Karl von Randow

Restore the Linux console messages on boot

When I installed Ubuntu Lucid on a physical server for the first time I was unnerved by seeing a startup progress indicator when I’m used to seeing all the console messages scrolling by. If something is taking a long time, I want to see what it is. I know you can switch to VT-7, but I want them back on the main screen where they’re easy to see (and easy for someone else to see if I’m calling on the phone in an emergency).

It’s of course a simple configuration change.

Edit /etc/default/grub and change GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT. For the progress indicator it’s set to “quiet splash”. For the console messages just change that to “”. Source.