(C)1994 Innovative Computer Solutions, All Rights Reserved
Written by Dan Rowley, Documentation by Tom Collins
< Overview >
SleepAid covers all aspects of power management on your Newton. It replaces the default "Sleep" preferences with a "SleepAid" preferences that lets you set two sleep times - one for battery and one for AC. It lets you sleep your Newton even if some errant application wants it to stay awake. And finally, it lets you reboot your Newton. 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 >
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 'O Death (ask you to put the card back in), 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 (ie; it remembers it's 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.
< How does it work? >
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"). In some instances, SleepAid will think that you are plugged in if you have fresh batteries (so far, the only way to detect an AC connection is to check for a 100% battery level). If anyone has found a way to accurately check for the presence of an AC connection, please e-mail drowley@kaiwan.com. Once installed, SleepAid checks for a change in battery status and updates the default sleep time accordingly.
You can also launch the companion SleepAid application from your Extras drawer 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.
< Shareware Registration Information >
If you decide to keep SleepAid, please register it by sending $5.00 to Innovative Computer Solutions; 1075 North Miller Road, #142; Scottsdale, Arizona 85257-4612. Please include your name, address (postal) and preferred e-mail address so we can contact you about updates.
< Bugs, Questions, Comments, Suggestions... >
Send e-mail to the author, Dan Rowley, at drowley@kaiwan.com. You can also reach us at ics@indirect.com. We want to make SleepAid the best Newton power management application. Let us know if we left anything out and we'll try to add it to the next release. If anyone is interested, we can also provide a "Lite" version of SleepAid that provides only the instant sleep and reboot functions.
< 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>
0.9b - 2/20/94 - First public release. Tested on two Newts with OS v1.11.
0.6b - 2/09/94 - First semi-stable version. No more Grip O' Death.
0.2b - 1/18/94 - You don't even want to know.
< Legal Mumbo Jumbo >
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 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.
