Since the Macintosh System Software version 6.0.4 came out, the Finder has had the undocumented ability to play sounds corresponding to various events. Such events include opening and closing windows, creating and deleting files, and even modifying windows. All you really need to take advantage of this feature is a piece of code. Drag Finder Sounds and Finder Sounds Config to your system folder and reboot. You will then have a sonic Finder!
International Users: Please note that foreign language versions of System 6.0.4 and later use a different name for the Finder Sounds file. If you are using a foreign language version of the System and Finder, and Finder Sounds does not work when you drag it to your System Folder, you will need to rename the Finder Sounds file (but not Finder Sounds Config). To find the name you need, use ResEdit to examine your Finder. Look at the last string in the STR# 129 resource. It should be a translation of "Finder Sounds." Rename Finder Sounds to match the name in STR# 129 and reboot.
It is recommended that you increase the amount of memory allocated to the Finder if you are running MultiFinder. Due to the size of some of the sounds included, you will need an Application Memory Size of at least 256. If you choose to customize your Finder with longer sounds, keep in mind that the Finder will need to have additional memory allocated to accomodate the longer sounds.
Finder Sounds requires System 6.0.4 or later. No earlier versions of the Finder and System provide the hooks that make this package possible. It has been tested successfully using a Macintosh II, IIx, IIsi, IIcx, IIci, IIfx, SE/30, LC, Plus, SE, Classic and Portable. It should also be compatible with any other Macintosh hardware running System 6.0.4 or later. Please note that at the time of this writing, Finder Sounds does NOT work with System 7.0.
Upgrade Instructions:
In order to upgrade to the new version of Finder Sounds, you need to drag the old version out of the System Folder first. You cannot just drag the old files into the trash because they are being used by the Finder. Once the old version has been moved out of the System Folder, drag the new version into the System Folder and restart your Macintosh. After rebooting, you may throw the old version into the trash (after extracting any custom sounds you may have stored in the old Finder Sounds Config file, of course).
If you are upgrading from version 1.3 to 1.3.1, you only need to replace the Finder Sounds file. Finder Sounds Config did not change at all between the 1.3 and 1.3.1 releases. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Finder Sounds than 1.3, you will need to replace both Finder Sounds Config and Finder Sounds in your System Folder.
New Features:
Version 1.3.1 is an update release of Finder Sounds 1.3. The only changes in 1.3.1 are contained in the Finder Sounds file itself. At some point during development of version 1.2, the mouse up on icon sound was unintentionally disabled. That feature has been returned in version 1.3.1. This update also fixes a problem where Finder Sounds did not immediately recognize updates to the configuration when run under MultiFinder.
Version 1.3 of the package had a couple of new features to take advantage of Version 7.0 of the Sound Manager. This new Sound Manager is now a part of System 6.0.6 and later. The big item gained from using the new Sound Manager is the ability to play multiple sounds simultaneously on machines with a 68020 or better. Consequently, if you are running System 6.0.6 or later on such a machine, you will see an additional checkbox in the control panel to allow you to play more than one Finder Sound at a time. Finder Sounds will continue to work on Systems 6.0.4 and 6.0.5, but the simultaneous sound feature will not be enabled.
The other changes for version 1.3 included changing the Master on/off radio button to a checkbox as well as adding a checkbox to turn variable pitch sounds on and off. (I received quite a few requests for this feature!) Finally, I have made a few speed improvements for the 1.3 release by allowing resources to remain in memory until they are purged by the Memory Manager. The more memory you allocate to the Finder under MultiFinder, the greater the number of sounds you should be able to keep in memory.
Version 1.3.1 includes all fixes and features that appeared in previous releases of the package. This release also includes fixes to remedy the inability to play sounds from the control panel and all known crash causing circumstances.
Notes and Known shortcomings:
Throughout this document, you will see references to System 6.0.6. While Apple has never generally released System 6.0.6 to the world, 6.0.6 did make it out the door in new Macintosh shipments to quite a few sites (including mine). Due to minor problems with 6.0.6, Apple immediately issued System 6.0.7. The only difference between 6.0.6 and 6.0.7 is the fix for the AppleTalk bug that caused Apple to pull 6.0.6. As far as sound capabilities and compatibility with Finder Sounds go, 6.0.6 and 6.0.7 are equivalent. They both contain the 7.0 version of the Sound Manager.
