ThinkWiki - User contributions [en]

How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen (under Windows)

2008-01-09T07:58:18Z

SiriusStarr:

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#efefef; align:right;">
This page describes how to replace the standard IBM BIOS Bootsplash (The one with the ThinkPad- and Pentium M-Logo), if you have Microsoft {{Windows}}. So far it has only been tested on XP.
</div>
|}
== Getting the Files ==
You'll need the bios upgrade file from the IBM website. The best way to do this is connect to [http://www.ibm.com/pc/support IBM support], click "<math>\rightarrow</math>Detect my system" (sorry, IE only), then "Downloads and Drivers", and finally "BIOS Update (Non-Diskette)". Save the .exe file somewhere (the one I had was called 1RUJ31US.EXE).

For more modern, i.e. Lenovo, Thinkpads, go to [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=HOME-LENOVO#rdt Lenovo Support], select "Notebook" and then your model from the menus, click on "Downloads and Drivers," and download the BIOS update file (may take some searching; the easiest way to find it is to select "Refine Results > BIOS").

For Thinkpad {{R60e}} the bios is available as an iso which can be edited before burning
See the readme file in the ISO for details of how to change the bootsplash.
* [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-64394 7euj18us.iso]

Those readme instructions:
* THIS VERSION OF THE FLASH UPDATE PROGRAM GIVES THE OPTION OF *
* REPLACING (OR ELIMINATING) THE DEFAULT "LENOVO" IMAGE THAT IS *
* DISPLAYED DURING SYSTEM START UP. THE USER CAN SUBSTITUTE A *
* 16 COLOR WINDOWS BITMAP (.BMP) TO REPLACE THE DEFAULT IMAGE. *
* *
* 1. LOGO.BAT WILL ONLY WORK IN A MICROSOFT (R) OPERATING SYSTEM *
* DOS WINDOW. *
* 2. PREPARE YOUR IMAGE BY NAMING IT 'LOGO.BMP', AND COPY IT. *
* 3. GO TO THE DOS WINDOW. RUN LOGO.BAT TO COMPRESS AND PREPARE *
* THE BITMAP FILE FOR FLASHING. LOGO.MOD IS THE RESULT. *
* 4. UPDATE ACCORDING TO INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS *
* *
* AFTER YOU UPDATE THE BIOS ON YOUR SYSTEM, YOUR LOGO WILL *
* APPEAR ON THE STARTUP SCREEN. *
* *
* SOME GUIDELINES FOR THESE IMAGES INCLUDE: *
* *
* 1. THE COMPRESSED IMAGE FILE SIZE LIMITED TO 10KB. *
* 2. SIMPLE DESIGNS (THE IMAGE WILL BE COMPRESSED AND COMPLEX *
* IMAGES DON'T COMPRESS WELL...) *
* 3. AN LENOVO LOGO IS USED BY DEFAULT, BUT A 16 COLOR 640x480 *
* WINDOWS .BMP FILE CAN BE USED INSTEAD. *

== Finding the floppy image ==
Run the executable file from the previous step and accept the license agreement. Once you do so, a floppy image is unpacked to a temporary directory somewhere on your hard disk. The easiest way to find it is to run the standard Windows search looking for a file called "1ruj31us.img" (or whatever the EXE was called only with IMG). Note that the following few steps are all performed with the BIOS updater window open and waiting for us to click "Next".

== Mounting the virtual floppy ==
* Download [http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/vfd.html#download Virtual Floppy Drive] and unzip it somewhere
* Run "vfdwin.exe" (the VFD Control Panel). In the "driver" pane click "Start", then in the "drive0" pane click "change" and assign "Z:", and finally click "Open" and open the IMG file you've found. Now you have a new drive on your computer called Z:

== Adding the custom image ==
Create a 16 color 640x480 BMP (4 Bit/pixel VGA palette) (for example with Gimp) and save it as logo.bmp on the virtual floppy drive (that is, drive Z:).
You could use this tux image ([http://www.thinkwiki.org/files/LOGO.BMP logo.bmp], [http://www.thinkwiki.org/files/LOGO.MOD logo.mod]) for example.<br>
Now prepare the image by double-clicking the "logo.bat" command you see on the floppy. You should get a message confirming that the file was converted successfully. Otherwise you can try a simpler design (it has to compress to under 10K).

Now there should be a new {{path|logo.mod}} and your {{path|logo.bmp}}. If so, you are set.

== Unmounting the virtual floppy ==
Make sure you close all applications and explorer windows pointing to drive Z:, then go back to the VFD Control Panel, go to the driver pane and click "uninstall". You'll be asked to save your changes - check the "overwrite" checkbox since that's what we want to do. You can quit the VFD Control Panel now.

