[HN Gopher] Customizing the startup chime on a 1999 G3 iMac
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       Customizing the startup chime on a 1999 G3 iMac
        
       Author : zdw
       Score  : 41 points
       Date   : 2023-03-05 01:37 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.downtowndougbrown.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.downtowndougbrown.com)
        
       | netsharc wrote:
       | I remember running into a FileMaker database file which contained
       | a list of all Mac hardware, including playable embedded AIFF
       | files of what their startup chimes sounded like.
       | 
       | I feel like a librarian in the Library of Babel talking about the
       | pre-prehistoric Internet.
       | 
       | Then again, maybe it was an old version the MacTracker app:
       | https://mactracker.ca
        
       | mechanicalpulse wrote:
       | This reminds me of using a hex editor on the version of
       | explorer.exe that shipped with Windows 95 to change the infamous
       | "Start" menu text to something else. I think the only requirement
       | was that its replacement also needed to be five characters.
       | That's nowhere near as convoluted as changing the startup chime,
       | but amusing nonetheless.
       | 
       | Thanks for the memory.
        
         | tambourine_man wrote:
         | ResEdit was a good friend for Mac users as well
        
           | kitsunesoba wrote:
           | Thanks to ResEdit my OS 8/9 setups and several of the apps on
           | them were heavily modded. One of the most extensively changed
           | was a copy of Netscape Communicator 4.x that had just about
           | every icon and instance of branding text swapped out for
           | something custom.
           | 
           | Did those mods serve any practical purpose? Not really, but
           | it was fun.
        
           | dylan604 wrote:
           | ResEdit was one of those tools that if a Mac didn't have it,
           | that Mac was broken to me.
        
         | isaacdl wrote:
         | Oh yeah, I did that too! I also spent a ton of time
         | adding/making custom boot screens for various versions of
         | Windows (up through XP, at least). Was a lot more interesting
         | than it would be today because those boot splash screens were
         | often up for several minutes (!) while the OS started.
        
           | mikepurvis wrote:
           | Oh man, I definitely remember doing that with Windows 95 and
           | 98-- there was one that had the caption "this is Windows on
           | drugs" with the palette rotation used to animate a bunch of
           | psychedelic paisley.
        
         | poglet wrote:
         | As a kid I used to change the "It is now safe to turn off your
         | computer" message. From memory it was just an image file so you
         | could put all sorts of funny messages there.
        
         | bitwize wrote:
         | I used to patch command.com to display a different
         | initialization message.
         | 
         | I thought I was l33t.
        
         | camhenlin wrote:
         | I had an NT4 workstation, a hex editor, and no internet
         | connection at my first job. I spent a lot of time modifying the
         | text in explorer.exe, calc.exe, and other apps. It was a lot of
         | fun and definitely helped me understand the tip of the iceberg
         | regarding how hex editors work.
        
       | incanus77 wrote:
       | Add to "places I did not expect to read about Forth" list.
        
       | butz wrote:
       | Warning! First sound is VERY loud. This should be noted in bold
       | or huge red letters, as some blockheads like me like to click on
       | audio first, before reading.
        
         | dougg3 wrote:
         | Sorry about that! I was definitely aware of the volume and
         | tried to warn, but it wasn't obvious enough. I bolded the text
         | to make it more obvious.
        
       | urbandw311er wrote:
       | The unashamed scream of delight and joy from the guy on the video
       | whose startup sound has been patched. Just so relatable! That's
       | why we do this folks. So satisfying.
        
       | metadat wrote:
       | Also discussed 2 days ago:
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35026257 (12 comments)
        
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       (page generated 2023-03-07 23:00 UTC)