HackBGRT

HackBGRT is intended as a boot logo changer for UEFI-based Windows systems.

Summary

When booting on a UEFI-based computer, Windows may show a vendor-defined logo which is stored on the UEFI firmware in a section called Boot Graphics Resource Table (BGRT). It's usually very difficult to change the image permamently, but a custom UEFI application may be used to overwrite it during the boot. HackBGRT does exactly that.

Usage

Important: If you mess up the installation, your system may become unbootable! Create a rescue disk before use. This software comes with no warranty. Use at your own risk.

• Make sure that your computer is booting with UEFI.
• Make sure that Secure Boot is disabled, or learn to sign EFI applications.
• Simple Windows installation:
  • Get the latest release.
  • Start setup.exe and select I (install).
  • The installer will launch Notepad for modifying the configuration.
    • If you need only one custom image, the defaults are fine.
    • Otherwise, check out the examples in the configuration file.
  • The installer will launch Paint for creating the image(s).
    • You can create multiple images by using Save As.
    • Be sure to always use the 24-bit BMP/DIB format.
  • If Windows later restores the original boot loader, simply reinstall.
  • If you wish to change the image or other configuration, simply reinstall.
• Installation for Windows with another boot loader (e.g. GRUB):
  • Extract the latest release to [EFI System Partition]\EFI\HackBGRT\.
  • Set boot=\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi in config.txt.
  • Point your boot loader to \EFI\HackBGRT\bootx64.efi.
• Installation for all operating systems:
  • Extract the latest release to [EFI System Partition]\EFI\HackBGRT\.
  • Set boot= to your preferred boot loader in config.txt.
  • Set \EFI\HackBGRT\bootx64.efi as your default boot loader with efibootmgr or some other EFI boot manager tool.

Configuration

The configuration options are described in config.txt, which should be stored in [EFI System Partition]\EFI\HackBGRT\config.txt.

Images

The image path can be changed in the configuration file. The default path is [EFI System Partition]\EFI\HackBGRT\splash.bmp.

The image must be a 24-bit BMP file with a 54-byte header. That's a TrueColor BMP3 in Imagemagick, or 24-bit BMP/DIB in Microsoft Paint.

Multiple images may be specified, in which case one is picked at random.

Building

• Compiler: GCC targeting w64-mingw32
• Compiler flags: see Makefile
• Libraries: gnu-efi