I know this seems a bit over the top for such a small utility, but it's surprising the amount of mail I receive asking similar questions. To save people the bother of having to wait for my responses, here's three of the more frequently asked questions regarding StartupFrills along with a few I'm trying to pre-empt. If anyone has any other questions they'd like to see on this list, then please let me know and I'll make the necessary changes.
1. Why does the Startup Screen sometimes disappear under System 7.5?
I really don't know. This is a known bug in that version of the system, and would occur whether you were running StartupFrills or not. StartupFrills does not display anything itself, it simply puts things in the correct location for the System to automatically detect the screen.
This next bit's subjective: I've upgraded to 7.5.1 recently and the problem hasn't occurred since. I don't know for sure if it's fixed, but the problem does -seem- to have gone away. If anyone finds differently (or knows for sure that it's been fixed), then please let me know and I'll add the information to this F.A.Q..
2. Why can't StartupFrills use the picture files I've got?
StartupFrills can use two different types of pictures - StartupScreen files and PICT files. However, it can only use PICT files if Quicktime is installed. If it encounters a PICT file and Quicktime is not installed, then that file will be ignored.
3. Why can't StartupFrills use the sound files I've got?
The sounds need to be in the standard System 7-style format - the kind you get if you drag beeps out of the System folder. AIFF samples don't work, nor do the older formats common under System 6.
Additionally, StartupFrills has to use its own memory to play a sound and so large sounds can cause trouble. If you have trouble with large sounds, try increasing the memory.
4. Why can't StartupFrills speak my text-only version of War and Peace?
Because it's too long! StartupFrills uses its own application memory to store the text to be spoken, so if there isn't enough memory StartupFrills won't say a word. Try increasing the memory size via the Finder's Get Info window. If you really -are- trying to read out War and Peace though, I wouldn't hold your breath...
5. It's still not saying anything...
Have you remembered to install the Speech Manager? StartupFrills will allow you to set speech preferences whether this is installed or not. It simply won't make use of those preferences unless the Speech Manager is installed.
6. Why isn't StartupFrills playing my movies?
Have you installed Quicktime? StartupFrills itself doesn't play anything (although it would still require Quicktime if it did), it simply copies the movie file to the correct location for Quicktime to pick it up automatically.
7. Why is StartupFrills so slow?
Are you using compressed PICT files for startup screens? Decompressing PICTs is an inherently long task and many machines will take a long time to do it. If you want StartupFrills to execute quickly, then avoid using compressed or overly large PICTs. Startupscreen files should be fine however.
8. What is a -108 error?
Out of memory. You may get this when trying to play larger sounds or speak large amounts of text. If it occurs, then just up StartupFrills' memory allocation.
