash the *.iso file to a USB).

The ~only~ difference with my test was, I installed...

    $ apt update
    $ apt install linux-headers-5.4.0-91-generic linux-image-5.4.0-91-generic

I do not see a package named "linux-headers-5.4.0-91" in 18.04.

If you try to install "linux-headers-5.4.0-91", it installs "linux-headers-5.4.0-91-lowlatency". I wonder if this has a negative consequence?

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

It does install low latency header kernel. could be that as well. let me check. I tried the test button but it has its own issue, it wont work at times and straight up quits the program. That's a problem from another time. lemme check the main thing first.

Could be that the negative consequence of the low latency header as well. let me try that too once. be back in 5 mins.

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

...And you are using a an unmodified file "xubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso" in a NEW Cubic project?

Which OS and version are you running on your host machine ?
What kind of CPU do you have?

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

ok so i did what you did. ok. I did not add the linux-headers-5.4.0-91

while installing it did this in the end :

Processing triggers for linux-image-5.4.0-91-generic (5.4.0-91.102~18.04.1) ...
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.4.0-91-generic
cryptsetup: WARNING: could not determine root device from /etc/fstab

and when i pressed test. i got a could not generate test image error.

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

i am using a unmodified clean Xubuntu 18.04. and i tried this on a AMD machine and a Intel machine.

The AMD machine i have has a AMD A9 9420 to be specific, Intel has a Intel Core 2 Duo T6600.

My Host machines run 18.04 and 21.04. Intel has the latest build. its the older 18.04 on the host AMD Machine.

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

The error "cryptsetup: WARNING: could not determine root device from /etc/fstab" is pretty normal for a chroot environment. You can ignore that.

I didn't understand your last comment, "i got a could not generate test image error."

You are still not able to boot into the generated ISO ?

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

i attached the image. when i press the blue "TEST" button. to test the iso it says it cannot test the image file.

The iso is generated. but it cant test it when i press the button. at least it said so this time. There have been times when on 21.04 it straight up closes the program itself.

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

I get to the final screen. Where it says TEST on the top left of the panel. and there is a check box to just keep the iso and md5 and delete the rest of the file and finish the project. The iso gets generated but it wont allow the generated file to be tested.

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

(Your Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 and AMD A9 9420 machines may not be able to run the emulator, which is why the Test button doesn't work for you).

...Getting back to your current problem, I will have to install Xubuntu 18.04.5* in a virtual machine. Then I will install Cubic, and redo the test from comment # 4.

This will take me a bit of time.

How much memory do you have (so I set my virtual machine with the same amount of memory, to make the test as accurate as possible).

* Cubic needs an updated 18.04 installation. Version 18.04.5 ships with the updated packages, so I will use that, so I don't have to install updates in my VM, just to save time.

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

And i have tested this same set of procedures on a Ryzen 3 machine, Core i3 machine and Core 2 duo, Sempron, Phenom, Pentium and also a A Series Laptop and PC from my friends and my own. I have had a pretty diverse test environment of hardware in case to remove any doubt that it was due to a hardware issue from my end. same issue persists across hardware from different vendors.

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

i currently use 18.04.5 and also i have 16GB of ram in my host machine i usually give about 4096mb to 8400mb to the VM which is more than sufficient. and 80GB of Virtual HDD space.

You're free to try in the VM and let me know, sorry if i caused a inconvenience. i just needed to get this build done for my work. Thanks a lot. i appreciate your efforts a lot. Please take your time.

I tried to install the new iso again in the VM. Same issue persists.

The main logo is never loaded. Only the Text Logo is loaded. At live time and after install as well.

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

Responding to your comment # 14...

You can click the check box if you need to get back some disk space.

Exit Cubic and test your *.iso file in a virtualization tool like Virtual Box.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You can also try executing the following to try and start a virtual machine...

$ qemu-system-x86_64 -M pc -m 4096M -display gtk,zoom-to-fit=on -device intel-hda -device hda-duplex -drive format=raw,file="path_to_your_custom.iso"

Replace path_to_your_custom.iso with the correct file path. This virtual machine uses 4GB (4096M) of memory. You can adjust that depending on what you have free on your machine.

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

Lemme Show you the VM i am using.

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

Trials in both VMs done. Same issues persist. Text Logo Appears in Live mode and Post Install Mode. Any further information i am availiable. Do let me know kindly. Thank you once again.

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

If Text Logo Appears in Live mode and Post Install Mode, then your ISO is ~indeed~ booting up, or it just doesn't boot?

[Ajay Gumma (ag17india)]

Yes it is booting up. But since we haven't modified the Plymouth themes it must show the regular boot logo must it not? Or does it always default to the text logo and skip the default normal boot anim of the iso? The regular boot anim of the Xubuntu distro is the spinner based Xubuntu logo theme. That doesn't show up

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

I thought it wasn't booting, because Cubic was not generating a working ISO!
I would say this is not a bug in Cubic.

I'm going to move this over to the Question / Answer section...

[Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard)]

The issues are:
1) How to enable the graphical boot loader in the customized ISO?
2) How to customize Plymouth?