A line in a VM's .vmx file reads firmware = "efi". When I change the efi to bios, I get a different experience at bootup. The UEFI bootup gives me just the VMware logo, whereas the BIOS bootup gives me a reminder that says something like, "Press F2 to enter SETUP, F12 for Network Boot, ESC for Boot Menu."
Is there a way to shut off the splash screen, so that the UEFI bootup likewise produces that "Press F2" information?