Ubuntu Wiki

• Launchpad Entry: mobile-arm-splashscreen-support

• Created: 2009-06-11

• Contributors: OliverGrawert, Michael Casadevall

• Packages affected: usplash

Summary

usplash should be supported for graphical boot on ARM (which is needed if fsck is run on the HDD)

Release Note

usplash is now supported in Ubuntu.

Rationale

usplash is supported on all other major Ubuntu desktop architectures (i386, amd64, lpia, powerpc). It should be supported on armel.

Design

• usplash already supports displaying over a framebuffer (used on powerpc)
• Its a matter of determining why usplash doesn't currently work on any ARM hardware we have

Implementation

• usplash might be removed from initramfs as it appears at the same time out of initramfs on fast arches; in our case initramfs / kernel startup is really slow so we might want to keep it in here
• find out if we need special casing to keep usplash in initramfs if the armel
  • platform provides to be slower during boot
  • according to cjwatson that should be conditional based on architectures anyway, so no special casing is needed

Test/Demo Plan

• Boot Ubuntu/armel on supported hardware, see if usplash shows up

Unresolved issues

• Usplash should just work on Babbage/armel; no idea why it doesn't

BOF Notes

Goal

• Splash support for Karmic ARM SoCs (e.g. Babbage 2)

Current situation and changes planned for Karmic

• Plymouth not a requirement for KMS -- usplash works fine
• Usplash should just work on Babbage/armel; no idea why it doesn't
• KMS should just work on fb
• It's important to keep KMS support for the future (i.e. when we move to real

  • drivers for the graphics on ARM SoCs)

• usplash might be removed from initramfs as it appears at the same time out of
  • initramfs on fast arches; in our case initramfs / kernel startup is really slow so we might want to keep it in here

ACTIONS

• debug usplash on armel
  • aparrently the issue is not in usplash itself but in /usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/init-top/framebuffer or the kernel config
• find out if we need special casing to keep usplash in initramfs if the armel
  • platform provides to be slower during boot
  • according to cjwatson that should be conditional based on architectures anyway, so no special casing is needed

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