Andrew's Finished Projects
SKIP'EM v1.2 - download it from here!
This program is Freeware
Copyright (c) 1996 Andrew Roughan
Why SKIP'EM exists:
Having a large number of PIFs, TIFs, Finder Extras, NDAs, CDAs, CDEVs, etc.. can make booting my system a trifle slow at times. Especially when I just want to do something quickly or I wish to test my latest bug fix with the expectation that it will probably still crash. :(
"Shift-boot!" I hear you cry.
Well the standard shift boot leaves my system without a few tools that I find indispensible, GSBugª, IR, Hierarchyª, Kangarooª, and my favourite desktop picture being but just a few.
I wrote SKIP'EM to allow inits to be loaded before skipping NDAs, CDAs, CDEVs, Finder Extras, etc.. SKIP'EM effectively checks for shift-boot at a later stage in the boot process.
Installation:
SKIP'EM should be placed in the *:SYSTEM:SYSTEM.SETUP folder on your boot volume. Its position in the directory is important! The system software loads inits that appear in the SYSTEM.SETUP directory as it finds them in the physical directory structure on disk. This means that you should place SKIP'EM after any inits which you always want to be loaded and before any inits which you want skipped when shift is pressed.
To accomplish this you will need to use a tool such as ProSEL 16ª to sort the directory. WARNING!! DO NOT USE COPY ][+.
Alternatively you could create a new directory with finder, and then copy across files individually from the old folder inserting SKIP'EM in the right place. When you finish, remove the old folder and rename the new folder to SYSTEM.SETUP.
Pressing shift!
The timing of pressing shift is important! Press it too early and a normal shift boot will occur. To be safe you should wait until one boot icon has been displayed.
The shift key needs to be held down until the nice message is displayed on the SHR screen to let you know that SKIP'EM is skipping.
The startup application gets run straight after SKIP'EM.
How SKIP'EM works:
When SKIP'EM is executed in the boot process, the status of the shift key is checked. If a shift key is held down then SKIP'EM sets the internal system flag to prevent loading of other non-essential items. If the shift key is up, then loading continues as normal. Yes, SKIP'EM does check to see whether it is compatible with the loading version of the system software before doing anything. An appropriate ShowBootInfo message is displayed on the text screen. If SKIP'EM will skip and the GS/OS splash screen is displayed then the message "Skipping Inits/DAs" will replace "System 6.0.1" just below "Welcome to the IIgs".
Additional Ideas:
o With IR installed you can load NDAs, CDAs, CDEVs or Finder Extras. If you need a few of them loaded, keep them in a seperate folder open on the desktop. Select them all with OA-A and IR will have a go at it.
o Duplicate SKIP'EM in the SYSTEM.SETUP folder. This allows you to have a minimum system, a bit more than minimum, a bit more than a bit more, etc.. Personally I don't do this, but it is possible.
Credits:
Thanks to Richard Bennett for technical assistance and some sample source code to display text on the GS/OS splash screen.
Thanks to Bill Vitale for reporting the $201 error that Finder returned when ProDOS 8 applications were launched after using SKIP'EM v1.0 & v1.1.