HandMute v1.0

by John Pane

Silent visual or vibrating alarms for your Visor!

HandMute is free software that intercepts the playing of all sounds except for system feedback sounds. It mutes the audio, and activates an attached Springboard TaleDevice for the duration of the sound. Springboard TaleDevices (TaleLight, TaleVibes, etc) are available from Tech Center Labs.

WARNING! You must de-activate HandMute before inserting other Springboard modules. Otherwise, HandMute might send a "reset" signal to your Springboard and cause it to behave unpredictably. The author of HandMute will not be responsible for any damage or loss of data caused by your failure to turn off HandMute before installing other Springboard modules.

HandMute is distributed as Freeware. You may run this program without restriction, however you may not distribute it for profit.

Enhanced auto-detect version! AutoHandMute eliminates the need to enable/disable HandMute each time you insert/remove your Springboard TaleDevice.

If you have a non-Springboard TaleDevice that plugs into the Hotsync port on your handheld, you may be interested in using TaleMute. If you do not have a TaleDevice, you may be interested in BackMute, which activates the backlight instead of a TaleDevice.

Requirements

HandMute requires HackMaster, or a compatible system patch manager. I encourage you to register your shareware copy of HackMaster if you use it with HandMute.

HandMute does not require a TaleDevice to be present. If there is no TaleDevice attached, the muting feature of HandMute is still functional. However, HandMute must be disabled before inserting other Springboard modules (see above).

HandMute runs only on the Handspring Visor.

Details of Operation

HandMute is a HackMaster extension. After installing HandMute, you control its operation by turning it on or off inside HackMaster. HandMute has no configurable options.

When it is active, HandMute patches two operating system calls that applications might use to play sounds: SndDoCmd and SndPlaySmf. When either of these routines is called, HandMute intercepts the call, mutes the audio and activates the Springboard TaleDevice for the duration of the sound.

Note: by design, HandMute does not intercept the playing of system sounds, such as the clicks and beeps that are played in response to user-interface activities.

HandMute 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, HandMute activates the TaleDevice for a minimum of 30 ms. Unfortunately, if an application plays a series of very short sounds (< 30ms) in rapid succession, HandMute will cause the series of sounds to last longer than it should.

Disclaimer

This program is distributed "as is," in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; not even the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.