[waldo22]

...Also there is no windows screen, all seem automated, nice ! I guess this is an XBMC feature.

Well, no. Actually, it was a lot of work to do that.

Here's how I got the BIOS logo done...

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=44416

It's a bit of work, and if you're not a technical person, you shouldn't do it. However, a lot of motherboards nowadays come with logo utilities that make it easy to replace your BIOS logo.

As for the Windows logo, that was even harder, I definitely wouldn't recommend that to a n00bie, but here are some instructions:

Code:

For Windows startup screen:
*Your logo must be 640x480, 16 colors (NOT 16-bit color)
*Use ResourceHacker or a similar freeware program to edit $systemroot$\system32\ntoskrnl.exe and replace the logo with your own.
*Edit your C:\boot.ini file and change add the bottom line to link to your new modified kernel file (mykrnl.exe):

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional"  /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XBMC Log Kernel"       /fastdetect /kernel=mykrnl.exe

If it works when you boot up and select XBMC Logo kernel, then you can delete the other line and use your new kernel permanently.  Just don't do any updates :)

ResourceHacker is available here: http://angusj.com/resourcehacker/
Here's a fairly straightforward tutorial: http://www.thetechguide.com/howto/xpbootlogo/
Here's another (much more complicated) tutorial: http://www.geocities.com/thejjoelc/XPbootcolors.html

Does it require some tweaking of Windows to remove some components that usually take long to start up ?

Not sure. I tweaked the heck out of mine, and went into services.msc and disabled all unneccessary services.

I guess by definition cold start cannot be achieved by remote control ?

Well, mine works. I'm not sure if a 5VSB remote would work to do this or not. It may. But you can use the XIR that I linked to to accomplish this. http://www.xir.us

Regarding standby and remote, pretty clear too, excpet I could not find if Revo is compatble with 5VSB. Is this a feature of the Bios ? This will help me search on Google.

No, it's a feature of the motherboard (well, the motherboard AND the BIOS, but if the MB supports it, the BIOS should too.) It should say "Wake on USB" or something like that in the BIOS.

See this XBMC wiki article for more info on what else I did:

http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=HOW-TO_make_...ull_Screen

Anyway, I know that's a lot of very technical info, but hopefully it will help someone if you don't feel up to it.

I'm really glad I was able to help you.

-Wes

[oarthus]

Wes

thank you again for the additional details, so well documented!
I have to admit this is way beyond my own skills, but I'm sure it will inspire others.
If I don't go into these tweaking, I guess start up time would be much longer (Windows already take 2 munites to start), but could you also confirm wake up time from standy should in most cases be around 5 seconds max?

Thanks

Olivier

[waldo22]

...could you also confirm wake up time from standby should in most cases be around 5 seconds max

I don't see why it would take longer, especially with a modern CPU. If course I can't guarantee that, but it really should be quick.

I have to admit this is way beyond my own skills, but I'm sure it will inspire others.

That's what I was hoping, that even if you didn't feel up to it, it may help others.