== The exciting part ==
After this worked, go back to the BIOS updater window and click next until it restarts. You should get an IBM tool screen.
Be sure to have your Thinkpad on AC power and say ''Yes'' to the questions the BIOS Upgrade Tool asks. Make sure you get asked if you want to use a custom image. If not, something went wrong along the way.
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!

== Recent BIOS Files ==

More recent BIOS update files do not come with floppy images, as they are designed to update the BIOS from within Windows itself. To change the bootsplash with one of the files, run the .EXE so that it extracts the files (it will ask you where to extract to). Find the folder containing the files, move your bootsplash .bmp there, and name it LOGO.bmp. Open up the command prompt (Run > cmd). Change working directories to the folder containing the extracted files (cd C:\DRIVERS\FLASH\... [or whatever your path might be]). Run the batch file logo.bat; if your image works, it will tell you that it compressed the image and no errors were found. The compressed image file will now be named logo.mod. Run WINUPTP.exe. Navigate the menus, telling it to update the BIOS. It will say that it has detected a custom bootsplash image and ask you if you wish to use it. Choose yes. Follow the remaining on-screen instructions (make certain that you are plugged into AC power and have a battery installed). It will flash the BIOS and tell you to restart. Restart, and you should see your new bootsplash.

(This was how I got it to work on my Thinkpad T61.)
[[Category:R50]] [[Category:R50p]] [[Category:R51]] [[Category:R52]] [[Category:T40]] [[Category:T40p]] [[Category:T41]] [[Category:T41p]] [[Category:T42]] [[Category:T42p]] [[Category:T43]] [[Category:T43p]]
[[Category:X41_Tablet]]

How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen (under Windows)

2008-01-09T07:49:01Z

SiriusStarr: /* Getting the Files */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#efefef; align:right;">
This page describes how to replace the standard IBM BIOS Bootsplash (The one with the ThinkPad- and Pentium M-Logo), if you have Microsoft {{Windows}}. So far it has only been tested on XP.
</div>
|}
== Getting the Files ==
You'll need the bios upgrade file from the IBM website. The best way to do this is connect to [http://www.ibm.com/pc/support IBM support], click "<math>\rightarrow</math>Detect my system" (sorry, IE only), then "Downloads and Drivers", and finally "BIOS Update (Non-Diskette)". Save the .exe file somewhere (the one I had was called 1RUJ31US.EXE).

For more modern, i.e. Lenovo, Thinkpads, go to [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=HOME-LENOVO#rdt Lenovo Support], select "Notebook" and then your model from the menus, click on "Downloads and Drivers," and download the BIOS update file (may take some searching; the easiest way to find it is to select "Refine Results > BIOS").

For Thinkpad {{R60e}} the bios is available as an iso which can be edited before burning
See the readme file in the ISO for details of how to change the bootsplash.
* [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-64394 7euj18us.iso]

Those readme instructions:
* THIS VERSION OF THE FLASH UPDATE PROGRAM GIVES THE OPTION OF *
* REPLACING (OR ELIMINATING) THE DEFAULT "LENOVO" IMAGE THAT IS *
* DISPLAYED DURING SYSTEM START UP. THE USER CAN SUBSTITUTE A *
* 16 COLOR WINDOWS BITMAP (.BMP) TO REPLACE THE DEFAULT IMAGE. *
* *
* 1. LOGO.BAT WILL ONLY WORK IN A MICROSOFT (R) OPERATING SYSTEM *
* DOS WINDOW. *
* 2. PREPARE YOUR IMAGE BY NAMING IT 'LOGO.BMP', AND COPY IT. *
* 3. GO TO THE DOS WINDOW. RUN LOGO.BAT TO COMPRESS AND PREPARE *
* THE BITMAP FILE FOR FLASHING. LOGO.MOD IS THE RESULT. *
* 4. UPDATE ACCORDING TO INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS *
* *
* AFTER YOU UPDATE THE BIOS ON YOUR SYSTEM, YOUR LOGO WILL *
* APPEAR ON THE STARTUP SCREEN. *
* *
* SOME GUIDELINES FOR THESE IMAGES INCLUDE: *
* *
* 1. THE COMPRESSED IMAGE FILE SIZE LIMITED TO 10KB. *
* 2. SIMPLE DESIGNS (THE IMAGE WILL BE COMPRESSED AND COMPLEX *
* IMAGES DON'T COMPRESS WELL...) *
* 3. AN LENOVO LOGO IS USED BY DEFAULT, BUT A 16 COLOR 640x480 *
* WINDOWS .BMP FILE CAN BE USED INSTEAD. *

== Finding the floppy image ==
Run the executable file from the previous step and accept the license agreement. Once you do so, a floppy image is unpacked to a temporary directory somewhere on your hard disk. The easiest way to find it is to run the standard Windows search looking for a file called "1ruj31us.img" (or whatever the EXE was called only with IMG). Note that the following few steps are all performed with the BIOS updater window open and waiting for us to click "Next".

