Welcome to Sundial! Sundial displays time-lapse photography of a scenic location on your desktop, synchronized to the current time of day and geographical location. These release notes contain quick install instructions, last minute information, compatibility notes, common problems & solutions, and a change history.
QUICK INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS
CD-ROM: To install Sundial, double-click on the installer on the Sundial CD-ROM. If you do not have QuickTime installed on your Macintosh, double-click on the installer in the QuickTime folder on the Sundial CD-ROM to install QuickTime. If you have previously installed the demo version of Sundial, you do not have to re-install the software. Instead, register your demo version by opening the Sundial control panel and clicking the register button. After you enter a valid serial number the demo version will become fully functional with no time limit. For more information about Sundial, please refer to the Sundial manual.
DEMO: Please refer to the DEMO READ ME file accompanying the software for quick instructions on installing and using Sundial.
LAST MINUTE INFORMATION
The following information did not have time to make it into the Sundial manual:
• Sundial works with any display color depth, but looks best and is most efficient when the display color depth is set to "thousands" or "millions". Your current color depth is listed in the Display section of the Sundial control panel. To change the display color depth, open the Monitors & Sound or Monitors control panel.
• The Sundial CD-ROM contains three different sizes of images to match the most popular display sizes. If none of these sizes matches your display size, other sizes are available from John Neil & Associates for a nominal fee.
• There is a momentary delay when Sundial updates to the next image in the selected scene, during which you will not be able to type or click the mouse. The exact length of the delay depends on your computer performance. If this delay is a problem on your computer, enable the Yield CPU setting (see below) or increase the update interval in the Sundial control panel to reduce the number of Sundial updates.
• On multi-processor systems, Sundial may usurp one of the processors, reducing performance. To avoid this problem turn on the "Close scene between frames" option in the Sundial control panel.
• Sundial requires the Map control panel to specify your geographic location. If your Macintosh does not have the Map control panel installed, you can re-install it from your Mac OS System CD. Mac OS 8.5 installs the Map control panel in the Apple Extras folder instead of the Control Panels folder.
• The Sundial control panel has a new "yield CPU during frames" setting that is not mentioned in the manual. With this setting enabled, Sundial gives time to other applications while it draws new movie frames, eliminating the momentary delay updating to the next image in the selected scene. We recommend leaving this setting off unless you have a slower machine where this delay is a problem. Turning this setting on can result in two different frames appearing together on the desktop momentarily. If this occurs, the situation will correct itself in a few seconds.
• Sundial 2.03 is no longer compatible with Sundial movies that shipped with Sundial 1.0X. If you are still using movies from a Sundial 1.0X CD please contact John Neil & Associates to obtain an updated CD.
COMPATIBILITY NOTES
While we have made our best effort to make Sundial compatible with other applications, some special circumstances exist that you should be aware of:
• AfterDark (Berkeley Systems): Sundial desktop updates may prevent AfterDark from activating. To avoid this problem, turn off the SystemIQ™ activity monitor feature in AfterDark. Also, Sundial is not compatible with the WallZapper feature of AfterDark 3.0 and later, since both Sundial and WallZapper replace the desktop. If you have AfterDark installed with Sundial do not use the WallZapper feature.
• Appearance (Apple Computer): Sundial is not compatible with other applications that replace the desktop. With OS 8.5 or later, you should remove any desktop picture that you have selected under the Desktop tab of the Appearance control panel before installing Sundial to avoid Appearance from interfering with Sundial. You can still use Appearance to change between desktop patterns, however. Prior to OS 8.5, see Desktop Pictures (below).
• ColorDesk (MicroSeeds): Sundial is not compatible with other applications that replace the desktop. You should disable ColorDesk when Sundial is installed.
• Command & Conquer (Westwood Studios): The Display Library 1.0b1 extension installed by Command & Conquer causes Finder desktop icons to flash every time Sundial updates the desktop on System 8.0 and later. The Sundial installer automatically deletes this extension if you have System 8.0 or later because its functionality is included in the system software and Command & Conquer does not need it to operate.
• Desktop Pictures (Apple Computer): Sundial is not compatible with other applications that replace the desktop. Prior to OS 8.5, you should remove any desktop picture that you have selected in the Desktop Pictures control panel before installing Sundial to avoid Desktop Pictures from interfering with Sundial. You can still use Desktop Pictures to change between desktop patterns, however. With OS 8.5 or later, see Appearance (above).
• DeskPicture (Peirce Software): Sundial is not compatible with other applications that replace the desktop. You should disable DeskPicture when Sundial is installed.
• Now Contact (Now Software): Some versions of the QuickContact control panel that ships with Now Contact may cause the Sundial control panel to crash if the Sundial control panel is launched immediately after system startup. To avoid this problem, upgrade to System 7.5.5 or later or do not make the Sundial control panel a startup item if you have Quick Contact installed.
• Timbuktu (Farallon): When Sundial is installed on the remote machine, it can be difficult to log-in with Timbuktu over a modem connection because of the time required to transfer the Sundial desktop. To alleviate this problem, disable the "Allow users to connect in color" option in Timbuktu on the remote Timbuktu host, or disable the "Connect.to hosts in color when possible" option on the local Timbuktu client.
COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Problem: The time of sunrise or sunset on your computer is off from actual sunrise or sunset at your location.
Solutions:
• Make sure the date and time are set correctly on your computer.
• Make sure that your location is specified accurately in the Map control panel.
• Make sure that the hours offset to Greenwich Mean Time ("Time Zone") is set correctly in the Map control panel. If you do not know the correct setting for this field, call your long-distance operator. Because of a bug in the Map control panel, this field can be set incorrectly if the Daylight Savings Time box is checked in the Date & Time control panel. See "Starting the Program for the First Time" in the Sundial manual for information on how to avoid this problem when changing the location.
CHANGE HISTORY
Changes from verson 2.02 to 2.03:
• Eliminated startup delay with virtual memory enabled.
• Eliminated QuickTime memory setting.
• Hard disk less likely to spin up after desktop Macintosh goes to sleep.
• Fixed a bug that caused the old desktop pattern to flash on Power Macintosh 5200/6200/5300/6300 models.
• Fixed an incompatibility with the Mac OS 8.5 Date & Time control panel.
Changes from version 2.01 to 2.02:
• Fixed a bug that caused PowerBooks not to auto-switch the scene if the switch scene time passed while the PowerBook was asleep.
• Fixed a bug that caused a crash if the Display Library 1.0b1 extension was installed.
• Fixed a bug that caused a crash if the user entered more than 31 characters in any of the fields of the serialization dialog.
• Added demo mode.
Changes from version 2.0 to 2.01:
• Smoother desktop updates with System 8.0 and later.
• On button now disabled until user selects a scene file.
