Use some AfterDark screensavers in OS X

Feb 02, '04 08:36:00PM

Contributed by: emendelson

Like many fans of the old After Dark screensavers, I've been looking for a way to use them under OS X. The following method works some of the time for some modules, but I suspect that someone more expert than I am in AppleScript can make it work more reliably. All suggestions welcome. To begin, download the AD Launcher module ($5 shareware). You don't need the MacDim screensaver for OS 8/9, just the AD Launcher. Read the description to see which modules it works with.

Put it any convenient folder, and put the After Dark module you want to use in the same folder (just to make life easier; it can be anywhere). Launch AD Launcher and use its menu to navigate to the AD saver you want to use, and click on Test or Run to associate the module with AD Launcher. If you now click on the module file, the launcher should run it. Tip: If you uncheck "Open Dialog" in the Launcher menu, the AD module and launcher will close when you press a key or click the mouse while the module is running. Howevver, if you press Esc, the dialog will remain open. Now write an AppleScript that launches the screensaver module. My script looks like this:


tell application "Finder"
  activate
  open file "Macintosh HD:Applications (Mac OS 9):AD Launcher:Stained Glass"
end tell
That should be four lines, beginning tell, activate, open, end. Save it as a script. Next, download the freeware ScriptSaver. Install it, and configure it to launch the script you created when the screensaver kicks in. Now, the screensaver works when I click the Test button in System Preferences, and it sometimes works when the screensaver starts up at the scheduled time, but it doesn't always work ... and it mostly doesn't work when launched from a hot corner. But this is a start, at least, and any suggestions to make it work more reliably would help bring back many of those superb AD screen savers.

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