If you do not have a TaleDevice, you may be interested in using BackMute, which activates the backlight instead of a TaleDevice.
Unlike some of the prior software for activating TaleDevices, TaleMute will intercept the alarms generated by the new Datebook application (OS 3.0 and later), as well as the alarms generated by the Pager Card.
You can find more information on using TaleMute with the Pager Card at: Using the Synapse Pager Card & TaleVibes by John "FuzzFace" McMahon.
TaleMute is distributed as Freeware. You may run this program without restriction, however you may not distribute it for profit.
Enhanced auto-detect version! AutoTaleMute
eliminates the need to enable/disable TaleMute each time you insert/remove
your TaleDevice.
TaleMute does not require a TaleDevice to be present. If there is no TaleDevice attached, the muting feature of TaleMute is still functional.
TaleMute is compatible with all released versions of the OS through 3.2, and all PalmOS devices including the new Palm IIIx, Palm V and Palm VII.
When it is active, TaleMute patches two operating system calls that applications might use to play sounds: SndDoCmd and SndPlaySmf. When either of these routines is called, TaleMute intercepts the call, mutes the audio and activates any attached TaleDevice for the duration of the sound.
TaleDevices are activated by opening the serial port. If the serial port is already open, TaleMute does not interfere with the current serial operation.
Note: by design, TaleMute does not intercept the playing of system sounds, such as the clicks and beeps that are played in response to user-interface activities.
TaleMute attempts to match the duration of the sound. Thus, you can adjust the amount of time that the TaleDevice is active by selecting a sound that has a shorter or longer duration. However, some TaleDevices do not respond well to extremely short activation durations. So, TaleMute activates the TaleDevice for a minimum of 30 ms. Unfortunately, if an application plays a series of very short sounds (< 30ms) in rapid succession, TaleMute will cause the series of sounds to last longer than it should.
The latest version of TaleMute can be found at: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pane/tm/
v1.1: Fixes a bug under OS 1 and OS 2, where TaleMute was incorrectly intercepting system sounds.
v1.0: Initial public release.
JPSoftware@pane.net (last modified on 990629)