== Mounting the virtual floppy ==
* Download [http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/vfd.html#download Virtual Floppy Drive] and unzip it somewhere
* Run "vfdwin.exe" (the VFD Control Panel). In the "driver" pane click "Start", then in the "drive0" pane click "change" and assign "Z:", and finally click "Open" and open the IMG file you've found. Now you have a new drive on your computer called Z:

== Adding the custom image ==
Create a 16 color 640x480 BMP (4 Bit/pixel VGA palette) (for example with Gimp) and save it as logo.bmp on the virtual floppy drive (that is, drive Z:).
You could use this tux image ([http://www.thinkwiki.org/files/LOGO.BMP logo.bmp], [http://www.thinkwiki.org/files/LOGO.MOD logo.mod]) for example.<br>
Now prepare the image by double-clicking the "logo.bat" command you see on the floppy. You should get a message confirming that the file was converted successfully. Otherwise you can try a simpler design (it has to compress to under 10K).

Now there should be a new {{path|logo.mod}} and your {{path|logo.bmp}}. If so, you are set.

== Unmounting the virtual floppy ==
Make sure you close all applications and explorer windows pointing to drive Z:, then go back to the VFD Control Panel, go to the driver pane and click "uninstall". You'll be asked to save your changes - check the "overwrite" checkbox since that's what we want to do. You can quit the VFD Control Panel now.

== The exciting part ==
After this worked, go back to the BIOS updater window and click next until it restarts. You should get an IBM tool screen.
Be sure to have your Thinkpad on AC power and say ''Yes'' to the questions the BIOS Upgrade Tool asks. Make sure you get asked if you want to use a custom image. If not, something went wrong along the way.
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!

[[Category:R50]] [[Category:R50p]] [[Category:R51]] [[Category:R52]] [[Category:T40]] [[Category:T40p]] [[Category:T41]] [[Category:T41p]] [[Category:T42]] [[Category:T42p]] [[Category:T43]] [[Category:T43p]]
[[Category:X41_Tablet]]

How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen

2008-01-09T07:45:28Z

SiriusStarr: /* Adding the custom image */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#efefef; align:right;">
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 [[How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen (under Windows) | this guide]] instead.
</div>
|}
== 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:
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj28us.exe 1ruj28us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj29us.exe 1ruj29us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj30us.exe 1ruj30us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj33us.exe 1ruj33us.exe]
There may be a more recent file on the IBM website.
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj35us.exe 1ruj35us.exe]

For Thinkpads {{T61}}, {{R61}} 14.1 inch screen
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/7luj05us.exe 7luj05us.exe]

or

* [[http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/license.do?filename=mobiles/7luj09uc.iso 7luj09uc.iso]]

For Thinkpad {{R60e}} the bios is available as an iso which can be edited before burning
See the readme file in the ISO for details of how to change the bootsplash.
* [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-64394 7euj18us.iso]

You need the cabextract tool to extract files from the exe:
:{{cmdroot|apt-get install cabextract}}

Do this to get the ibm file and extract the disk image from it:
:{{cmdroot|cd /tmp}}
:{{cmdroot|wget ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj35us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|cabextract -F "*.IMG" 1ruj35us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|mv 1RUJ35US.IMG floppy.bin}}

=== Method 2: Using a Diskette-File and dosemu ===
Another option is to use the "Diskette BIOS file".<br>
For ThinkPads {{R50}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}} (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836), {{R52}}, {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} this file is suitable:
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj28ud.exe 1ruj28ud.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj29ud.exe 1ruj29ud.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj30ud.exe 1ruj30ud.exe] Released 2005-05-26

For Thinkpads {{T61}}, {{R61}} 14.1 inch screens
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/7luj05us.exe 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.<br>
:{{cmdroot|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.
:{{cmdroot|1=dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/floppy.bin bs=1024 count=1440}}
:{{cmdroot|losetup /dev/loop0 /tmp/floppy.bin}}
Put this block device ({{path|/dev/loop0}}) into the dosemu configuration as the floppy disk device.
Now you can run the extractor executable, which makes {{path|/tmp/floppy.bin}} the desired floppy image .
:{{cmdroot|dosemu 1ruj27ud.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|losetup -d /dev/loop0}}

For 2.6.12+ if you have dosemu error:
:{{cmdroot|echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space}}

== Adding the custom image ==
Mount your floppy.bin as a loopback device.
:{{cmdroot|mkdir /tmp/mnt}}
:{{cmdroot|1=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 {{path|/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.

