Linux Desktop Hacks

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Chapter 1, Booting Linux

#5 Create Your Own LILO Boot Splash

HACK

Avoid downloading LILO boot screens that are designed to

use the

message= command in the lilo.conf file. This tech-

nique works on only a few distributions of Linux, and it is

difficult to find all the utilities necessary to make it work.

Because the bitmap approach is at least as effective (if not

better), it’s probably a waste of time trying to make the

message= technique work.

If you can’t resist and you do try using the message= tech-

nique, note that

message= and the bitmap approach are

mutually exclusive. You cannot use both simultaneously.

HACK

#5

Create Your Own LILO Boot Splash Hack #5

Create or modify any picture for use as a LILO boot splash background.

You can easily start from scratch and create any kind of LILO boot splash

background. Just make sure you consider the following:

• The image resolution must be 640x480.

• The image must be a bitmap.

• The image must comprise 255 colors or less, and it must be indexed.

• You should plan to create or allocate two areas on the screen—one for

the LILO menu and one for the LILO timer, which ticks down until it

automatically boots.

This example bases the LILO boot screen on a KDE screenshot with a Kon-

sole window open (Figure 1-1). The idea is to place the LILO boot menu

within the Konsole window, and the countdown timer where the clock

appears on the KDE panel. I set up the KDE screen ...