Plymouth

Plymouth provides a graphical boot splash screen, including during LUKS password entry.

Installation

sudo pacman -S plymouth

Configuration

mkinitcpio (systemd hooks)

I use systemd-based initramfs hooks. Edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf:

HOOKS=(base systemd autodetect microcode modconf kms keyboard sd-vconsole plymouth sd-encrypt block filesystems resume fsck)

Key points:

• Using systemd not udev
• Using sd-vconsole not keymap consolefont
• Using sd-encrypt not encrypt
• plymouth comes after sd-vconsole and before sd-encrypt

Regenerate initramfs:

sudo mkinitcpio -P

Kernel Parameters

Add splash to your bootloader config.

For Limine (/boot/EFI/limine/limine.conf):

cmdline: quiet splash rd.luks.uuid=<UUID> root=/dev/mapper/root ...

Note: With systemd hooks, use rd.luks.uuid= instead of cryptdevice=

For systemd-boot (/boot/loader/entries/arch.conf):

options quiet splash rd.luks.uuid=<UUID> root=/dev/mapper/root ...

Set Theme

# List available themes
plymouth-set-default-theme -l
 
# Set theme (and rebuild initramfs)
sudo plymouth-set-default-theme -R spinner

Popular themes:

• spinner — Simple spinner (default)
• bgrt — Uses manufacturer logo from ACPI
• fade-in — Fading star field

Install more themes

paru -S plymouth-theme-arch-logo
paru -S plymouth-theme-monoarch

LUKS Integration

Plymouth displays the LUKS password prompt graphically instead of the text console.

For this to work with systemd hooks:

1. plymouth hook must be before sd-encrypt hook
2. splash must be in kernel parameters
3. Use rd.luks.uuid= for LUKS device specification

systemd vs udev Hooks

udev-based	systemd-based
udev	systemd
keymap consolefont	sd-vconsole
encrypt	sd-encrypt
cryptdevice=UUID=...:name	rd.luks.uuid=...

Testing

Test without rebooting:

sudo plymouthd
sudo plymouth --show-splash
# Press Enter to dismiss
sudo plymouth quit

Troubleshooting

No splash on boot

1. Verify splash is in kernel params
2. Check hook order in mkinitcpio.conf
3. Regenerate initramfs: sudo mkinitcpio -P

LUKS prompt is text-only

The plymouth hook must come before sd-encrypt:

HOOKS=(... sd-vconsole plymouth sd-encrypt ...)

View boot messages

Remove quiet temporarily to see boot messages if Plymouth isn’t working.

Resources

• Arch Wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Plymouth
• Arch Wiki (mkinitcpio systemd): https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Mkinitcpio#Common_hooks