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Custom boot screen

:::warning This tutorial was made 2021, December 9th. Tools used here were still experimental and under development.

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:::tip Keep your working directory well organized. It will help you work faster and make a proper modification.

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Tools

Set up the environment

  1. Download and install Gimp.
  2. Download mib2image plugin and place it in the plugins directory of your Gimp installation.
  3. Install python3.
  4. Download MIB STD2 Toolbox.
  5. Download alternative compress-startup_x.boot.py script.
  6. Replace original `/tools/compress-startup_x.boot.py with the alternative one.

Get original boot screen

You can get the original boot screen file from:

  • firmware update package
  • by dumping it from the unit with the toolbox
  • copy it manually via FTP access to your main unit.

In this example I'm going to use startup_4.boot file from VW ZR EU P0245T and I'm going to place it in startanim/1-original/ directory.

Extract files

  1. Open Command Line Interface or Terminal.
  2. Extract the file with command python3 /Volumes/HDD/mib-std2-pq-zr-toolbox/tools/extract-startup_x.boot.py /Volumes/HDD/startanim/1-original/startup_4.boot /Volumes/HDD/startanim/2-original_extracted/.
  3. Open the 2-original_extracted/ directory and check if you see .png files inside. Those .png images will be black&white but you will be able to see which file is which.
  4. Duplicate the 2-original_extracted/ and name the duplicate 3-original_with_mods/.
  5. Open the 3-original_with_mods/. This is your working directory, so it's a good idea to keep it organized. I'm going to create fender, dynaudio, bluemotion, and vw directories inside to place the .png files inside them.
  6. Change extensions from .png to .mib of all files from the 3-original_with_mods/ directory and subdirectories.
  7. Right-click on a .mib file and open it with Gimp. If the file opens correctly, you can associate .mib extension with Gimp for future convenience.

Modify

  1. Open .mib files that you wish to modify.
  2. Use your graphic design skills to modify original files.
  3. Export each modified file with File > Export As…, open the Select File Type (By Extension) section, highlight MIB2STD BOOT image, press Export, and Replace. Set the Extract label to separate file to No, and press OK.
  4. Change extensions of .mib files back to .png.
  5. Once again duplicate the 2-original_extracted/ and name the duplicate 4-mod_unpacked/.
  6. Use your custom .png files to overwrite stock ones in the 4-mod_unpacked/ directory.

Compress

  1. Open Command Line Interface or Terminal.
  2. Compress files with command python3 /Volumes/HDD/mib-std2-pq-zr-toolbox/tools/compress-startup_x.boot.py /Volumes/HDD/startanim/1-original/startup_4.boot /Volumes/HDD/startanim/5-mod/startup_4.boot /Volumes/HDD/startanim/4-mod_unpacked/.

Check

  1. Check if startanim/5-mod/startup_4.boot files was created correctly.
  2. Unpack it again, just to be sure that everything is fine. Use command python3 /Volumes/HDD/mib-std2-pq-zr-toolbox/tools/extract-startup_x.boot.py /Volumes/HDD/startanim/5-mod/startup_4.boot /Volumes/HDD/startanim/6-mod_test/.
  3. If everything goes OK, you should be able to extract the modified file.

Upload to MIB

  1. Use FTP access or MIB STD2 Toolbox to upload your modified file.
  2. Review module 5F long coding to make sure that the module is coded to use boot screen that you were working on.
  3. Reboot the unit with button combination.

:::info Special thanks to everyone that was involved in making this possible: Olli991, jille, jtomtos, yox2019.

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