Copilot , i want a picture or an image of a penguin appear during the booting up of my DEBIAN 13 machine and my ZORIN OS 18 machine and my UBUNTU 24.04 machine . Copilot , you have gave me several methods of doing it but after a thorough evaluation of all the methods , Grandpa Norizan feels that "The Method 4" seems a little bit easy to digest........ HA-HA-HA-HA(Laugh Out Loud).........but i still need a little bit of understanding on how to do it...........Copilot , when you mentioned ................. Edit:sudo nano /etc/default/grubUse:GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"Install Plymouth.Create a large high-quality Tux image.Set the Tux image as a Plymouth splash.Run:sudo update-initramfs -usudo update-grub.......then REBOOT........... Copilot , could you please give me in full details ......line by line ......or step-by-step procedure on how to do it because i am still quite blurr here !........THANKS for your answer.

WHOOOOAAAA Grandpa Norizan! 😄🐧

HA-HA-HA-HA! I think your choice of Method 4 is a good one! Instead of looking at a blank black screen during boot, you can make your Debian 13, Zorin OS 18, and Ubuntu 24.04 proudly display our friend Tux the Penguin!

Let me explain it in a much slower and friendlier way.

What is Plymouth?

Plymouth is the software that displays the graphical splash screen while Linux is booting.

Normally, Ubuntu and Zorin display their own logos.

We are going to:

Install Plymouth.
Create a Tux image.
Tell Plymouth to use that image.
Rebuild the boot files.
Reboot.

STEP 1 - Open Terminal

Press:

Ctrl + Alt + T

or open Terminal from your menu.

STEP 2 - Check Whether Plymouth Is Installed

Type:

plymouth --version

If it shows a version number, Plymouth is already installed.

If not, install it.

For Debian 13:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install plymouth plymouth-themes

For Ubuntu 24.04:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install plymouth plymouth-themes

For Zorin OS 18:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install plymouth plymouth-themes

STEP 3 - Download a Tux Penguin Image

Create a directory:

mkdir ~/tux

Put your Tux image there.

For example:

/home/norizan/tux/tux.png

The image should ideally be:

PNG format
1920×1080 or larger
Transparent background (optional)

Example filename:

tux.png

STEP 4 - Create a Plymouth Theme Folder

Type:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/plymouth/themes/tux

Copy your penguin image:

sudo cp ~/tux/tux.png /usr/share/plymouth/themes/tux/

STEP 5 - Create the Plymouth Theme File

Open Nano:

sudo nano /usr/share/plymouth/themes/tux/tux.plymouth

Paste:

[Plymouth Theme]

Name=Tux Penguin

Description=Tux Splash Screen

ModuleName=script

[script]

ImageDir=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/tux

ScriptFile=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/tux/tux.script

Save.

Press:

Ctrl+O

Enter

Ctrl+X

STEP 6 - Create the Script File

Type:

sudo nano /usr/share/plymouth/themes/tux/tux.script

Paste:

screen_width = Window.GetWidth();

screen_height = Window.GetHeight();

my_image = Image("tux.png");

sprite = Sprite(my_image);

sprite.SetX((screen_width - my_image.GetWidth()) / 2);

sprite.SetY((screen_height - my_image.GetHeight()) / 2);

Save:

Ctrl+O

Enter

Ctrl+X

STEP 7 - Activate the Theme

Run:

sudo update-alternatives --install

/usr/share/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth

default.plymouth

/usr/share/plymouth/themes/tux/tux.plymouth

100

Then:

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

You may see:

1 tux.plymouth

2 spinner.plymouth

3 bgrt.plymouth

Choose:

Press Enter.

STEP 8 - Edit GRUB

Open:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

Find:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"

Change it to:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

Save and exit.

STEP 9 - Update GRUB

Run:

sudo update-grub

You should see something like:

Generating grub configuration file ...

Done

STEP 10 - Rebuild Initramfs

This step is VERY IMPORTANT because it embeds the Plymouth theme into the boot process.

Run:

sudo update-initramfs -u

Wait until it finishes.

STEP 11 - Reboot

Type:

sudo reboot

What Should Happen?

When your machine starts:

BIOS screen appears.
GRUB menu appears.
Plymouth starts.
🐧 Tux Penguin appears in the center of the screen.
Debian 13 / Ubuntu 24.04 / Zorin OS 18 continues loading.
Login screen appears.

WHOOOOAAAAA! 😄

Grandpa Norizan's Easier Method

Actually, before doing all the customization above, I suggest trying this much safer experiment first:

Check what Plymouth themes already exist:

ls /usr/share/plymouth/themes

If you already see a theme you like, simply switch to it:

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

No scripting required!

Then:

sudo update-initramfs -u

sudo reboot

This lets Grandpa Norizan practice with Plymouth before creating a custom Tux theme.

🐧 My personal recommendation: Try this first on Debian 13. Once you successfully get a penguin splash screen working there, you can repeat exactly the same procedure on Zorin OS 18 and Ubuntu 24.04. It is much easier to learn on one machine before deploying it to all three machines!

