diff --git a/faucet/gui/default.nix b/faucet/gui/default.nix
index 20ec2c16..a1c7b16e 100644
--- a/faucet/gui/default.nix
+++ b/faucet/gui/default.nix
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 , ... }: with lib; let
   cfg = config.faucet.gui;
 in {
+  imports = [ ./plymouth.nix ];
+
   options.faucet.gui = {
     enable = mkEnableOption "various setup required for GUI and support software";
     type = mkOption {
@@ -31,6 +33,8 @@ in {
     optional (cfg.type == "amdgpu") "amdgpu";
     # has to be enabled even when using wayland
     services.xserver.enable = true;
+    # inhibits default display manager
+    services.xserver.displayManager.startx.enable = mkDefault true;
 
     hardware.nvidia = mkIf ((cfg.type == "nvidia") || (cfg.type == "prime")) {
       modesetting.enable = true;
diff --git a/faucet/gui/plymouth.nix b/faucet/gui/plymouth.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2408af6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/faucet/gui/plymouth.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{ pkgs
+, lib
+, config
+, ... }: with lib; let
+  cfg = config.faucet.gui;
+in mkIf cfg.enable {
+  boot = {
+    loader.timeout = lib.mkDefault 0;
+    consoleLogLevel = 0;
+    initrd.verbose = false;
+    initrd.systemd.enable = true;
+    plymouth.enable = true;
+    kernelParams = [
+      "quiet"
+      "splash"
+      "i915.fastboot=1"
+      "loglevel=3"
+      "rd.systemd.show_status=false"
+      "rd.udev.log_level=3"
+      "udev.log_priority=3"
+    ];
+  };
+}