I'm looking to add a personalized touch to my laptop's boot-up process by having a dedicated video play while it starts. I've noticed that some devices like Samsung have a logo video and an iconic startup sound. I'd love to replicate that experience on my laptop. If a solution like Plymouth isn't fast enough, I'm thinking about starting with an image and then transitioning to video once the system is ready. I want to create something visually engaging to distract me during boot-up, especially since my HDD is a bit slow and I often see TTY first. Has anyone developed a program for this, or does anyone have tips for getting a startup video to play?
5 Answers
Plymouth can indeed handle animations or videos during startup, but I wouldn't get your hopes too high. Most modern systems boot fast enough that the video won't even finish before the OS is ready to go. Also, if you're looking to see progress, just watching the init text might be your best bet. It's a bit less flashy but does the job!
You mentioned wanting to see a video during the boot process. Honestly, I understand the desire, but in most cases for newer computers, the boot time is so quick that it's not worth it to try and include a video. If Plymouth isn't cutting it for your needs, maybe consider using a flashy loading screen while it boots in the background if that's even possible with your setup.
Just to throw this out there, anyone who downvotes help posts like this isn’t contributing anything positive. These discussions can help future users too! Downvotes only hurt the visibility of valuable information. Just had to say it.
It's great that you want to personalize your startup! Just to clarify, how long does your system actually take to boot? Generally, adding a video could extend boot time because the necessary libraries need time to load. For example, on my setup, it takes only a couple of seconds after the kernel loads to get to the login screen, so I'd end up waiting longer for the video than I'd save time booting. If your laptop takes about 16-27 seconds to boot with Plymouth, that might be enough time for a short video or two, depending on how important boot time is to you.
By the way, it’s important to give clear info about your distro and hardware when asking for tech help. It'll help others provide useful replies! But yeah, startups can be quick these days, and often those animations don’t add much besides a few more seconds of wait time.
Yeah, sometimes the simplest solution is the best. But if you're really set on a video, maybe just try a really short one!