A boot loader is the first program that runs when you start your computer. It loads and transfers control to the operating system kernel software. The kernel then handles the booting of the operating system. For more information you can visit GNU Grub.

I love linux because you can customize everything about the operating system. Now I rarely reboot my PC because I don't run a dual boot, but when I do reboot, I would like to see something cool other than the usual Fedora Logo.

All of GRUB's info is stored in /boot/grub including two important files:

• *.xpm.gz file which is the default background image for the boot screen.
• menu.lst which is where the background image name and Boot options are stored.

For my example I am going to take the SOLUG logo and create a boot screen from it.

Step 1: Open gimp. Right click on the image and choose: Image > Canvas Size Change your image size to 640 x 480px (this is the size we want our end image to be) and create your masterpiece.

Step 2: You want to use only a 14 colors. To do this, right click and choose: Image > Mode > Indexed and type 14 in "Generate Optimal Palette". Then select "None" under "Dithering" Step 3: Save your file as a .xpm file.

That's it you have created your image. At this point if you like you can compress your file. ( gzip filename ).

Here is the image that I created for this tutorial. You can download it solugboot.xpm.gz.

Step 4: We are not done yet. Copy the .xpm file to the /boot/grub directory. and change the line that reads: splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz to the name of your .xpm file. Reboot and enjoy your custom boot screen.

Related websites:

• GNU Grub - http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/