Ubuntu – How to make the login screens and boot splashes match when installing different desktops

desktop-environmentsdisplay-managerkdelubuntuunity

I wanted to try out different desktop environments so I installed XFCE, KDE, GNOME, etc on top of Unity in Ubuntu 12.04

After a while I decided that I didn't like those other DEs and would stick to Unity.
So I changed my default DE to Unity by configuring gdm.

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm

Now I am able to choose my DE at login time and all of DEs are working properly.

But the strange thing is that my boot up screen says 'lubuntu', my login screen is KDE, and my desktop is Unity.

How and why is this happening? Why didn't my gdm configuration have any effect? Does login and boot up screen need to be configured separately from the DE?

There are other similar questions here but they are not the same as this one. I do not want to remove the other enviroments I'm quite happy with having a list of DEs to select from. I want to know how to set proper defaults.

Best Answer

You can remove the Lubuntu splash screen in several ways. If you want to change splash screens every once in a while you can run:

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

You will be presented with a screen like the following:

enter image description here

In this case, entering a 0 or a 1 will set the splash screen to the Kubuntu logo, while entering 2 will set it to the default Ubuntu logo.

If you want to get rid of the Lubuntu logo permanently, you can remove the package using:

sudo apt-get remove plymouth-theme-lubuntu-logo plymouth-theme-lubuntu-text  

Replacing lubuntu with the desktop environment you installed.

You might be asked to remove lubuntu-desktop that's OK, as its a meta package.

If you've configured gdm using sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm you shouldn't have a KDE (KDM) login screen. If your login screen looks something like this:

enter image description here

Then try configuring gdm again. If that doesn't work you can remove kdm with:

sudo apt-get remove kdm

Again, you might be asked to remove kubuntu-desktop. Its also a meta package, so go ahead and remove it.