Já fiz vários testes com estes usplash e só consegui com que um funcionace foi este aqui:
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=39009TO INSTALL:
First rename the downloaded file to usplash-fix.so (that is take off all the random numbers that this site adds on at the start of the file name) then:
sudo cp usplash-fix.so /usr/lib/usplash/usplash-fix.so
sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/usplash/usplash-fix.so /usr/lib/usplash/usplash-artwork.so
sudo dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-$(uname -r)
and that's it
reboot and stare in wonder. Please note that these instructions were designed for ubuntu (I'm running dapper) I think other distros might have something like linux-kernel instead of linux-image.
If you don't like it and want to go back to the old one just run:
sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/usplash/usplash-default.so /usr/lib/usplash/usplash-artwork.so
sudo dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-$(uname -r)
Podem instalar sem medo que da certo.