The Thinkpad T61 (and likely others) superimposes several messages/logos, including the "Press the ThinkVantage Button" message in the lower-left corner, an "Intel" logo in the upper-right, and a "Lenovo" message on the right side.

Now prepare the image with <tt>prepare.exe</tt> using wine: (This does not work with dosemu!)
:{{cmdroot|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 {{path|logo.mod}} and your {{path|logo.bmp}}. If so, you are set, don't forget to unmount your loopback device:
:{{cmdroot|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:
:{{cmdroot|1=mkisofs -b floppy.bin floppy.bin <nowiki>|</nowiki> cdrecord dev=<device> - }}
(<tt><device></tt> 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.

== Share your custom bootsplash image ==
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 [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.
* [[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).
* [[Media:simple_tux.png|Simple Tux]] - Just convert it to bmp.
* [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Image:ThinkTuxBootsplash.png ThinkTux], my Linux-friendly version of the Thinkpad logo. Features Tux in all his glory and the motto, "ThinkTux," based on the Thinkpad logo. Just convert it to a .bmp with the GIMP (already is 640x480 and 16 colors).

How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen

2008-01-09T07:43:06Z

SiriusStarr: /* Share your custom bootsplash image */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#efefef; align:right;">
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 [[How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen (under Windows) | this guide]] instead.
</div>
|}
== 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:
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj28us.exe 1ruj28us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj29us.exe 1ruj29us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj30us.exe 1ruj30us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj33us.exe 1ruj33us.exe]
There may be a more recent file on the IBM website.
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj35us.exe 1ruj35us.exe]

For Thinkpads {{T61}}, {{R61}} 14.1 inch screen
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/7luj05us.exe 7luj05us.exe]

or

* [[http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/license.do?filename=mobiles/7luj09uc.iso 7luj09uc.iso]]

For Thinkpad {{R60e}} the bios is available as an iso which can be edited before burning
See the readme file in the ISO for details of how to change the bootsplash.
* [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-64394 7euj18us.iso]

You need the cabextract tool to extract files from the exe:
:{{cmdroot|apt-get install cabextract}}

Do this to get the ibm file and extract the disk image from it:
:{{cmdroot|cd /tmp}}
:{{cmdroot|wget ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj35us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|cabextract -F "*.IMG" 1ruj35us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|mv 1RUJ35US.IMG floppy.bin}}

=== Method 2: Using a Diskette-File and dosemu ===
Another option is to use the "Diskette BIOS file".<br>
For ThinkPads {{R50}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}} (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836), {{R52}}, {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} this file is suitable:
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj28ud.exe 1ruj28ud.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj29ud.exe 1ruj29ud.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj30ud.exe 1ruj30ud.exe] Released 2005-05-26

For Thinkpads {{T61}}, {{R61}} 14.1 inch screens
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/7luj05us.exe 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.<br>
:{{cmdroot|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.
:{{cmdroot|1=dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/floppy.bin bs=1024 count=1440}}
:{{cmdroot|losetup /dev/loop0 /tmp/floppy.bin}}
Put this block device ({{path|/dev/loop0}}) into the dosemu configuration as the floppy disk device.
Now you can run the extractor executable, which makes {{path|/tmp/floppy.bin}} the desired floppy image .
:{{cmdroot|dosemu 1ruj27ud.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|losetup -d /dev/loop0}}

For 2.6.12+ if you have dosemu error:
:{{cmdroot|echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space}}

== Adding the custom image ==
Mount your floppy.bin as a loopback device.
:{{cmdroot|mkdir /tmp/mnt}}
:{{cmdroot|1=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 {{path|/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 <tt>prepare.exe</tt> using wine: (This does not work with dosemu!)
:{{cmdroot|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 {{path|logo.mod}} and your {{path|logo.bmp}}. If so, you are set, don't forget to unmount your loopback device:
:{{cmdroot|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:
:{{cmdroot|1=mkisofs -b floppy.bin floppy.bin <nowiki>|</nowiki> cdrecord dev=<device> - }}
(<tt><device></tt> 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.

== Share your custom bootsplash image ==
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 [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.
* [[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).
* [[Media:simple_tux.png|Simple Tux]] - Just convert it to bmp.
* [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Image:ThinkTuxBootsplash.png ThinkTux], my Linux-friendly version of the Thinkpad logo. Features Tux in all his glory and the motto, "ThinkTux," based on the Thinkpad logo. Just convert it to a .bmp with the GIMP (already is 640x480 and 16 colors).

