ThinkWiki - User contributions [en]

How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen

2007-07-08T19:19:49Z

Usv: Temporarily changed the location of ibm-tux due to reinstallation of my server

{| width="100%"
|style="vertical-align:top;padding-right:20px;width:10px;white-space:nowrap;" | __TOC__
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<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.

Last version at 2007-03-18 :
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj35us.exe 1ruj35us.exe]

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 '''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.

Talk:BIOS Upgrade

2007-03-31T10:45:34Z

Usv: Added section about asking help with a bios update gone bad

== Dead link ==

The link to the FreeDOS floppy (http://www.ankreuzen.de/freedos/files/fd9sr1/fdos1440.zip), which is needed to upgrade the BIOS from a CD, is dead. Is the information still valid? And is there a different source for the floppy image? [[User:Jamesavery|Jamesavery]] 05:49, 18 February 2007 (CET)

== BIOS upgrade using WINE ==

Does anyone think this would be possible? [[User:Mcalwell|Mcalwell]] 08:58, 28 January 2007 (CET)

: No this is not possible. [[User:Mcalwell|Mcalwell]] 16:01, 12 February 2007 (CET)

== BIOS upgrade without battery ==

Concerning the known problem with 600 series with batteries dead too soon, it is impossible to upgrade the bios without the battery because the original ibm update program doesn't allow this. I bought an old 600E without the battery. There was one workaround, but i think for the older releases of the bios, where you just extracted files and upgraded manualy, bypassing the ibm install program. The page that describes this (i lost the link) has a list of different files, that the ones found in current release so i never did figure out what to do? I would like to upgrade because i have really old bios, where ACPI doesn't cooperate so well with the operating system, either windows or linux.

If somebody finds a workaround please help. Thanks

//Edit

I've found the page on Vim's bios upgrade forum.. I don't know if it exactly for my model, since the files differ.. '''Is it possible, to upgrade bios in linux without the battery?'''

''I have found a working solution WOW on the other forum:

*** This is NOT a safe way to update the bios (disclaimer) ***

* First you need to make a BIOS update floppy disk (from the bios file from IBM - place disk in a: drive, run app and answer Y to the agreement) and then format another disk by right clicking on A: - format - make system bootdisk (assuming you have another machine spare)

* Copy all the files from the IBM Boot disk - in my case
$0029000.fl1
$0029000.fl2
FLASH2.EXE
PROD.DAT
UPDTFLSH.EXE
updtrom.exe
USERINT.EXE
UTILINFO.EXE
to the other clean bootdisk.

* Ensure that there is no config.sys and autoexec.bat so it just runs straight into DOS.

* Place the disk into the Laptop, reboot and allow the machine to load via the floppy

* At the command prompt, type "FLASH2.EXE /U" with no quotes then press enter.

The program will automatically search for the files *.FL1 & *.FL2 and load the bios first then the platform file.

The program will automatically update and perform erasing on the rom and then finish with "Update complete".

* Now reboot.

* Hold F1 down as you turn the laptop back on and go into Easy Setup under "Config" click on Initialize to ensure defaults and settings are error free.

* Save and exit...''

// EDIT

This worked on my machine.. I make no guarantees it will work on others.

The above procedure did not work on my T23 using the 1.20 bios; it kept returning error 14 (Low Battery). However, following those instructions and running "qkflash" rather than flash2 did work for the main bios, and later for the embedded controller.

--grythumn

== Bios upgrade & hidden partition ==

I have disabled the hidden partition to make more space for linux (24G). I still have Windows on the 14G partition. Is it safe to upgrade the BIOS without the hidden partition? I want to get a newer BIOS to fix the annoying fan issue. Thanks

- yes don't worry about it. bios upgrades have nothing to do with whats inside the harddrive.

== BIOS upgrade over PXE ==

Hi,

I have a Thinkpad X20 with a very early BIOS and Embedded Controller Program which I'd like to update. Currently, the only feasible way of doing this is over the network using PXE. I already have a fully functional PXE server using SYSLINUX, and have so far been able to boot the BIOS diskette image using MEMDISK, although I have not attempted to flash anything yet due to the warnings given on the page. Is there any safe way I can update both the Controller Program and the BIOS in the same session over the network in this manner? If not, what other methods would be suitable? I have a USB CD-ROM drive and could probably get hold of a USB floppy drive.

