SleepAid 1.3
(C)1994-5 Innovative Computer Solutions, All Rights Reserved
Written by Dan Rowley, Documentation/Icons by Tom Collins
< Overview >
SleepAid covers all aspects of power management on your Newton
(Classic, MP100, MP110 or German MP). It replaces the default "Sleep"
preferences allowing you to set two sleep times - one for battery and one
for AC. It lets you reboot or sleep your Newton even if some errant
application wants it to stay awake. And finally, it adds a SleepAidNow
corner for one tap sleep and a HeapStatus corner for an instant reading of
free heap space. SleepAid is not a radical change from the existing
interface. It adds functionality without complexity and implements sleep
the way it should have been in the first place. :-)
< Installation Notes >
If you are upgrading from SleepAid 0.9b, please launch the old SleepAid
and tap on "Kill Prefs" before removing the package. Users of later
versions of SleepAid do not need to remove their prefs before upgrading to
SleepAid 1.3.
Use the "memory" preferences panel or some other package removal
utility to remove the old version. Once the old version of SleepAid has
been removed, you can install SleepAid 1.3.
Install SleepAid as you would any other package (with the Connection
Kit or some other utility). SleepAid will work if installed on a PCMCIA
card, but we do not recommend it. If you remove the card SleepAid is
installed on, it will not exhibit the Grip Of Death (provided it is not
open), but it WILL deactivate itself. So, even though SleepAid works fine
from a card, it is not active (because it is not present) if you remove the
card it's on. SleepAid picks up where it left off (i.e.; it remembers its
settings) when you reinsert the card.
It's a good idea to go into the SleepAid prefs right after installing
it, because you may not like the defaults. Until you set the prefs,
SleepAid will maintain your existing sleep time for both AC and battery
power.
Ê
< SleepAid Preferences >
When SleepAid starts up, it replaces the Newton's default Sleep
preferences. You access the new preferences the same way you accessed the
old preferences - they appear in the same location on the preferences roll.
The new preferences use sliders instead of a popup menu for setting a
sleep time for battery power and AC power ("plugged in"). Once installed,
SleepAid monitors battery status and updates the sleep time accordingly.
On the Classic MP, SleepAid will think that you are plugged in if you
have fresh batteries (the only way to detect an AC connection on a Classic
MP is to check for a 100% battery level). On the MP100 and MP110 you can
use the new calibrate feature to enable true AC sensing.
Tap the "Calibrate" button to set the low/high power threshold to the
current battery level. On the MP100 and MP110, this level will appear as
"AC sense" if you calibrate when your AC adapter is plugged in.
To activate or deactivate the "SleepAidNow" (lower-left) or
"HeapStatus" (lower-right) corners, tap the checkboxes by each item.
Changing these setting requires special processing. If you make a change
to either of these "hot corners", a "Set" button will appear. You must tap
this button when you are finished, or the "hot corner" changes will not
take effect.
You can tap the SleepAidNow corner (over the "N" in Names) to instantly
launch SleepAid. If you hold your tap for more than one second, the
MessagePad will immediately go to sleep. You can tap the HeapStatus corner
(over the "t" in Assist) to have a small window with a current free heap
reading. If you hold your tap for more than one second, SleepAid will
peform a garbage collection, possibly freeing up more heap space.
< Usage >
You can launch the SleepAid application from your Extras drawer or the
SleepAidNow corner (see above) to perform additional power management
tasks.
Tap on "?" to get more info on SleepAid (including registration
information).
Tap on "Reboot!" to reset your Newton.
Tap on "Sleep!" to put your Newton to sleep. If there are any other
applications installed that won't let your Newton sleep, SleepAid will give
you the option to kill their sleep handlers so your Newton can get some
rest. SleepAid will attempt to find the owner of the recalcitrant sleep
handler but may respond with a cryptic name such as "petermain" (the name
of the Inspector interface). At this point, your guess is as good as
ours.
Tap on "Open Prefs" to open the SleepAid preferences.
Tap on "Kill Prefs" to remove SleepAid's soup entry. If you don't plan
on using SleepAid again, use the "Kill Prefs" button before you remove the
package from your Newton.
