Tuesday, 10 November 2026

Trouble-shooting as to why the Linux OS "ZORIN OS 18" did not get the Knoppix9 TUX/PENGUIN "Center Screen" Look when booting up

 


sudo update-alternatives --display default.plymouth

You should see something similar to:

default.plymouth - auto mode
  link best version is ...
  link currently points to ...
/usr/share/plymouth/themes/knoppix-tux/knoppix-tux.plymouth

The important line is:

link currently points to

If it points to something like:

spinner.plymouth

or

zorin-logo.plymouth

then your custom theme is not actually selected


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ls -l /usr/share/plymouth/themes/knoppix-tux/

You should see:

knoppix-tux.plymouth
knoppix-tux.script
tux.png

Especially verify that:

tux.png

exists.

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Run:

sudo plymouthd --debug
sudo plymouth --show-splash

Then in another terminal:

sudo plymouth quit

If the screen remains completely black, then Plymouth may be failing to load the script.

________________________________________________________________________________________________


Check for errors:

sudo journalctl -b | grep plymouth

or

sudo journalctl -b -p err

Sometimes Plymouth silently reports:

cannot load image

or

syntax error

Inside the script.

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One Thing That Worries Me

Looking at the script you posted:

tux_image = Image("tux.png");

In some Plymouth versions, the image must be loaded using the full path.

Try changing:

tux_image = Image("tux.png");

to

tux_image = Image("/usr/share/plymouth/themes/knoppix-tux/tux.png");

Then rebuild:

sudo update-initramfs -u
sudo update-grub

and reboot.





Another Very Common Problem

Zorin OS 18 uses modern graphics drivers.

Sometimes Plymouth starts in:

BGRT Theme

which displays the manufacturer's logo (ASUS, Acer, MSI, Dell, HP).

In such systems Plymouth is actually running but your custom theme never gets displayed because the firmware logo takes over.

To check:

plymouth-set-default-theme -l

Tell me the complete output.

If you see:

bgrt

that's an important clue.





My personal suspicion right now is about 70% that your custom Plymouth theme is either:

  • not actually selected as the active theme, or
  • not loading tux.png correctly, or
  • being overridden by the BGRT firmware splash.

The output of these three commands will probably reveal the culprit:

sudo update-alternatives --display default.plymouth

ls -l /usr/share/plymouth/themes/knoppix-tux/

plymouth-set-default-theme -l







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