Thanks.

Update: I ended up burning CDs as described and successfully updated everything. I'd still like to know if there is a way I could do it entirely over the network, though.

== RE: grub initrd ==

"Another possibility which works even without a CD-drive or network is to boot the disk image via the grub initrd mechanism."

0) Interesting suggestion. Might be better of in its own section.

1) Could you please elaborate?

2) My first guess (pending your elaboration) would be to "chainload" the first block of the diskimage using the grub commandline, like:
blocklist (''path'')/''to''/''diskimage''
chainloader ''blockvalue''+1

But that's just a guess!

[[user:Pebolle|Paul Bolle]] Fri Jul 15 12:20:47 CEST 2005

== bios/controller update sequence ==

The article says:
"If you go through the readme's on the IBM site they'll cleary state that you must update the Control Program first, then imediately update the BIOS"

When I look at the IBM udpate instructions for the T23, it says:
"If you need to update the BIOS as well as the Embedded Controller Program, update the BIOS first."

Comments?

> I would first contact IBM for clarification, but you should probably be following instructions specific to your model.

>> I did it following IBM's instructions to upgrade the BIOS first. Everything worked out great!

== Firmware upgrade for Intel minipci combo card ==

I just purchased an [[Intel 10/100 Ethernet Mini-PCI Adapter with 56K Modem]] that has an ancient (2.0.6) firmware version. I Downloaded the update file intlbtag.EXE but cabextract was unable to find any cabfiles inside it. I tried running the program via wine and that didn't work either.

Finally I ran the program on a windows machine and created a boot floppy. Then I went through the the process of converting the floppy to a bootable cd via linux and that worked like a charm. The cd successfully updated the minipc card's firmware.

Everything worked but I ended up needing a windows box to do it. Could this have been done without windows?

== Firmware upgrade for Wireless LAN MiniPCI COMBO Card using prism2_srec ==

The appropriate firmware installation program for the wlan card in my R32 can be extracted using cabextract as described in the article. It contains (besides some installation programs) a disk image (1awg06ww.IMG) that seems to be a simple dos boot disk. This image contains 3 .hex files (id010001.hex, pk010100.hex, sf010402.hex) that are recognized by prism2_srec to be "srec"-files. Trying to load them to RAM yields:

{{cmdroot|prism2_srec -v -r wlan0 sf010402.hex}}
S3 CRC-16 generation record: start=0x007E1800 len=65642 prog=1
Start address 0x00000000
srec summary for sf010402.hex
Component: 0x001f 1.4.2 (station firmware)
<snip>
Interface compatibility information:
role=Supplier variant=2 range=1-9 iface=Station Firmware-Driver (4)
role=Actor variant=1 range=1-1 iface=Modem-Firmware (1)
role=Actor variant=2 range=1-1 iface=Controller-Firmware (2)
role=Actor variant=1 range=4-4 iface=Primary Firmware-Driver (3)
<snip>
Wireless LAN card information:
Components:
NICID: 0x8013 v1.0.0
PRIID: 0x0015 v1.0.7
STAID: 0x001f v1.3.6
Interface compatibility information:
PRI role=Supplier variant=1 range=1-1 iface=Modem-Firmware (1)
PRI role=Supplier variant=2 range=1-1 iface=Controller-Firmware (2)
PRI role=Supplier variant=1 range=4-4 iface=Primary Firmware-Driver (3)
STA role=Supplier variant=1 range=1-9 iface=Station Firmware-Driver (4)
PRI role=Actor variant=2 range=1-1 iface=Controller-Firmware (2)
STA role=Actor variant=2 range=1-1 iface=Controller-Firmware (2)
STA role=Actor variant=1 range=1-1 iface=Modem-Firmware (1)
<snip>
This image is not meant to be downloaded to volatile memory.
Incompatible update data.