At the time of this writing, Finder Sounds does NOT work with System 7.0. The Finder underwent extensive changes for 7.0, and I do not yet have access to the 7.0 beta test version.
Finder Sounds is not strictly an INIT. It is a code resource that the Finder actually merges into itself at startup time. Finder Sounds does have a small INIT that will display its icon during the boot process, but that is all that the INIT in Finder Sounds will do. Due to the unique nature of the code resource in Finder Sounds, you cannot turn Finder Sounds off with INIT pickers such as INIT/CDEV. If you don't want Finder Sounds to load, drag it out of your system folder. You can also use the Master On/Off button in the control panel, turn your volume down to zero, or use the caps lock key to make Finder Sounds be quiet.
Finder Sounds only supports sampled sounds. This means that you can't pick the Simple Beep from the System to use as a Finder Sound. Furthermore, Finder Sounds only works with the sample data contained in the snd resource, and not the associated commands for that sample, since Finder Sounds uses its own sound commands to produce sound with the sample. This means snd resources which have special commands embedded to play a sample multiple times (and possibly at different pitches) may not match your expectations. The main example of this type of snd is the Clink-Clank snd included in the System. Clink-Clank contains a Clink sample that is played at two different pitches, one after the other. It is hoped that these restrictions will be removed in a future release of Finder Sounds.
When using a system prior to 6.0.6, there are times when having a sound play from Finder Sounds will prevent your SysBeep from playing. This can happen when a sound has not finished playing at the time the Finder displays an Alert or Dialog window. Finder Sounds will be unable to release its sound channel until the Alert or Dialog has been completely processed, so any SysBeeps that occur during processing of the Alert or Dialog will result in a menu bar flash and silence. Your SysBeep will return once the Alert or Dialog has been processed. If you are running System 6.0.6 or later on a 68020 or higher processor, this problem should be fixed by the 7.0 version of the Sound Manager now included.
Several people have written to me concerning a conflict between The Grouch and Finder Sounds. Basically, both programs were trying to play sound at the same time. On systems prior to 6.0.6, you will need to turn off the Select from Menu sound in Finder Sounds, and possibly the Empty Trash sound, as well. If you use the caps lock to temporarily turn off Finder Sounds before clicking in the Special menu, The Grouch will sing his song. However, if you are running System 6.0.6 or later with a 68020 or higher, the new Sound Manager will once again come to the rescue and allow both Finder Sounds and The Grouch to cohabitate.
Whenever Finder Sounds and Sound Master try to make sounds simultaneously, one of them will lose. The new Sound Manager in System 6.0.6, combined with a 68020 or higher, will solve this one, too, by allowing them both to make sound simultaneously. However, on pre-6.0.6 systems, turning off the appropriate Finder Sound, either with the control panel or the caps lock key, will let Sound Master play.
I have heard that Finder Sounds and MasterJuggler stumble over each other when MasterJuggler's sound option is enabled. If this happens to you, it is probably because the "Install Sound Play" option is turned on in your MasterJuggler options. This option is not needed when you are running System 6.0 or greater and if you turn that option off and reboot, the hanging Mac problem that this option causes should disappear.
Contents of the package:
The package consists of three files: Finder Sounds, Finder Sounds Config, and Finder Sounds.teach (this file).
The Finder Sounds file contains the code resource necessary for making sounds. The Finder Sounds Config file contains a Control Panel document (cdev) to give you the choice of which events you want to cause sound and the snd resources themselves. By default, all of the listed events will cause a sound to play. The cdev includes three checkboxes as well as Help and Config buttons, which will bring up a dialog box. The first box allows you to turn Finder Sounds completely on or off. The second box turns variable pitch sounds on or off. When activated, variable pitch sounds occur for events such as scroll bar movement, dragging icons across other icons and resizing windows. The third box will only appear if you are running System 6.0.6 or later on a 68020 (or higher) based machine. This box enables or disables the Simultaneous sound feature, which allows up to three Finder Sounds to play at the same time. If you are running 6.0.4 or 6.0.5, this box does not appear, and the feature is disabled.
