grub spash image

just add the image file to the /grub directory in .xpm.gz format
the default name should be splash.xpm.gz
then rebuild grub image

you can get ready-to-use images anywhere ... eg: here

example commands:

cd /boot/grub
wget http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=17670&d=1161005960
update-grub

that's it :)

linux: change console resolution

to change the console resolution on linux, you need to append a parameter to the kernel boot line:
eg: kernel vga=788

this is the resolution table:

Colours   640x400 640x480 800x600 1024x768 1152x864 1280x1024 1600x1200
--------+--------------------------------------------------------------
4 bits  |    ?       ?      770       ?        ?        ?         ?
8 bits  |   768     769     771      773      353      775       796
15 bits |    ?      784     787      790      354      793       797
16 bits |    ?      758     788      791      355      794       798
24 bits |    ?      786     789      792       ?       795       799
32 bits |    ?       ?       ?        ?       356       ?

If you want to make it permanet, you can do it via grub:

1) by adding this param in menu.lst to the kernel section on each menu entry you want to use this resolution

eg: kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6. [...] vga=788

2) or by adding this param to the # defoptions

eg: # defoptions=quiet splash vga=788
NOTE: it is commented, but is used this way by grub, so leave it commented! ... it's long story :)

REMEMBER: once done, you have to rebuild the grub by issuing the command

$ upgrade-grub