Has anyone tried to flash this device using prism2_srec yet?
What bothers me is, that the upgrade is for many different parts of the combo card. Does anyone have an opinion on whether this could work?

OK, I took the risk and successfully upgraded my station firmware, BUT when I tried to upgrade the primary firmware the system froze!!! The thinkpad won't start up with the miniPCI card inserted and all efforts to reflash it using the original DOS boot image failed!!!

I'm quite sure the system freeze was not caused directly by prism2_srec, because I have noticed rare system freezes since I have been using my PCMCIA wireless card.
Anyway, if anyone should own a TP R32, I'd be glad if he could tell me the base address of the Wlan card, or it's PCI address.

Thinkpad r32 owner here. I want to upgrade the firmware as well. If you need any information just send an email to haftbar[a]gmail.com [[User:Quickie|Quickie]] 02:12, 1 February 2006 (CET)

==Reorganization suggestion==
The Downloads section is rather long. Would it be an idea to put it on a separate, new page (say: BIOS_Downloads) and link to that new page from this page?

[[User:Pebolle|Paul Bolle]] 21:27, 15 Oct 2005 (CEST)

> I agree with this suggestion.

== Upgrading BIOS and Embedded Control Program from Win XP ==

I'm trying to upgrade the BIOS and Embedded Controller Program from Windows XP following the instructions on the Lenovo website. The problem is the instructions are not very clear about this. The instructions basically state that I must upgrade them at the same time because the Control Program does not work with the older BIOS and the BIOS does not work with the older Control Program. They also state that I should upgrade the Control Program first.

But that means I must boot into XP after having upgraded the Control Program but with the older BIOS in order to then update the BIOS. But if this works then they are actually compatible and there's a contradiction. Am I missing something? I just want to make sure I don't end up with a non-functioning unit.

I have an X23 and want the latest BIOS (v 1.32) and Control Program (v 1.30).

Maybe there should be a note about this in the article? Or maybe I'm the only one who is this stupid :)

Update: I talked to Lenovo support. The situation apparently is that though the description says that the newer control program is not compatible with the older BIOS, they are not so incompatible as to cause the machine to stop working so it is actually possible to use incompatible versions of BIOS and control program. In fact according to the support person it makes no difference if the BIOS is upgraded before the control program or vice versa. So I upgraded the control program using the executable running in Windows XP, which rebooted the computer to perform the upgrade and then I booted Windows again to upgrade the BIOS in the same manner and it all worked fine. If anyone reading this finds it useful maybe you can put it in the article? Or if you find it superfluous just delete this section.

--[[User:xphinx|xphinx]] 12 March 2007

I have an X22 with BIOS version 1.21 and Embedded Controller version 1.17 and using the steps described by you, I succesfully updated my bios to the lastest versions from WindowsXP (BIOS v1.32 / EC v1.30)
Thanks!

== BIOS upgrade for T21 with T20 BIOS ==

Hi, I bought a used T21 recently (type 2647-8AU), and would like to update the BIOS to the latest version, but there's a problem: this T21 appears to have a T20 BIOS (IYET50WW, a/k/a T20 BIOS version 1.11). When I try updating this BIOS using one of IBM's T21 updaters - I tried KZET34WW/v1.16 (the latest one) and KZET16WW/v1.01 (the earliest one) - I get the following message:

<blockquote>
''The diskette in the default drive will not run on this system. Your system is now locked. To restart your system, press Ctrl+Alt+Del.''
</blockquote>

I suspect this message appears because the existing BIOS is a T20 BIOS.

There would appear to be two options: either use the most recent T20 updater (IYET61WW, a/k/a T20 v1.22), or find a way to defeat the block in the KZET34WW/v1.16 T21 updater. Obviously either option is risky in the absence of more information and/or detective work. And I don't know enough about T2x-series hardware to hazard a guess (i.e., were early T21s just T20s with a speed bump, did some T21s get T20 BIOSes by mistake due to factory error, or are the T20 and T21 similar enough that it doesn't matter whether a T20 or T21 BIOS is used).

