This program will update any version of the After Dark engine to version 4.0.3. If you don't have the After Dark engine installed, then the Updater will install the engine for you. After Dark 4.0.3 is completely compatible with Mac system software versions 7.1 to 8.0.
The After Dark 4.0.3 Updater will replace your current After Dark engine with the 4.0.3 engine. The updater also upgrades the After Dark 'Screen Posters' extension version 3.0 to version 3.5.
Minimum System Requirements
Requires a 68040 processor or better Macintosh or Power PC running System 7.1 or higher
5 MB of free RAM
1 MB of free hard disk space
Minimum display of 256 colors.
Troubleshooting
This section addresses general Mac troubleshooting procedures. If your problem is not answered here, please read the Troubleshooting section of the After Dark Manual. The After Dark Manual can be found within the 'After Dark 4.0' folder found on the root level of your hard drive. If your problem is not answered here or anywhere in the manual, you can contact Sierra Tech Support. Please read the “Before You Call” section in the After Dark Manual first.
Installation Problems:
You may get a memory error when you try to run the updater. If this happens, restart your computer with extensions off and run the updater again.
After Dark Doesn't Function Correctly:
If the program doesn't function correctly after the patch is successfully installed, delete the After Dark preferences and then Rebuild the Desktop. If that doesn't help, try making a custom extensions set that excludes extensions which may conflict with After Dark. Appearance modification extensions and control panels may conflict with After Dark.
Engine Improvements
Fixed a problem where the After Dark extension Screen Posters would cause an Unimplemented Trap error message on startup with 601 and 603 based Power Macs.
Fixed a problem where After Dark would not work with Mac OS 8.0.
Fixed a problem where the Password on Startup function did not work.
Fixed a problem where After Dark, once invoked, would turn the Computer Speaker Volume in the Monitors and Sound control panel to the maximum setting.
Fixed a potential problem where if the Finder was rebuilding the desktop, and the After Dark function SystemIQ was disabled, then After Dark may invoke itself while the Finder was busy rebuilding the desktop. If a selected animated module such as Flying Toasters uses QuickTime and was running while the Finder was rebuilding the desktop, then it's possible the machine might freeze. Instead of sleeping with the chosen animated module, After Dark now sleeps with the default module Starry Night if the Finder is rebuilding the desktop.
Known Issues
Wallzapper:
Under Mac OS 8.0, a Wallzap image will not appear if you have chosen a picture as your desktop in the 'Desktop Pictures' control panel. There are at least two workarounds for this problem:
1) Open the Zapped Walls folder in the After Dark Preferences folder found in the Preferences folder of your System Folder, and move this image to another folder. Then open the Desktop Pictures control panel and drag the zapped picture onto the control panel.
2) An alternate workaround is to make a wallzap image like you normally would. Next, open the Desktop Pictures control panel and remove the currently selected desktop picture, and the Wallzap image (and all future wallzaps) will appear on your desktop.
Starry Night module appears instead of the selected animated module:
Instead of the chosen animated module, the Starry Night module may run if a modal window appears while After Dark is running (a modal window is a window created by the system software which alerts the user of an important event). The workaround is to wake up the machine and dismiss the modal window. After Dark will then behave as expected.
If After Dark invokes while the Finder is busy, you may see the Starry Night module instead of the selected animated module. This behavior was created to prevent the Finder from being overloaded. For example if you launch a large application like Photoshop or Netscape, and the Finder is busy loading the application and After Dark decides to invoke, it is preferable that After Dark go to the Starry Night module. This will free up resources for the other larger applications.
Aesthetic issue:
There is a 1 pixel width border around the 'ok' button in the Setup dialogue box within the After Dark control panel. This border was not there with previous versions of After Dark. This is an aesthetic anomaly that we did not fix.
Known After Dark Incompatibilities
OneClick control strip module conflict:
After Dark does not activate; Sleep Corner and Hot key do not work and cause a Freeze requiring a Restart. This occurs when OneClick version 1.0.2 and later loads Apple's "AppleTalk Switch" and "File Sharing" Control Strip modules into the OneClick version 1.0.2 "System Bar" by WestCode Software inc.
Both Westcode Software inc, and Berkeley Systems recommend removing the "AppleTalk Switch" and "File Sharing" control strip modules from of the OneClick System Bar. Refer to Page 54 of the OneClick User' Guide, "Notes for using Control Strip modules with OneClick" for removing the modules. The modules may still be used through Apple's Control Strip. You may put those modules back into the Control Strip Modules folder located on the root level of your System Folder.
Other incompatibilities & issues:
If you experience other issues or incompatibilities with After Dark, please see the Troubleshooting section at the beginning of this document.
Contact Information
You can email tech support questions to:
support@sierra.com
U.S. Technical Support
Sierra On-Line Technical Support
Main: (425) 644-4343
Fax: (425) 644-7697
P.O. Box 85006
Bellevue, WA 98015-8506
Monday-Friday 8:15 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. PST
U.K. Technical Support
Sierra On-Line Limited
Main: (44) 1-734-303-171 (Mon through Fri, 9:00AM - 5:00PM)
Fax: (44) 1-734-303-362
4 Brewery Court
The Old Brewery,
Theale, Reading, Berkshire
RG7 5AJ United Kingdom
Online Support:
CompuServe: GO SIERRA
America Online: Keyword Sierra
Internet USA: http://www.sierra.com
Internet United Kingdom: http://www.sierra-online.co.uk
Berkeley Systems Support page: http://www.berksys.com/lite/support/index.html