Difference between revisions of "How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen"
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* Schnappi bootsplash: Bow to the power of [http://folk.uio.no/igorr/t43/final.bmp Schnappi]. The BMP image compressed to about 6KB. Schni, schna, schnappi! | * Schnappi bootsplash: Bow to the power of [http://folk.uio.no/igorr/t43/final.bmp Schnappi]. The BMP image compressed to about 6KB. Schni, schna, schnappi! | ||
* IBM Tux: An image of [http://users.tkk.fi/~jpaalija/stuff/filestorage/ibm-tux.bmp Tux with the IBM logo] written on its tummy. | * IBM Tux: An image of [http://users.tkk.fi/~jpaalija/stuff/filestorage/ibm-tux.bmp Tux with the IBM logo] written on its tummy. | ||
+ | * [[Media:Eris.png|Eris]], the goddess of discordia. To use it as bios bootsplash convert it to bmp with just a few (<8) colors (thinkwiki does not allow bmp uploads). |
Revision as of 13:05, 21 August 2007
This page describes how to replace the standard IBM BIOS Bootsplash (The one with the ThinkPad- and Pentium M-Logo), without access to Microsoft Windows or a floppy drive. Windows users who want to have a custom splash image when they start up should try this guide instead. |
Getting the Files
You'll need the bios upgrade file from the IBM website.
Method 1: Using a Non-Diskette-File and cabextract
For ThinkPads R50, R50p, R51 (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836), R52, T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p, T43, T43p this file is suitable:
There may be a more recent file on the IBM website.
For Thinkpads T61, R61 14.1 inch screen
You need the cabextract tool to extract files from the exe:
# apt-get install cabextract
Do this to get the ibm file and extract the disk image from it:
# cd /tmp
# wget ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj35us.exe
# cabextract -F "*.IMG" 1ruj35us.exe
# mv 1RUJ35US.IMG floppy.bin
Method 2: Using a Diskette-File and dosemu
Another option is to use the "Diskette BIOS file".
For ThinkPads R50, R50p, R51 (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836), R52, T40, T40p, T41, T41p, T42, T42p, T43, T43p this file is suitable:
- 1ruj28ud.exe
- 1ruj29ud.exe
- 1ruj30ud.exe Released 2005-05-26
For Thinkpads T61, R61 14.1 inch screens
- 7luj05ud.exe Released 2007-07-16 NEW!
The file is an OS/2 executables and don't run with wine, so you need to install dosemu to run it and create the image.
# apt-get install dosemu dosemu-freedos
(for non-debian-users: Get dosemu and freedos somewhere and make it work somehow).
With dosemu, you can run this executable, but this program unfortunately needs a floppy drive to write to. So use the loopback device, to create a virtual floppy.
# dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/floppy.bin bs=1024 count=1440
# losetup /dev/loop0 /tmp/floppy.bin
Put this block device (/dev/loop0) into the dosemu configuration as the floppy disk device. Now you can run the extractor executable, which makes /tmp/floppy.bin the desired floppy image .
# dosemu 1ruj27ud.exe
# losetup -d /dev/loop0
For 2.6.12+ if you have dosemu error:
# echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space
Adding the custom image
Mount your floppy.bin as a loopback device.
# mkdir /tmp/mnt
# mount -o loop,umask=000 /tmp/floppy.bin /tmp/mnt
Create a 16 color 640x480 BMP (4 Bit/pixel VGA palette) (for example with Gimp) and save it to /tmp/mnt/logo.bmp.
When creating your image, keep in mind that on the T43p (and others??), regardless of your custom bootsplash screen there will be a superimposed black "Centrino" logo (~100x100 pixels) on the upper right of your display, so you might want to keep that area clear. You might also want to reserve the bottom 150 pixels for the "boot options" / "Entering BIOS setup" message(s) too, which will also be displayed.
Now prepare the image with prepare.exe using wine: (This does not work with dosemu!)
# wine prepare.exe logo.scr
The image must compress to <10k. If you receive an error, you can try reducing the number of colors in your image palette (step down to an 12 or 8 color palette for a very significant reduction in image size.) When successful, there should be a new logo.mod and your logo.bmp. If so, you are set, don't forget to unmount your loopback device:
# umount /tmp/mnt
Fake a floppy
Now you need to put the image on a floppy and boot from it. Since recent ThinkPads don't have a floppy drive, we can use a CD-R (or a CD-RW, actually, for the cheap ones, like me) and burn it with the following command:
# mkisofs -b floppy.bin floppy.bin | cdrecord dev=<device> -
(<device> being your cd writer device)
The exciting part
After this worked, reboot your ThinkPad from the cdrom by pressing F12 while booting and wait for the IBM tool to start. Be sure to have your ThinkPad on AC power and say Yes to the questions the BIOS Upgrade Tool asks. It will then flash the BIOS, which will take about a minute.
Suddenly the laptop turns itself off with two beeps. When booting, you'll have your bootsplash picture.
Unfortunately, you won't see it really long, but it's better than the standard one, so it was worth the action.
Have fun!
BTW next time you have to flash the BIOS the IBM BIOS updater will detect a custom boot splash and ask you if you want to preserve it or restore the original.
If you've created your own bootsplash image and want to share it with other you can post it here.
- Schnappi bootsplash: Bow to the power of Schnappi. The BMP image compressed to about 6KB. Schni, schna, schnappi!
- IBM Tux: An image of Tux with the IBM logo written on its tummy.
- Eris, the goddess of discordia. To use it as bios bootsplash convert it to bmp with just a few (<8) colors (thinkwiki does not allow bmp uploads).