Method and apparatus for storing and displaying a power-on graphical image

• US 5,600,766 A
• Filed: 08/24/1994
• Issued: 02/04/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mathew, George, Smeltzer, Kenneth D., Merkin, Stanley L., Vaiskauckas, Gary A., Khatri, Bharat, Deckys, David J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phu K.
• Application Number:
  US08/295,344
• Time in Patent Office: 895 Days
• Field of Search: 395/135, 395/139, 395/133, 345/114, 345/127, 345/132
• US Class Current: 345/641
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4401 Bootstrapping security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/026 Arrangements or methods related to booting a display
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T

Abstract

In a computer system including a video subsystem, a method for storing and displaying a power on graphical image, comprises the steps of: storing a compressed graphical image in a programmable read-only memory (PROM); initializing a power-on self test (POST); decompressing the compressed graphical image;loading the decompressed graphic image into a random access memory (RAM); and displaying the graphical image during the POST. Also in accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method for adding a user selected graphic image to a system ROM image, comprises the steps of: searching the Flash image file for the graphical image signature (GIS); locating the actual graphical image data with the graphical image header; reading the new graphical image data; overlaying the old graphical image data into a Flash image file; and recalculating the system ROM checksum.

Claims

1. In a computer system including a video subsystem, a method for storing and displaying a power on graphical image, comprising the steps of:

(a) storing a compressed graphical image in a programmable read-only memory (PROM);

(b) initializing a power-on self test (POST);

(c) decompressing the compressed graphical image;

(d) loading the decompressed graphic image into a random access memory (RAM); and

(e) displaying the graphical image during the POST.

2. A method for adding a user selected graphic image to a system ROM image, comprising the steps of:

searching the Flash image file for the graphical image signature (GIS);

locating the actual graphical image data with the graphical image header;

reading the new graphical image data;

overlaying the old graphical image data into a Flash image file; and

recalculating the system ROM checksum.