####[ How-Do-I Documents ]######################################

Sub : GUI boot-up under LILO                                     

How-Do-I enable a GUI boot-up under LILO ?

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Introduction

1.1      LILO is perhaps the most common loader used  for Linux.
         The usual boot process consists of a  series  of kernel
         messages scrolling past on the console.  For  some this
         appears a bit drab.
         
1.2      In the newer versions of LILO, it is possible to have a
         background image on display  while the  boot process is
         taking place in the background. Version needed is  21.6
         and beyond.
                                    
2        How to go about it.
                                    
2.1      Step 1 is to check the version of LILO installed. It is
         unlikely to work if the LILO version on your  system is
         less than recommended. To  check, do the following  (as 
         root):
                                                      
         #lilo -V
                                                               
         [Please note the "V" in upper case. If you run it as -v
         command line, all that will happen is re-initialisation
         of the boot record in a verbose mode !]                                                                                 it will merely re-initialise the boot record in verbose
                                                                                          mode].
2.2      If your version of LILO is one of the newer ones  supp-
         orting GUI boots, you can proceed with the following:
         
         o Make an image
         o Copy the image to /boot
         o Edit /etc/lilo.conf
         o Re-initialise LILO
         o Reboot
         
3        Making an image

3.1      The image format used by LILO is ".pcx".  [ Note, it is
         reported that Ver 22.x of LILO can also work with  non-
         compressed  bitmaps (.bmp) of 640x480  (16 colors). The
         has not tested this out as yet ].
         
3.2      The .pcx file should be of size 320x200 ... This can be
         made using the GNU  Image  Manipulation Program (gimp).
         Either make a .pcx image de-novo under gimp  or convert
         an existing image to .pcx under gimp. The  only cravat
         to look out for is:
         
3.2.1    Under gimp menu select:

         o [Image] --> [Scale]
         o [Image] --> [Indexed]
         
         If you convert without setting these  two  options, the
         .pcx image created may not work under LILO.
         
4        Copy the image to /boot

4.1      In newer versions of some distros like Red hat and Man-
         drake, GUI boot-ups are already built in. In which case
         save the original file by some other name and  then  do
         the copying. The image file (if existing) resides under
         /boot/message. Note, if you do "file /boot/message" all
         that you are likely to get is "data" ! In  case  such a 
         file does not exist under /boot, skip the first step.
         
         #mv /boot/message /boot/message.orig
         #cp /full/path/to/yourimage.pcx /boot/message
         
5        Edit /etc/lilo.conf

5.1      In case you are already having a distro with  GUI boot,
         no changes are necessary. If not insert a line  in your
         /etc/lilo.conf "message=/boot/message". The usual place
         in /etc/lilo.conf where it should be inserted is as per
         the example below:
         
         boot=/dev/hdaN        (where N is your /boot partition)
         map=/boot/map
         install=/boot/boot.b
         timeout=50
         message=/boot/message  <--- Note the place
         ....
         [rest of lilo.conf]
         ....
         default=linux
         read-only
         
6        Re-initialise LILO and reboot.

6.1      Most folk are  already  aware of this step.  Just do the 
         following step and reboot:

         #lilo -v         
 
                                                                                           
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7        Kudos and Brickbats

7.1      This document is released under GFDL  license. You are
         free to use and  distribute it under terms of the said
         license.

7.2      Any kudos and brickbats should be directed at:

         Rajesh Fowkar 
         USM Bish