UNSOLVED
There use to be a Dell utility to change the bios splash screen on certain older Dell laptop models,
http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?releaseid=R35826&c=us&l=en&cs=19&s=dhs
Doing this improperly or using it on a non compatible model could brick the laptop.
***Use at your own risk!
Copyright 2001, Dell
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Dell Portables POST Bitmap Update Program Instructions
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Table of Contents
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Section # Topic
I. Introduction
II. SPLASH Command Line Options
III. Using SPLASH.EXE, the POST Bitmap Update program
IV. Supported systems
V. Unintentionally Removing a Bitmap from NVRAM
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I. Introduction
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The POST Bitmap Update Program allows you to replace the image that is
displayed during the Power-On Self Test (POST) of your Dell Portable
computer.
By default, the image displayed during POST is the Dell logo. This image can
be replaced by a specially formatted image loaded into non-volatile memory
(NVRAM) using SPLASH.EXE. The image remains in memory even when power has
been removed from the system.
The image which is loaded into NVRAM must be in bitmap (.bmp) format. The
image can be no larger than 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels high and must use 16
colors.
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II. SPLASH Command Line Options
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USE: splash {OFF | file}
Where:
OFF Unload the current bitmap image from memory
and return to the default image.
file The name of the file containing the bitmap
to be loaded into memory. (eg. myimage.bmp)
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III. Using SPLASH.EXE, the POST Bitmap Update program
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Splash must be run from a DOS prompt, not a DOS box from within Windows. The
program will not run unless a battery is inserted and AC power is attached
to the computer, except when run on Latitude C800 and Inspiron 8000 systems.
To load a new image into memory, boot to a DOS prompt and type:
SPLASH file
where 'file' is the name of the file containing the bitmap.
To clear a previously loaded image from memory and return to the default
Dell Logo, type:
SPLASH off
The program will restart the computer when it has completed execution.
EXAMPLE:
The INSPIRON.BMP bitmap is included on this diskette. To load this bitmap
into memory, type:
SPLASH inspiron.bmp
NOTE:
The program must be able to compress the bitmap image to fit into
approximately 64KB of NVRAM. It may not be possible to sufficiently compress
some images even though they meet the 640x480x16 requirement. In these cases
the program will display an error message indicating the image is too large
and the POST bitmap screen will not be updated.
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IV. Supported Systems
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The program supports the following systems:
All Dell Latitude C-Series systems, except for Latitude CP and Latitude CPi.
Dell Inspiron 3700, 3800, 4000 series and 8000 series.
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V. Unintentionally Removing a Bitmap from NVRAM
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There are two ways for a user to unintentionally erase a bitmap image from
NVRAM:
1) Downgrading the system BIOS to a version that does not support the POST
Bitmap Update.
2) Flashing to any BIOS revision without using the /nvram option when the
flash BIOS executable is run.
The BIOS flash diskettes available at WWW.SUPPORT.DELL.COM utilize a program
called UPGRADE.EXE to launch the flash BIOS executable. UPGRADE.EXE makes use
of the /nvram switch when it launches the flash BIOS executable. Users who
upgrade their system BIOS versions with these diskettes will not lose the
bitmaps they've previously programmed into NVRAM unless they bypass
UPGRADE.EXE and manually run the flash BIOS executable without the /nvram
option.
Revised 10/30/01
End of SPLASH.TXT
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Intel OEM'd Motherboards had a way of doing this. Dell had some boards that supported this due to them being
OEM'd to dell. However this feature is not universal.
The Dimension XPS T series was one of them with a modified SE440BX motherboard.
I am not aware of current way to do this with Foxconn Motherboard Bios.
lukemcurley
47 Posts
43620
0
Posted July 1st, 2013 06:00
Is there a new version of the Dell utility for the UEFI Dell BIOS?
playswithserver
1 Message
5586
0
Posted October 10th, 2016 13:00
will this work with servers like say the Dell R610? I need to change the Dell bios logo to somthing else
osprey4
6 Operator
•
34230 Posts
43599
0
Posted September 2nd, 2010 18:00
Hi Abouyara,
The blue Dell logo is stored in the BIOS. There is a way to change it using a BIN editor, which if done incorrectly will ruin your computer. So I don't recommend it.