GOOD LUCK, Grandpa Norizan! 🐧🚀😄

Hi Copilot , when i checked all the themes inside the /usr/share/plymouth/themes ........ inside my ZORIN OS 18 machine .......the contents inside look something like this ...........root@norizan-GP70-2PE:/usr/share/plymouth/themes # ls -alh total 68K drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4.0K Okt 28 23:44 . drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K Sep 20 15:48 .. drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 20 15:48 bgrt lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 39 Sep 14 16:11 default.grub -> /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth.grub lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 34 Sep 14 16:11 default.plymouth -> /etc/alternatives/default.plymouth drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 20 15:48 details drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Okt 28 23:44 fade-in drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Okt 28 23:44 glow drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Okt 28 23:44 script drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Okt 28 23:44 solar drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Okt 28 23:44 spinfinity drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 12K Sep 20 15:48 spinner drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 20 15:48 text lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 31 Sep 14 16:11 text.plymouth -> /etc/alternatives/text.plymouth drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 20 15:48 tribar drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Sep 20 15:48 ubuntu-text drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Apr 15 2026 zorin-logo drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K Apr 15 2026 zorin-text root@norizan-GP70-2PE:/usr/share/plymouth/themes# ..................... Copilot , i don't think all of them ......or ....... all of these themes .......will display the picture of a penguin when booting up.........don't you think so , Copilot..........Could you please shed some light on this.......THANKS.

WHOOOOAAAA Grandpa Norizan! 😄🐧

You are absolutely right!

After looking at the list you showed me:

bgrt

details

fade-in

glow

script

solar

spinfinity

spinner

text

tribar

ubuntu-text

zorin-logo

zorin-text

I do not see anything that suggests a Penguin (Tux) theme is already installed.

What you have are mostly the standard Plymouth themes:

spinner → spinning animation
zorin-logo → Zorin logo
zorin-text → Zorin text
bgrt → firmware/UEFI-style splash screen
text → text-based boot
ubuntu-text → Ubuntu-style text boot
tribar → animated bars
solar → animated circle/sun style
spinfinity → animated spinner

None of those normally display our friend Tux the Penguin. 🐧

So your observation is very sharp, Grandpa Norizan!

Let's investigate a little more

From the Terminal, run:

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

You might see something like:

Selection Path

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

0 /usr/share/plymouth/themes/zorin-logo/zorin-logo.plymouth

1 /usr/share/plymouth/themes/spinner/spinner.plymouth

2 /usr/share/plymouth/themes/bgrt/bgrt.plymouth

If you post the output here, we can see exactly which themes are available for selection.

Another Interesting Discovery

The folder:

script

caught my eye. 👀

Sometimes the Plymouth package includes a generic scripting engine for creating custom splash themes.

Let's see what is inside.

Run:

ls -alh /usr/share/plymouth/themes/script

and show me the output.

Grandpa Norizan's Simplest Penguin Method

Honestly?

Instead of creating a completely new Plymouth theme from scratch, a much easier approach is:

1. Copy the Zorin theme

sudo cp -r /usr/share/plymouth/themes/zorin-logo

/usr/share/plymouth/themes/tux

2. Replace the Zorin logo image

with a PNG image of:

Tux Penguin

3. Rename the theme files

so Plymouth thinks it is a new theme called:

tux

4. Select it

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

5. Rebuild

sudo update-initramfs -u

sudo update-grub

6. Reboot

sudo reboot

This method is usually easier because the animation and configuration are already working. You are basically replacing the Zorin logo with a penguin image rather than building an entire theme from zero.

Before We Touch Anything...

Let's first identify exactly how the current Zorin splash screen works.

Could you run these two commands and show me the output?

ls -alh /usr/share/plymouth/themes/zorin-logo

and

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

Once I see those outputs, I can explain exactly which file contains the logo image and show you the safest way to replace it with a giant 🐧 Tux Penguin.

HA-HA-HA! I think Grandpa Norizan is getting very close to having Debian, Ubuntu, and Zorin proudly booting with a Linux Penguin greeting him every morning! 🐧🚀

A Linux , Windows , Android , 4G , 5G , AI User

Wednesday, 28 October 2026

Linux Operating System DEBIAN 13 _ Booting up with a picture of a Penguin _ 2

What is Plymouth?

STEP 1 - Open Terminal

STEP 2 - Check Whether Plymouth Is Installed

STEP 3 - Download a Tux Penguin Image

STEP 4 - Create a Plymouth Theme Folder

STEP 5 - Create the Plymouth Theme File

STEP 6 - Create the Script File

STEP 7 - Activate the Theme

STEP 8 - Edit GRUB

STEP 9 - Update GRUB

STEP 10 - Rebuild Initramfs

STEP 11 - Reboot

What Should Happen?

Grandpa Norizan's Easier Method

Let's investigate a little more

Another Interesting Discovery

Grandpa Norizan's Simplest Penguin Method

1. Copy the Zorin theme

2. Replace the Zorin logo image

3. Rename the theme files

4. Select it

5. Rebuild

6. Reboot

Before We Touch Anything...

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