How do I set up a background image for console?
Install FBTerm to have a colored Background image on console
Compile fbv - FrameBufferViewer
First of all you need to compile fbv to be able to print the background image to fbterm.
To prepare this go to your console and enter
sudo apt-get install build-essential checkinstall make
Next we need to obtain the fbv source. You can get it from the author's website
Now extract the source with
tar xfv fbv-1.0b.tar.gz
go to the directory and then type ./configure
.
as you see there are some dependencies
- libungif
- libjpeg and
- libpng
it's a bit complicated to locate them on Ubuntu. Just enter:
sudo apt-get install lipungif lipjpeg-dev libpng12-dev
Now you are ready to compile fbv "Framebuffer Viewer". Enter ./configure
again.
now enter
sudo checkinstall
Enter Y
for the question after documentation files.
Now enter Framebuffer Viewer
and hit return once more.
enter 3 to change the version string to `1.0b' hit return
enter 10 to specify dependencies in a comma separated list. These are the libs named above
libungif.libjpeg,-dev,libpng12-dev
now you can confirm the rest of the prompts with return.
Well done, you've compiled fbv from the source and installed it to your system.
But we like to install FbTerm so this will be the next step
Install FBTerm and setup a background image
First we simple install the fbterm package with apt-get
sudo apt-get install fbterm
To grant access to VESA for fbterm we need to add the user to the video group as explained above. So we need to enter
sudo usermod -a -G video $USER
Now we need to create a shell script that starts fbterm and setup a background image for us. See FBTerm Man Pages. As you can see this is the part of the installation that needs fbv.
Copy and paste the bash script to a new text file or just rewrite the lines and save it with nano.
For example you can save it to /etc/fbterm
.
To make sure it is executable chmod
it with
sudo chmod 755 /etc/fbterm
The effect of this script is if you go to /etc
and enter ./fbterm path of image
, fbterm will start and show up with the given background image.
If you try it you'll notice that fbterm prints an error message about the keymap and not given privileges. This is because fbterm has no root access yet.
To avoid this we'll need to set up another sh script.
The good part of this second script is you could specify a background image in here. But let's take a look.
#!/bin/sh
# This gives fbterm access to change the keymap
setcap 'cap_sys_tty_config+ep' /usr/bin/fbterm
/etc/fbterm ~/Pictures/background.png
cd
exit
Now we will chmod
this script too
sudo chmod 755 /init.d/fbterm
For now I'm not sure if the script works completely. Enter
sudo setcap 'cap_sys_tty_config+ep' /usr/bin/fbterm
to make it really sure
Start FBTerm right after login
Finally we need to start FBTerm with the given background image right after the user is successfully logged in. so we have to edit .profile
in the user's homedir.
Go to your homedir with cd ~
and enter nano .profile
finally add the line
sh /etc/init.d/fbterm
below the last commentary.
Well done! Now you can see your image at console if you log back in
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Josh
I`m an Ubuntu enthusiast who likes the web in general. I think linux in general is the base for the Internet. Therefore I like to learn as lot as I can about Linux Web techniques and all related stuff that fits into my leaky brain. Currently I try to develop an automated installer for a Drupal Development Server based on Ubuntu 14 LTS and extend this basic system with basic features like ftp or even a desktop Chooser and so on. If you like o take a look go to https://horvan.github.io/drubuntu
Updated on September 18, 2022Comments
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Josh over 1 year
Some of you may know this from openSUSE. There the console is able to have a background. Is Ubuntu also able to have a background image outside the X-Windows system?
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dtmland about 9 yearsHave you ever seen fbterm behavior like this? superuser.com/questions/892028/…
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Josh about 9 yearsNo I have not. Maybe this is because the packages to build fb term have evolved and therfore the problem exists.