Install And Change Plymouth Themes In Ubuntu Using Zorin Splash Screen Manager

If you want a simple Plymouth manager to easily change, install and remove Plymouth themes, try the the new Zorin Splash Screen Manager.

Besides options to install / remove and change the Plymouth theme, Zorin Splash Screen Manager also allows you to change the theme text (for a text mode Plymouth).

There are 2 features I for one would like to see in Zorin Splash Screen Manager: a preview of the already installed themes (thumbnails) and a button to run Plymouth on the desktop so you can see exactly how the whole animation looks without having to restart your computer (that can be done by using these commands: "sudo plymouthd" and then "plymouth --show-splash" and to quit: "sudo plymouth quit"). But considering this is the very first version of Zorin Splash Screen Manager, it has enough time to improve and add the features I mentioned, among others.

Using this application is very simple: once installed, run it from System > Administration > Splash Screen Manager. To install a theme, select the appropiate button in Splash Screen Manager and then browse for the Plymouth theme .tar.gz file (you can find lots of Plymouth themes @ Gnome Look). Once you install some theme(s) you like, click the "Change default theme" button and select the .plymouth file for the theme you want to use (Splash Screen Manager will automatically open your Plymouth themes system folder).

Download Zorin Splash Screen Manager


If you're having issues with Plymouth and proprietary ATI / Nvidia graphics drivers, try this script.

Thanks to WebUpd8 reader Crammed Shelfish for the tip!

Ubuntu Lucid Lynx To Switch From Usplash To Plymouth

Ubuntu 10.04 codename Lucid Lynx will ditch the Usplash and will switch to Plymouth for the boot splash screen. The main reason for this is to provide a flicker-free experience on Intel, NVIDIA and ATI hardware.

In case you don't know, Plymouth is a project from Red Hat to provide a flicker-free graphical boot process. It relies on kernel mode setting to set the native resolution of the display as early as possible, then provides an eye-candy splash screen up to the login manager.


Head over to the Ubuntu Wiki for more info.

Epidermis Theme Manager For Linux Automatically Downloads and Installs Themes

Epidermis theme manager is an open source GTK application for managing, automatically downloading and installing themes of various types, in order to transform the look of your Ubuntu desktop, from the moment you turn it on until the moment you turn it off.

Basically, Epidermis can be used to install new themes (Metacity, GTK), wallpapers, icons, cursors, spash, xsplash, GRUB and GDM.

Version 4.0 which was released yesterday does not work for Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10, but version 4.0.1 fixes this.

Changes in version 4.0:

* Added support for Xsplash themes.
* Removed support for Usplash themes.
* Skin previews are displayed.
* Added autogenerate button for Epidermis Creator so that previews of pigments can be automatically created.
* Help message is displayed if no skins are installed.
* License updated to GPLv3.


Download Epidermis 4.0.1 for Ubuntu (.deb) | Download other versions or for other Linux distributions.

Similar applications: Gnome Colors, Gnome-Art and Gnome-Art Next Generation.