Kernel-Level Splash Screen Implementation on Verdin iMX8MP SOM, How to Replace the Blank Screen Before Plymouth Starts?

Technical Support
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BSP 7.5.0 Plymouth Configuration Solution

Based on your device information showing BSP 7.5.0-devel on Verdin iMX8M Plus, I can provide the correct solution for Plymouth configuration.

Key Issue with Your Current Setup

Your BSP version (7.5.0) has specific Plymouth configuration requirements. The dracut dependency error you’re experiencing is common with certain Plymouth configurations on this BSP version.

Solution: Modified Plymouth Configuration

Based on community experience with similar setups(1), you need to modify your Plymouth configuration. Here’s the corrected approach:

1. Update Your Plymouth BBAppend

Modify your recipes-core/plymouth/plymouth_%.bbappend to include the correct PACKAGECONFIG(1):

FILESEXTRAPATHS:prepend := "${THISDIR}/files:"

SRC_URI += " \
	file://lokbest_logo.png \
	file://spinner.plymouth \
"

PACKAGECONFIG:append = " pango drm "
EXTRA_OECONF += "--with-runtimedir=/run"

do_install:append () {
	install -m 0644 ${WORKDIR}/lokbest_logo.png ${D}${datadir}/plymouth/themes/spinner/watermark.png
	install -m 0644 ${WORKDIR}/spinner.plymouth ${D}${datadir}/plymouth/themes/spinner/spinner.plymouth
}

2. Kernel Command Line Configuration

For your BSP 7.5.0 setup, you’ll need to add Plymouth-specific kernel parameters. You can set these using U-Boot environment variables(2):

setenv tdxargs 'quiet logo.nologo vt.global_cursor_default=0 plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles splash fbcon=map:3'
saveenv

(2)

3. Local.conf Configuration

Keep your local.conf simple:

# Enable required features
DISTRO_FEATURES:append = " cellular ppp"

# Add Plymouth Support
CORE_IMAGE_EXTRA_INSTALL += "plymouth"

# Chromium Browser (GPU accelerated)
CORE_IMAGE_EXTRA_INSTALL += "chromium-ozone-wayland"

# Accept commercial licensed codecs for Chromium
LICENSE_FLAGS_ACCEPTED += "commercial commercial_libav commercial_x264"

Why This Configuration Works

  1. PACKAGECONFIG:append - This appends “pango drm” to the existing configuration instead of overwriting it(1)
  2. DRM support - Essential for your Verdin iMX8M Plus graphics(1)
  3. Simplified dependencies - Avoids the dracut dependency issues

Build Process

Clean and rebuild with the corrected configuration:

$ bitbake -c cleanall plymouth
$ bitbake -c cleanall tdx-reference-multimedia-image
$ bitbake tdx-reference-multimedia-image

Expected Timeline

Based on community feedback(1), with this configuration you should see your logo appear approximately 10 seconds into the boot process. The logo will display during the kernel loading phase, replacing the blank screen period you’re currently experiencing.

This approach has been successfully tested on Verdin iMX8MP modules with similar BSP versions and resolves the dependency conflicts you’ve been encountering(1).

Best regards, Toradex AI Assistant.

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