If you are running MultiFinder, any changes you make from the Control Panel will take effect when you close the Finder Sounds cdev and return to the Finder. If you are running UniFinder, you will need to either reboot or at the very least, run another application and return to the Finder in order for the update to take effect.
The Config dialog contains the checkboxes for each of the individual sounds. If you click on the Cancel button in this dialog, the dialog is closed and any changes you made to the checkboxes will be thrown away. The Okay button closes the dialog and saves your checkbox changes.
If you wish to customize your sounds, the Config dialog box will also allow you to add and delete sounds to match file and folder names, as well as change the sounds used for the various sound generating events listed below. To add a sound that will be played whenever you open a specific file or folder, click on the "Custom snd" button. The control panel will pop open a Standard File dialog box for you to choose the file containing your sounds. Once you have selected a file, a new dialog will appear listing the snds contained in that file. Select a sound with the mouse. You can play the sound by double clicking on the name, or selecting a snd and clicking the Play button. Clicking the Copy button will copy the selected snd resource into Finder Sounds Config for you. Before saving the snd, Finder Sounds Config will ask you what name you want to give the snd (in order to match your preference). When you are finished adding custom snds, click the Done button.
If you wish to change one of the built-in snds, click on the appropriate checkbox while holding the Option key (do not release Option before releasing the mouse button). The control panel will use dialogs as described above to allow you to pick the snd you want. The only difference is that Finder Sounds Config will not ask you what name you want to give the resource. Be advised that if you choose to substitute your own snd for the desktop dragging sound, you will need to include a loopback point or the sound won't be continuous.
If you want to hear one of the standard event sounds from the dialog, you can click on the appropriate checkbox while holding down the command key. The control panel will then play the sound for you.
If you wish to remove snds from the Config file (short on disk space?), you can use the "Delete snd" button in the Config dialog box. The resulting dialog box will show a list of the currently installed snd resources, including those resources for standard Finder events. As in the Custom snd dialog, you may play the currently selected snd with the Play button or by double clicking on a snd. Using the Delete button will delete the currently selected snd from Finder Sounds Config. Clicking on Okay will make the snd resources go away for good. Clicking Cancel (the default button) will exit the dialog without actually deleting the sounds.
For those who are interested, the IDs of the built-in snds are as follows:
Create a new file ID 133
Remove a file ID 134
Mouse down on icon ID 138
Drag an icon on the desktop ID 141*
Drag an icon to an icon ID 142
Drag an icon off an icon ID 143
Mouse up on icon ID 144
Deposit icon in folder/trash ID 145
Open “About the Finder...” ID 146
Close “About the Finder...” ID 147
Bring a window to the front ID 148
Mouse down in menu bar ID 149
Mouse down in title bar ID 150
Mouse up in title bar ID 152
Resize a window ID 155
Use a scroll bar ID 156
Selection from menu ID 159
Open a window ID 160
Close a window ID 161
Mouse down in hilited file name ID 162
* if you choose to substitute your own sound for this one, you will need to include a loopback setting within the snd resource in order to take full advantage of the dragging sound.
Most of the sounds here were created using Farallon’s MacRecorder sound system. Many thanks to Chris Weber at Bucknell University for the orginal help in decoding the Finder’s calls to the sound code. It was Chris's help that got me started on this project. Also, I'd like to congratulate all the people around the world who helped beta test this release! Your help was invaluable in debugging both the new and old code! Beta testers included the following: Chris Weber, Dave Platt, Greg L. Anderson, William Miskovetz, David R. Zinkin, pooh 'Ernst' Mulder, Allan Burton, Mike Bell, Francis Stracke, Per Siljubergsaasen, Mark Phaedrus, Kevin J. Steele, Murph Sewall, Boyd Adamson, Darren Garnier, Steve Lemke, Barrey Jewall, Eric Topp, Ken Hancock, David H. Dezern, Brent Schorsch, David A. Fedor, Rob Pickering, Jeff Jones, Matt Bowen, Andy Cohill, and Greg Smith.
Finder Sounds is also included in the Sound Clips packages from TACTIC Software, by permission. For more information about TACTIC's offerings, call them at (305) 378-4110 or write to:
