[Ubuntu] fix plymouthd splash load boot error

We sometimes struggle to keep up with all the things that are constantly evolving, so I like how Ubuntu still gives us reassurances that some important features are cemented in its core, such as the plymouthd boot splash error: "plymouthd could not load boot splash: could not access needed shared library".

Just update the kernel and you might be the lucky winner that gets stuck at boot.

The fix is easy and fast enough though. The immediate thing you can try is to edit the boot options when GRUB presents you the list of boot choices:

1. select the Ubuntu line corresponding to the kernel you want to boot and press the e key
2. find the line where the ro quiet splash parameters are set (unless you have already changed them in the past), but then you know which line I'm talking about anyway ;)
3. remove the splash parameter
4. add at the end of the line: gfxpayload=keep
5. press F10 to boot

If the gods like you, this might be enough for you to boot into the system. To make the fix permanent now, edit (of course sudo!) /etc/default/grub and add this line:

set gfxpayload=keep

Then save and update-grub (sudo again).

If life instead really wants you to prepare that lemonade, the best option while sipping it would be to download the Ubuntu live CD and boot into that.

As soon as you see the desktop, launch GParted to find out the disk names where you had installed Ubuntu and GRUB; they look like /dev/sdXN where X is a letter and N is a number; it might not be the same disk for both depending on the choices you made (eg you're dual booting with Windows and installed GRUB on the Win HDD).

Now open a terminal and run in order (remeber to replace sdXN and sdX with your actual disk names):

sudo su

mount /dev/sdXN /mnt

mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
mount --bind /dev/pts /mnt/dev/pts
mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys

chroot /mnt

grub-install /dev/sdX

grub-install --recheck /dev/sdX

update-grub

exit

shutdown -r now

Congrats, you've just reinstalled GRUB and restarted the system. Maybe don't boot into the live CD after restart. By the way, the main code portions I have just copied from this post: http://askubuntu.com/questions/569415/cannot-start-system-because-of-plymouthd-error - You should all thank that guy for saving your lives.

This is a quick and easy solution that can be applied to fix many boot issues with GRUB, it is not specifically tailored to the plymouth splash load error.