rcS

After the installation of an Ubuntu system you should change the settings in /etc/defaut/rcS .

Change the clock settings, if you are using UTC for the hardware clock, enable verbose logging during the boot process and enable the automatic check for fileystems if an error occures.

# assume that the BIOS clock is set to UTC time (recommended)
UTC=yes
# be more verbose during the boot process
VERBOSE=yes
# automatically repair filesystems with inconsistencies during boot
FSCKFIX=yes

grub

You should also change the settings in /etc/default/grub to get rid of the splash screen. Delete the characters between the „“ for GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT and enable the console with the variable GRUB_TERMINAL. Comment GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT and set GRUB_TIMEOUT to 10 seconds. The grub menu is shown for 10 seconds and then the boot of the default image starts.

# we do not want a hidden timeout
# GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
# commandline options
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""
# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
GRUB_TERMINAL=console