My uConsole computer finally arrived after a 10-month delay. I started kicking the tires by installing fun software on it, and quickly realized it’d run better if it looked cool. Here’s how I did it.

Change the boot image

Raspberry Pi OS uses Plymouth to make show a boot splashscreen. By default, it displays the image file at /usr/share/plymouth/themes/pix/splash.png. I’m sure there’s a “better” way to do this, but I simply replaced that file with my own 1280x720 image (to match the screen’s native resolution):

$ cd /usr/share/plymouth/themes/pix
$ sudo cp splash.png splash.png-dist  # Keep a backup
$ sudo cp myimage.png splash.png
$ sudo plymouth-set-default-theme --rebuild-initrd pix

That last line rebuilds the initrd image so that the kernel will use the new image.

Change the lock image

I use Wayland instead of X11, and that setup uses pi-greeter to show a lock screen. That requires editing /etc/lightdm/pi-greeter.conf. I copied my new user image to /usr/share/plymouth/themes/pix/smiley.png, which isn’t the right place to put it exactly, but has it living next to the splash.png I installed in the previous step. Then I backed up pi-greeter.conf and edited its default-user-image and wallpaper values like so:

--- pi-greeter.conf-dist        2026-06-22 18:52:53.702242786 -0700
+++ pi-greeter.conf     2026-06-22 18:55:06.519726407 -0700
[@@](https://micro.blog/@) -1,7 +1,7 [@@](https://micro.blog/@)
 [greeter]
-default-user-image=/usr/share/raspberrypi-artwork/clockworkpi.png
+default-user-image=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/pix/smiley.png
 desktop_bg=#000000
-wallpaper=/usr/share/rpd-wallpaper/RPiSystem_dark.png
+wallpaper=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/pix/splash.png
 wallpaper_mode=center
 gtk-icon-theme-name=PiXflat
 gtk-font-name=Nunito Sans 12

Note that usr/share/raspberrypi-artwork/clockworkpi.png doesn’t even exist by default, so the lock screen falls back to a boring silhouette of a person.

Make the screen automatically lock

I’m teaching my coworkers not to trust leaving their laptops unlocked, and I have to practice what I preach. I want my screen to automatically lock if I ever forget to manually do it. That’s easy! Edit the ~/.config/labwc/autostart file like this:

--- autostart-dist      2026-06-22 19:12:18.204495749 -0700
+++ autostart   2026-06-22 19:12:12.708859097 -0700
[@@](https://micro.blog/@) -1 +1 [@@](https://micro.blog/@)
-swayidle -w timeout 600 'wlopm --off \*' resume 'wlopm --on \*' &
+swayidle -w timeout 300 'swaylock -f -p' timeout 600 'wlopm --off \*' resume 'wlopm --on \*' &

The extra timeout 300 'swaylock -f -p' locks the screen after a 5 minute idle timeout.

Ta-da!

And that’s it! Reboot and enjoy your cool graphics and slightly more secure setup.

There’s an older fellow cashiering at the grocery we go to. Tonight he saw my Def Con tshirt and asked about it. “Are they still doing that?” “Sure are!” “I haven’t been since DC4”, he said, and he started talking about his chats with FBI agents there, and malice vs playfulness. Wait, what?!

Hack the Planet.

It’s time to view the samizdat, the Entertainment.