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using .com intros as screensaver

category: general [glöplog]
 
I wanted to use some 256b intro as screensaver. But .com doesn't want to convert to .scr :(

Does anyone know how I can pull this off?
added on the 2007-12-22 00:23:11 by stijn stijn
I've been thinking about something similar, but for VJ purposes, but I don't have the knowledge to put it off.
But basically what you need to do is rewrite a specific intro so that it writes its data to a buffer somewhere in the memory, and then draw that method with your favourite 2D API. It's not impossible, but it will take some effort.
added on the 2007-12-22 00:26:55 by nitro2k01 nitro2k01
(put->pull)
added on the 2007-12-22 00:27:08 by nitro2k01 nitro2k01
Quote:
what you need to do is rewrite a specific intro so that it writes its data to a buffer somewhere in the memory


how about just writing a wrapper exe which calls the com when neccesary (not when previewing etc).
Quote:
how about just writing a wrapper exe which calls the com when neccesary (not when previewing etc).
I don't think WinNT+ likes to have a DOS app running when in screensaver mode. I'm quite convinced that you need to convert it into an actual exe if you want to be able to run it.
added on the 2007-12-22 02:47:12 by nitro2k01 nitro2k01
there is no "screensaver mode" if you put a windowed or console application for a screensaver it would just work fine.
1- screensaver spawns actual exe
2- actual exe spawns com
3- (optional) actual exe checks for mouse move or keypress
Hmm... Scr's are regular PE executables, that I know for sure.
However I always thought the wyas of NT was that a screensaver was nothing but a puppet of the OS, so that the OS caught all events, and killed the screensaver process when it wanted to.
I experimented now, and it seems like Windows waits patiently for the app to die.
Next up I will try launching a .com and turning on "Password on resume" and see if I'll get back without rebooting.
added on the 2007-12-22 04:53:42 by nitro2k01 nitro2k01
You will have to make sure your program isn't already running. Or you will have problems. Browse msdn.
added on the 2007-12-22 10:29:59 by Hatikvah Hatikvah
Anyway, I tried making a very simple exe wrapper for a .com smallsize and used as a screensaver, and it worked just the way it was supposed to.
added on the 2007-12-22 22:14:36 by nitro2k01 nitro2k01
oh can you please put it online somewhere? I'm not a coder myself (well, I do PHP, but I don't see myself coding a .com wrapper in PHP) so it'd be sort of impossible to do it on my own :)
added on the 2007-12-22 22:24:09 by stijn stijn
hmm... how about putting dosbox into the process?
added on the 2007-12-22 22:25:50 by Gargaj Gargaj
stijn: if you can find a php2exe somewhere it would be trivial to launch another application in php.

gargaj: dosbox will need the com file as an argument before running. you probably won't be able to send custom arguments at screensaver launch. (batch files won't work either.)
on the second thought, yup, dosbox reads the conf file automatically, where it can be ordered to mount the folder and launch the com file and exit afterwards.

but you won't be able to disable launch under config screensaver, preview screensaver messages (which are passed as an argument to the application by windows.) which means it even starts when you enter the screensaver options from desktop config dialog.

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