This page describes how to replace the standard IBM BIOS Bootsplash (The one with the ThinkPad- and Pentium M-Logo), without access to Microsoft Windows or a floppy drive.
Ubuntu does not recognise all the ThinkVantage buttons correctly by default. This can be fixed quite easily. In a terminal, type:
sudo gedit /etc/X11/Xmodmap
Then paste the following in the file:
keycode 234 = XF86Back
keycode 233 = XF86Forward
#!/bin/bash
#
# Start beryl-manager within gnome-session
#
if [ `ps -A -o comm | grep -c '^Xgl$'` == "1" ]; then
DISPLAY=:1 beryl-manager
DISPLAY=:1 beryl-xgl
else echo "${0}: Error: beryl-manager not launched. Xgl not running?"
fi
Thinkpads and IBM keyboards, it has a couple little keys above the arrow keys that go "back" and "forward" in your browser. At least, in Windows IE. Shockingly, they don't work with Firefox (in Linux) out of the box.