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 the 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 containg the bimap.

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

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IV. Supported Systems
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The program supports the following systems:

Dell Inspiron 8000.

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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 03/07/01

End of SPLASH.TXT
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