× Do you like this little hack? Send a nice postcard to:
Valentina Pavia
Via Mancini 19
10131 Torino
Italy
(donÕt forget to put your name and address on it, so I can add you to my registered usersÕ database).
¥ Instructions
× Startup Player is a definitely cool extension that will play a sound over and over until all other extensions have loaded and the Finder comes out. The sound must be in a Finder sound file called "Startup Loop" inside the Extensions folder (or in the System folder if youÕre running System 6). Since youÕll want Startup Player to start playing early in the startup process, you may add a space before the extension name. If youÕre using some kind of startup manager, make Startup Player load early (see notes below).
¥ Notes on the Sound Manager 3.0 extension
× Startup Player works well with the new Sound Manager 3.0, but both the Sound Manager extension and the QuickTime extension must load BEFORE Startup Player. If you add a space before Startup PlayerÕs name, youÕll have to add spaces before both extensionsÕ names as well. If youÕre using a startup manager, make sure QuickTime is loaded first; the Sound Manager must follow, and Startup Player must be after them both.
¥ Memory warning
× Startup Player releases ALL of its memory when the sound stops playing, but the sound has to stay in memory until the startup process is over. Using a very large startup sound will make your system heap grow larger (even if the memory is released and free) because other extensions usually allocate memory that canÕt be moved around. Try experimenting with various sound sizes and checking the FinderÕs memory window to make sure youÕre not wasting memory.
× System 6 only: the system heap is not as smart in System 6 as it is in System 7. Startup Player may not be able to load large sounds under System 6 unless you add a specific 'sysz' resource to it (I canÕt do it because I donÕt know how big your startup sound will be). The 'sysz' resource should contain a 4-byte integer equal to or larger than the total size of the 'INIT' resource plus the 'snd ' resource you want to play. DonÕt try to add a 'sysz' resource if youÕre not a programmer, just use a smaller sound and everything will be fine. Also, donÕt distribute Startup Player with a 'sysz' resource in it because the 'sysz' is size-specific and other users may end up wasting memory.
¥ Thanks toÉ
× Giovanni, who had the original idea and did the beta testing;
× Fabrizio Oddone, who thought of a smart way to stop the sound;
× Alberto Ricci, who helped with my weird result codes;
× Valentina Pavia, whoÕs waiting for your postcardsÉ
¥ Version history
× 1.01 - Fixed a bug in the documentation and added an error message
