Unsupported compression method 98

Should be 4bit 16 colour....

My bad....typo. Yeah, in PSP, I'm using, Image-Decrease Color Depth-16colors(4bit). The original image is a 800*600 gif file, resized to 640*480...then reduced in color depth, saved as a bmp. When I try to create the bootskin file, I'll first get that message, then I'll get some error saying the .ini file is corrupt. If I used a pre-made bootskin file, and just replace the main bitmap (alter the ini file to correct file name to match), then I just get the first "98" error.

I'll give this another shot....see what happens.

Guess my only question would be...is there something going on when I change the format from gif to bmp?

In addition.....I took a look at the files in a usable bootskin, the bmp's are listed as bmp file (for file type) and the one I'm trying to use says bitmap image. Could that be what's causing the issue?

Hey Morpheous; just a shot in the dark, open gif image, save as bitmap then open bitmap image and decrease to 16 color.

You need to look at the filename...it needs to be something like 'picture.bmp' - where picture is the name of the image...the suffix cannot be anything other than 'bmp'...

The problem is, they are bmp files.

I'll give that a shot Cavan1.

a really good piece of freeware that someone pointed out to me a very long time ago (Cavan   ) is IrFanView. Download & install it, open up your image with irfanview, click on image from the top menu, click on resize/resample, select the standard 640x480 size and click on ok. The size is no longer an issue at this point. Click on Image again from the top menu, click decrease color depth, select 16 colors (4bit) from the list and the 16 color issue is taken care of.
click on File, Save, you will be prompted for the filename, and at that point you can select the file type as well, make sure bitmap .bmp is selected and the bkgrnd image should be taken care of. Take into account you also have to create a progress bar that uses the same color palette as your image. I usually draw both the progress bar & bkgrnd on the same image file and then resave the bkgrnd as progress.bmp and crop out the progress bar area.

Found what the problem was. Bootskin was not accepting the zip file created by WinZip 11. I tested the following:

Winzip 11: failed.
Winrar 3.7 saved as rar file: changed extenstion: failed.
7Zip: changed extension: failed.

Tried Winrar again, this time I chose to use the zip compression method naming instead of rar, Bootskin accepted it.

Skin formats are renamed ZIP files...not renamed RAR [or any other archive format you might want to imagine/use]....

Step one...

ZIP your skin folder.

Step two...

Rename the 'zip' suffix to [in this case] 'bootskin'.

 

I think ya missed the point. (see previous post saying "changed extension")

The problem was with Winzip. Using Winzip alone to create the compressed archive created the "compression" error. Bootskin didn't recognize it.

So....instead of using Winzip, I tried other archiving tools...and found that using Winrar, and checking "ZIP" instead of "RAR" as the file type...I could then change the extension and have Bootskin import the file.

For those that don't use Winrar, or do have it but don't see what I am talking about:



One thing you did mention, Jafo, you said "zip your skin folder". Does that mean, that when creating bootskins, you're supposed to have them in separate folders, right click, and zip the entire folder? Because, I do my work mostly from the desktop...selecting all the files, right click, then "add to zip...". Wonder if that might have been why Bootskin didn't recognize it.

In Bootskin, select your bootskin and select 'File' > 'Export selected skin to file...'. This will create the correct type of file and the correct file path for Bootskin.

I have no idea why people are trying to zip or rename files...   

Fuzzy...it's the fastest way to look at such file content...when modding boots I 'save-as' and change to 'zip' so ExplorerPlus can show me the images without having to run the silly proggy itself.

Sometimes submissions in the bootskin section are bootskins within bootskins...as some silly person confuses themselves when compiling them...

Hey Morpheous, just tested, same version of winzip, it worked fine for me. I suggest you use the export method that Fuzzy posted, it is how I always package bootskins.



Yeah could be, the 2 images and the .ini file need to be in a folder.

I change .bootskin to .zip - when moderating, it makes it easy to get the images out for inspection. Individuals packaging bootskins should use Bootskin to do it for the reasons I mentioned. It also makes it easier for users downloading and installing the bootskin   

Gotcha..... do the work in a folder, zip the folder instead of just adding the files to an archive!