1. Change VGA mode to normal and remove the splash screen.
edit /boot/grub/menu.lst
change the kernel parameters:
vga=0x314 to vga=normal
splash=silent to splash=0
2. Remove the graphical grub bootloader menu.
comment or remove grub parameter, also in /boot/grub/menu.lst:
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
becomes
#gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message