The boot menu
The boot menu is the list you see for a few seconds when the computer starts, before bromigOS loads. It lets you start bromigOS normally, or start it as it was before an update. bromigOS dresses it in your theme.
The menu shows your theme’s lock-screen picture with the burn-in in the middle, a signal meter that fills while it counts down, and the list of things you can start. If you press nothing, the first entry starts.
The first entry, bromigOS Linux, starts bromigOS. Advanced options for bromigOS Linux lists each installed kernel on its own, for when you need to choose one.
Use the boot menu
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| ↑ ↓ | Choose an entry. |
| Enter | Start it. |
| E | Change the entry’s start-up commands, for this start only. |
| C | Open GRUB’s command line. |
Start an older version after a bad update
On a btrfs system, bromigOS takes a snapshot before and after every update. If an update stops the computer from starting:
- In the boot menu, choose Roll back to a snapshot.
- Choose the snapshot from before the update. They’re listed newest first, with the date
and time, such as
10/09 00:28 · before bromigos update. - Choose Boot it: linux. bromigOS starts as it was then.
A system started this way is temporary. Any changes you make last only until you restart.
To keep it, open a terminal (Alt+Shift+Enter) and run:
bromigos update --rollback
It shows which snapshot you started and what it will do, and asks first. Then restart, and choose the first entry, bromigOS Linux. From now on the computer starts as it was in that snapshot. Your home folder isn’t touched.
If the update changed the kernel, the snapshot may stop at a black screen that says
“You are in emergency mode” and asks for the root password. Type it. On a computer
installed from the bromigOS USB stick, it’s your own password. Then run these two
commands, with your user name in place of <you>:
su - <you>
bromigos update --rollback
It puts the snapshot’s kernel back too.
See Updating and rolling back for more.
Theme the boot menu, or turn it off
When you change your theme, the boot menu follows. If sudo needs your password, the
change waits until your next bromigos update, and a notification tells you so. The
themes that come with bromigOS are drawn already. Your own themes, and high contrast, are
drawn on your machine.
bromigos boot theme # is it on, which theme, and is it up to date
bromigos boot theme apply # put the current theme in the boot menu now
bromigos boot theme off # GRUB's plain menu, and it stays plain
bromigos boot theme on # the themed menu again
With the theme off, the entries take GRUB’s own names, such as Arch Linux, because bromigOS is based on Arch Linux.
The themed menu is for GRUB, the boot loader bromigOS installs. If your computer starts with another boot loader, such as systemd-boot or Limine, bromigOS leaves its menu alone.
Before it changes anything, bromigOS keeps a copy of your GRUB settings as
/etc/default/grub.bromigos-bak. It checks the new menu before it replaces the old one.
The startup and shutdown splash
When Plymouth is enabled, the Wick’s flame and turning ring stay on screen while the system starts. The progress line and any disk passphrase prompt appear underneath. On shutdown it says SHUTTING DOWN; on restart it says RESTARTING. A moving marker shows activity, without guessing a percentage. Messages appear below the label. Press Escape to see the detailed output.
The USB installer sets this up. On an existing GRUB system, check the settings and enable the shutdown and restart visuals:
bromigos splash status
sudo bromigos splash on
This needs plymouth and bromigos-settings installed. The command selects the theme,
adds the saved splash kernel setting, and checks the generated boot menu before
replacing it. It prints where it saved the backups and log. Reboot once to load the
new kernel setting; subsequent shutdowns and restarts can show the visuals.
To undo the settings this command added:
sudo bromigos splash off
Your earlier theme choice and unrelated settings are preserved. Other boot loaders
and GRUB configurations with extra .cfg files need manual setup. The command reports
these cases without changing them.
An early startup splash also needs Plymouth in the initramfs, the small system loaded
before the main one. bromigos splash leaves that setup alone. The
activation steps
cover it. The keyboard power menu works independently of the splash.
The install stick
The bromigOS USB stick has a boot menu of its own, in the same style. Its entries:
| Entry | What it does |
|---|---|
| Start bromigOS (try it live) | Start the full desktop from the stick. Nothing is installed. |
| Install bromigOS | Start the desktop with the installer already open. See Install. |
| Install bromigOS (text mode) | The same installer in text, with no desktop: for a computer whose picture doesn’t come up, a serial console, or a screen reader. |
| Start with safe graphics (nomodeset) | Use this if the screen stays black with the first entry. |
| Memory test (Memtest86+) | Test the computer’s memory. |
| Boot from disk | Start whatever is installed on the disk instead. |
| Start with the screen reader (speech) | Start with spoken output. Press S in the menu to choose it. |
UEFI computers also get entries for the UEFI shell and the firmware settings. Older BIOS computers get a hardware information tool. Both have Shut down and Restart.