< Technical Information >
SleepAid makes use of an InstallScript to install the power monitoring
routines. If you use a utility that disables this function, SleepAid will
not work properly. If you don't want SleepAid to be active, simply remove
the package. SleepAid will remember your preferences even when
deinstalled, unless you use the "Kill Prefs" option from the application
before you remove it.
To conserve battery power, SleepAid only checks the battery status
every 30 seconds. If you have set an exceptionally short sleep time (like
30 seconds) for battery operation, it's POSSIBLE (but not likely) that
SleepAid may not notice if you plug in the Newt in time to prevent it from
falling asleep. If this is really a problem, you can tap the screen after
plugging your Newt in to keep it awake "a little longer." We should note
that we've never actually seen this happen, but it IS theoretically
possible (sort of like cold fusion or a balanced federal budget).
< Release History>
1.3 - 3/5/95 - Tuned up the code to use less heap (from 5.9k to 3.9k with
all features enabled, uses even less when stored internally).
1.2 - 5/30/94 - Added HeapStatus, Calibrate, and enable/disable for
SleepAidNow and HeapStatus.
1.01 - 4/10/94 - Fixed incompatability with some applications using modal
dialogs.
1.0 - 4/03/94 - Fixed to work with MP 110 and German MP. Added
SleepAidNow.
0.9b - 2/20/94 - First public release. Tested on two MessagePads with OS
v1.11.
0.6b - 2/09/94 - First semi-stable version. No more Grip Of Death.
0.2b - 1/18/94 - You don't even want to know.
< Shareware Registration Information >
This application is SHAREWARE. If you decide to keep it, please
register it by sending $5.00 to Innovative Computer Solutions; ATTN: Tom
Collins; 1075 North Miller Road, #142; Scottsdale, Arizona USA 85257-4612.
Please include your name, the name of this utility (SleepAid 1.3), type(s)
of MessagePad(s) owned, address (postal) and preferred e-mail address so we
can contact you about updates and our other products. You can also
register SleepAid on CompuServe for $6. GO SWREG and register app number
2674. PLEASE BE HONEST and register this software if you use it - we can't
continue to write cool Newton apps if we don't get any support.
< Bugs, Questions, Comments, Suggestions... >
Send e-mail to the author, Dan Rowley, at ics@amug.org or 73563,2343 on
CompuServe. You can also reach Tom at ics@indirect.com or 75460,2121 on
CompuServe. We want to develop Newton applications to fit YOUR needs.
Give us feedback, let us know if we're doing it right. We're here for
you.
If you'd like the latest versions of our software, and can't find them
on CompuServe, America Online, comp.binaries.newton, or the Newton FTP
sites, contact us via e-mail and we'll send them to you. Our WWW home page
is and our ftp directory is
< Our Other Stuff >
Check out our other popular Newton utilities, NewtCase, NewtInfo,
HeapIt, GraffitiPatch, inLine and PrefsPatch.
< Legal Mumbo Jumbo >
Newton, MessagePad, Connection Kit and Apple are registered trademarks
of Apple Computer, Inc. SleepAid is a trademark of Innovative Computer
Solutions.
You can't sell SleepAid, but you can charge a nominal fee for connect
time or media (not to exceed $5). Contact the authors if you plan to
include it in some sort of freeware/shareware collection.
In using this software, you understand and agree that this software is
provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. The authors do not make any
warranties, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to
implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose,
with respect to this software.
In no event shall the author be liable for any consequential,
incidental, or special damages whatsoever (including without limitation,
damages for loss of critical data, loss of profits, interruption of
business and the like) arising out of the use or inability to use this
software.
Have a nice day. ;-)
Innovative Computer Solutions / (602) 970-1032
1075 N. Miller Rd. #142 / Scottsdale, Arizona USA 85257
Dan Rowley/ics@amug.org/CIS: 73563,2343/eWorld&NewtonMail: DRowley
Tom Collins/ics@indirect.com/CIS: 75460,2121/eWorld&NewtonMail: Innovative