Screensaver for a 128k?

[JAG]

Is there a screensaver that will run on a 128k?

Maybe as a desk accessory?

 

[finkmac]

Will AfterDark run on a 128k? Doubt it…

 

[volvo242gt]

AD would be too big. Maybe Pyro! 1.0. However, probably not enough memory on a stock 128 to run it and anything else after it loads into memory.

-J

 

[CelGen]

Not enough memory. Needs at least a 512.

Your screensaver is the brightness knob. :beige:

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Well, Pyro! version 3.3 claims to work on "Any Macintosh", but requires System 4.1, which can't run on the 128K, so I'm not sure about their claim of "Any Macintosh"… (I tried, it doesn't work on System 3.2.)

I don't have any earlier copies of Pyro! to test.

 

[James1095]

My experience with a 128K years ago is that it was difficult to find *anything* that will run on it, much less frivolous things like a screensaver. There is really zero room to run anything but the application you are currently using, I agree, just turn down the brightness knob or shut down the machine. It's not often that you see an old Mac with serious screen burn anyway. The few worn out tubes I've encountered in them were simply weak, worn out gun, and a screensaver does little to prevent that since the gun is still being used to display the screensaver, albeit generally at a lower average beam current.

 

[napabar]

There's surprisingly more software than you think that works on a 128K. I'm always surprised over the years when I find something that does.

Just recently on Ebay, I saw camera input kit designed to work on the 128K/512K. You could hook up video camera's to the breakout box. The software grabbed "frames" coming in and displayed them on the screen. Cool stuff.

 

[Charlieman]

Are you sure that you wish to leave a Mac 128K (or even a Plus) running unattended such that you need to use a screensaver?

I have seen compact Macs with serious screen burn -- Macs used in educational computer labs which had been left on for weeks -- but none of my survivors suffer from it. If your Mac already has screen burn, there is little that you can do about it. If your Mac does not have screen burn, you will have to abuse it for a long time to create a problem.

 

[Aoresteen]

I never found a screen saver that would run on a 128K Mac. At least when mine still had 128K in it (1986) I cut the RAM chips off my 128K MOBO and installed sockets & 512K on it as all software seemed to need 512k. I still have it

 

[nvdeynde]

I have a screen saver for a Mac 128K, well sort of as you have to start it manually. It doesn't run in the background as it would consume too much memory.

It's a floating digital clock.

 

[loplop]

Thread necro... I'd like to run a screensaver on System 3.2 on a 512k. I found Pyro! 1.0, and it's suggested it works on System 1-5. I'm a System 6 guy--how do you "install" a screensaver on pre-System 6? I dropped the Pyro file in the system folder, and nothing happens. It's not an app (like Boxes) so I'm not sure how to get it to run. Doesn't appear as a D/A.

Trying to find a System 3 user manual, but thought I'd ask here, also.

 

[volvo242gt]

You'll have to access it through the control panel DA. Just like under System 6.

 

[loplop]

You'll have to access it through the control panel DA. Just like under System 6.

Forgive me, but I'm not sure how. The Control Panel on System 3.2 is the one just after the pictogram-only control panel, and doesn't have "pages" or "sections" for things like Pyro (as would System 6):

 

[volvo242gt]

Ah, yeah, that one is different. Iin that case, I suspect that Pyro isn't compatible with System 3.2... I think it does work with 4.1, though, since I think that's when the System 6 style control panel appeared.

 

[Crutch]

I am fairly sure I remember screensavers that installed as INITs (drag to the System Folder) before the advent of the cdev (control panel extension) with System 4.1. This might have included early versions of Pyro and Møire? I would love to confirm that at some point when I have time. But I doubt they would have run on a 128k just due to lack of space.

There were certainly screensavers that ran on the 128k as double-clickable apps you started manually. One of them was the melty digital clock by Steve Capps that was included on the original Through the Looking Glass disk (1983), available on the Garden.

Writing a very tiny screensaver in assembly that runs on a 128k would be a lot of fun.

 

[loplop]

I tried Pyro 1.0 on a Macintosh 512k/System 3.2.

Pyro 1.0 includes a file that is indicated by the finder to be a Control Panel file. Dragging it into the system folder does... nothing.

Would love a screensaver that is an INIT and not an app, if anyone knows of one, I'm all ears! For now, I use the "Boxes" app-based screensaver, which is pretty cool, but of course requires manual intervention to kick off.

 

[Crutch]

There is also this which I’m pretty sure will run on a 128k (it’s a DA, again requires manual start): https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/stars-da

 

[fragmax]

There is also this which I’m pretty sure will run on a 128k (it’s a DA, again requires manual start): https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/stars-da

Says it needs System 6 or System 7 128k could not use System 6 or 7.

"This is a Desk Accessory that lives in the System 6 suitcase, or System 7 Apple Menu Items"

 

[just.in.time]

This is the lightest weight screen saver that I know of: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/moire
Definitely runs on System 6… not sure if the 2.22 version will work on older System versions.

 

[Crutch]

(Double post, delete me)