BootXChanger
BootXChanger will allow you to change the boot image (the gray Apple) on Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5
System Requirements
• A PowerPC or Intel-based Macintosh
• Mac OS X 10.4 through 10.5.2
Limitations
BootXChanger will not change the background colour of the boot screen, so the background of your images must be the same (#BFBFBF). This is done so it won't spoil the spinner animation.
For the same reason, there is a limited number of colours your image can use. If your image has too many, it will be reduced and probably look ugly. If this happens, you can try saving the image in GIF or PNG-8 with Photoshop, and making sure it uses 100 colours or less.
On Intel Macs, it's even worse: images have to be compressed to fit in the boot file. If your image is too complex and doesn't fit, BootXChanger will show a message and you won't be able to apply it. Simply put:
• You can't change the background colour, it's #BFBFBF
• Use an image with less than 100 colours
• On Intel Macs, use simpler shapes or smaller images
Installation Instructions
To set an image as a boot image, open BootXChanger and drag it to the image well, and click Apply.
You will be asked for an administrator password, as the boot image is stored in a system file.
Downloads
• Source Code: BootXChanger_1.0.1_src.zip (776KiB zip)
SHA1(BootXChanger_1.0.1_src.zip)= 95d22f426f10a80b70c36e7ac8173d11402ae783
Frequently Asked Questions
• Will this work on PowerPC and Intel macs?
Yes, it is a Universal Binary.
• Why does BootXChanger keep saying 'This image cannot be used as a boot image.'
This is due to the way boot images are stored on Intel macs, and the only solution is to use a simpler image.
PowerPC users won't have this problem.
• Why has my image changed back to the gray Apple logo?
This will happen on some System updates, or sometimes when you change the startup disk.
• My Mac won't boot anymore after I used BootXChanger! Help!
If BootXChanger is somehow interrupted while writing the boot image (by a power failure, for example), your won't be able to boot from your startup disk anymore. This is easily fixed by booting from your Installation DVD and selecting the startup disk again.
• Does size matter?
Boot images are 128x128 pixels. Smaller images will be centered with a gray background, and bigger images will be truncated.
Send your questions to
zydeco@namedfork.net.
License
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later
version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
Last Update: February 12, 2008
©2007-2008 Jesús A. Álvarez, namedfork.net
zydeco@namedfork.net