How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen

2008-01-09T07:42:20Z

SiriusStarr: /* Share your custom bootsplash image */

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
|style="vertical-align:top" |
<div style="margin: 0; margin-right:10px; border: 1px solid #dfdfdf; padding: 0em 1em 1em 1em; background-color:#efefef; align:right;">
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 [[How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen (under Windows) | this guide]] instead.
</div>
|}
== 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:
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj28us.exe 1ruj28us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj29us.exe 1ruj29us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj30us.exe 1ruj30us.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj33us.exe 1ruj33us.exe]
There may be a more recent file on the IBM website.
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj35us.exe 1ruj35us.exe]

For Thinkpads {{T61}}, {{R61}} 14.1 inch screen
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/7luj05us.exe 7luj05us.exe]

or

* [[http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/license.do?filename=mobiles/7luj09uc.iso 7luj09uc.iso]]

For Thinkpad {{R60e}} the bios is available as an iso which can be edited before burning
See the readme file in the ISO for details of how to change the bootsplash.
* [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-64394 7euj18us.iso]

You need the cabextract tool to extract files from the exe:
:{{cmdroot|apt-get install cabextract}}

Do this to get the ibm file and extract the disk image from it:
:{{cmdroot|cd /tmp}}
:{{cmdroot|wget ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj35us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|cabextract -F "*.IMG" 1ruj35us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|mv 1RUJ35US.IMG floppy.bin}}

=== Method 2: Using a Diskette-File and dosemu ===
Another option is to use the "Diskette BIOS file".<br>
For ThinkPads {{R50}}, {{R50p}}, {{R51}} (1829, 1830, 1831, 1836), {{R52}}, {{T40}}, {{T40p}}, {{T41}}, {{T41p}}, {{T42}}, {{T42p}}, {{T43}}, {{T43p}} this file is suitable:
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj28ud.exe 1ruj28ud.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj29ud.exe 1ruj29ud.exe]
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj30ud.exe 1ruj30ud.exe] Released 2005-05-26

For Thinkpads {{T61}}, {{R61}} 14.1 inch screens
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/7luj05us.exe 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.<br>
:{{cmdroot|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.
:{{cmdroot|1=dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/floppy.bin bs=1024 count=1440}}
:{{cmdroot|losetup /dev/loop0 /tmp/floppy.bin}}
Put this block device ({{path|/dev/loop0}}) into the dosemu configuration as the floppy disk device.
Now you can run the extractor executable, which makes {{path|/tmp/floppy.bin}} the desired floppy image .
:{{cmdroot|dosemu 1ruj27ud.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|losetup -d /dev/loop0}}

For 2.6.12+ if you have dosemu error:
:{{cmdroot|echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space}}

== Adding the custom image ==
Mount your floppy.bin as a loopback device.
:{{cmdroot|mkdir /tmp/mnt}}
:{{cmdroot|1=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 {{path|/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 <tt>prepare.exe</tt> using wine: (This does not work with dosemu!)
:{{cmdroot|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 {{path|logo.mod}} and your {{path|logo.bmp}}. If so, you are set, don't forget to unmount your loopback device:
:{{cmdroot|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:
:{{cmdroot|1=mkisofs -b floppy.bin floppy.bin <nowiki>|</nowiki> cdrecord dev=<device> - }}
(<tt><device></tt> 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.

== Share your custom bootsplash image ==
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 [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.
* [[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).
* [[Media:simple_tux.png|Simple Tux]] - Just convert it to bmp.
* [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Image:ThinkTuxBootsplash.png|ThinkTux], my Linux-friendly version of the Thinkpad logo. Features Tux in all his glory and the motto, "ThinkTux," based on the Thinkpad logo. Just convert it to a .bmp with the GIMP (already is 640x480 and 16 colors).

File:ThinkTuxBootsplash.png

2008-01-09T07:38:35Z

SiriusStarr: My custom made bootsplash image for my Thinkpad T61. Features a more Linux-friendly version of the Thinkpad logo.

My custom made bootsplash image for my Thinkpad T61. Features a more Linux-friendly version of the Thinkpad logo.

Talk:Installing Fedora 7 on a ThinkPad T60p

2007-09-24T21:31:31Z

SiriusStarr: â†Created page with 'Have you tried TPB for the Thinkvantage button? I don't know if it works with the T60p, but I know it does with the T40.'

Have you tried TPB for the Thinkvantage button? I don't know if it works with the T60p, but I know it does with the T40.