find or create a wallpaper that will be used for the splash screen & save it as PNG (must be a PNG!)
create the following directory & copy the wallpaper (lets call it splash.png) into this location
sudo mkdir /usr/share/plymouth/themes/simple
edit the plymouth configuration that will be used at boot
sudo nano /usr/share/plymouth/themes/simple/simple.plymouth
(add these lines)
[Plymouth Theme]
Name=Simple
Description=Wallpaper only
ModuleName=script
[script]
ImageDir=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/simple
ScriptFile=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/simple/simple.script
(save and exit --> Ctrl-O, enter, Ctrl-X, enter)
edit the plymouth script that will set the wallpaper according to the current screen resolution in use
sudo nano /usr/share/plymouth/themes/simple/simple.script
wallpaper_image = Image("splash.png");
screen_width = Window.GetWidth();
screen_height = Window.GetHeight();
resized_wallpaper_image = wallpaper_image.Scale(screen_width,screen_height);
wallpaper_sprite = Sprite(resized_wallpaper_image);
wallpaper_sprite.SetZ(-100);
save and exit --> Ctrl-O, enter, Ctrl-X, enter)
install the required packages/tools
sudo apt-get install plymouth plymouth-theme-ubuntu-logo plymouth-label
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/share/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth default.plymouth /usr/share/plymouth/themes/simple/simple.plymouth 100
sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth (select simple from the list using corresponding number)
sudo update-initramfs -u
(reboot to see the changes)