Some relevant data gleaned from the stickers on the case bottom and the current BIOS:

<blockquote>
* '''Type:''' 2647-8AU (T21 with 800-MHz processor)
* '''S/N:''' 78-0GL1Z (zero-G-L-one-zed)
* '''Manufacture date:''' 03/2001
* '''BIOS version:''' IYET50WW (T20 BIOS v1.11)
* '''System unit S/N:''' (appears to be blank)
* '''System board S/N:''' J1HHS15CL5C
* '''System board P/N:''' 08K3747 (printed on motherboard)
</blockquote>

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

-Linux Spice

P.S. At first I thought this might be a Frankenstein ThinkPad with a T21 case and a T20 logic board - I did buy it used, after all - but it does have an 800-MHz processor, which was never an option for the T20 (both the BIOS and Linux report it as such), and all the other equipment checks out (except for the hard drive, which was replaced with a 40-GB model).

== BIOS format ==

Not sure if this is the right place, but...
Does anybody know what the formats for the various files are in the bios package (or, even better, the bios.bak file that gets dumped on your disk before updating)? I'm getting progressivel lower and lower level in figuring out just what happens when the computer boots, and the BIOS is the last step... (BTW, I have an x60s)

-- Unknown

Yes. It is a binary dump. Sometimes, there is junk in the start of the file. This should be data enough for you to figure out what you need.

--[[User:Hmh|hmh]] 13:30, 26 February 2007 (CET)

== BIOS update gone bad ==

I tried to flash my [[:Category:600|ThinkPad 600]]'s bios with catastrophalic outcome; now the machine is unable to boot. I, being overly stupid and too self-confident, ignored all warnings about the media containing the bios image not being write-protected (I used one partition of the disk, in which I had installed FreeDOS). During the updating process, the machine started to write screens full of random characters in cyan coloured background. At that point I knew it was b0rked. I asked my friend about what to do now, he said I could open the machine up, locate the bios chip and use EPROM programmer/burner to write the bios image to the chip. He also said that because my machine is very old, there are probably not safeguards like dual bios or emergency bios update from floppy disk on boot. He continued by saying that the bios update file images from IBM/Lenovo website might not be actual , "pure" binaries which could be burned directly to the chip, instead they may contain some vendor-specific checksums which must be taken into account. In ThinkWiki there seems to be no page about bios flashing gone bad and restoring the machine to working condition. Or is there? I really need your help with this; I think I'm able to locate the bios, take it off and find a working EPROM burner, but where can I get a clean BIOS image without the vendor checksums? I'd be grateful for any references.

--[[User:Usv|Usv]] 12:45, 31 March 2007 (CEST)

How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen

2007-02-17T20:53:31Z

Usv: Changed IBM Tux bootsplash image to bmp format

{| 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] Released 2005-05-26 '''NEW!'''
There may be a more recent file on the IBM website.

Last version at 2006-01-04 :
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj33us.exe 1ruj33us.exe] Released 2005-10-25 '''NEW!'''

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/1ruj30us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|cabextract -F "*.IMG" 1ruj30us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|mv 1RUJ30US.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 '''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://asuka.fi/u/jpaalija/stuff/filestorage/ibm-tux.bmp Tux with the IBM logo] written on its tummy.

User:Usv

2006-11-20T10:44:12Z

Usv: Added name and homepage

Mr Janne PaalijÃ¤rvi
[http://asuka.fi/u/jpaalija/ Homepage]

How to change the BIOS bootsplash screen

2006-11-20T09:41:17Z

Usv: /* Share your custom bootsplash image: Added IBM Tux */

{| 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] Released 2005-05-26 '''NEW!'''
There may be a more recent file on the IBM website.

Last version at 2006-01-04 :
* [ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/1ruj33us.exe 1ruj33us.exe] Released 2005-10-25 '''NEW!'''

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/1ruj30us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|cabextract -F "*.IMG" 1ruj30us.exe}}
:{{cmdroot|mv 1RUJ30US.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 '''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}}.
You could use this tux image (which is no longer available because someone deleted it) for example.<br /><br />
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.<br /><br />
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://asuka.fi/u/jpaalija/stuff/filestorage/ibm-tux.png Tux with the IBM logo] written on its tummy.