Silent boot
This page is for those who prefer to limit the verbosity of their system to a strict minimum, either for aesthetics or other reasons. Following this guide will remove all text from the bootup process.
Syslinux+Systemd
Your /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg should look something like:
$ grep APPEND /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg | head -n1 APPEND root=/dev/sda1 ro 5 init=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd quiet vga=current
vga=current is the magic kernel argument not to do something crazy like flash grey.
Configure your systemd getty service like so:
x220:~$ grep ExecStart /usr/lib/systemd/system/getty@.service ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty -i -a YOUR_USERNAME %I 38400
To remove lastlog message you need to comment out lastlog in /etc/pam.d/login:
#session optional pam_lastlog.so
To hide any kernel messages from the console use this tip:
$ grep ^kernel.printk /etc/sysctl.conf kernel.printk = 3 3 3 3
To hide startx messages, you could redirect its output to /dev/null, like so:
[[ $(fgconsole 2>/dev/null) == 1 ]] && exec startx -- vt1 &> /dev/null
Outstanding Issues: