Modifying the default grub menu behavior

Table of Contents generated with DocToc

• Warning!
• About
• Backup your files
• Default Grub, in it's original state
• How-To
  • Allowing the grub menu to idle
• Updating the Grub menu

Warning!

Valve, nor the author of this section is responsible for damage to your system! Modifying the grub menu in SteamOS is an advanced action, and should not be attempted by novice users. Proceed at your own risk.

About

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You can remove the time out from /etc/grub/default, and it will show for however long you like:

Backup your files

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Please run the following to backup your grub configuration!

sudo cp /etc/grub/default /etc/grub/default.bak

Default Grub, in it's original state

This is as of 20151229. This is purely for reference.

GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
GRUB_BACKGROUND=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/steamos/steamos_branded.png
GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_RECOVERY="true"
GRUB_GFXMODE=auto
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=1
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

How to

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Allowing the grub menu to idle

In this example, you are removing the hidden timeout, and adjusting as necessary here. The two most basic lines to perform this are:

GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=false
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5

Complete file:

GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=false
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
GRUB_BACKGROUND=/usr/share/plymouth/themes/steamos/steamos_branded.png
GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_RECOVERY="true"
GRUB_GFXMODE=auto
GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=1
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

Updating the Grub menu

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Update grub with

sudo update-grub
sudo reboot