SynthesiaMode for Windows (or TV)

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aria1121
Posts: 1505

Post by aria1121 »

Make your computer Synthesia-only For Windows XP/Vista/7 x86/x64 computers.
In this project you can transform your computer into a Synthesia-like OS (or a arcade-keyboard). You can also run the script (the file I attached) without doing all these steps, but if you want to make a computer just for Synthesia, here is what you can do.

> This makes it possible to hook it up to your TV so you have a bigger screen to play along with.
You won't be needing a monitor (if using a PC. If using a laptop, use its video-out (usually VGA, DVI or HDMI)) to connect to, just find a port you can connect your laptop to.
You can then mount the TV/monitor above your keyboard. How nice is that?

Note This is probably the most advanced way to do this but you can more or less do the same to put a shortcut to Synthesia.exe in your "Startup" folder in the Start menu. Doing only this will require logging in, and the desktop been seen and it requiers more user input. If you want to take some more effort, continue reading.

You'll need:
- A PC. It is also possible with a laptop, but this will be a bit more hard unless you skip some steps.
- Internet connection (for updating and stuff)
- Your computer should have a AGP card
- AHK Installer (Download)
Optional:
- A PCI card (The cheapest you can find, it doesn't even need to work. I'll come to this later)

Note These instructions are "as is" and I am not responsible for any damage you harm to your computer; be careful.

Step 1: Getting rid of the manufacturer's bootscreen
If you have a laptop or have no (proper) knowledge of how to operate the BIOS or how your computer is set up, skip this step.
Open up your computer and plug in the PCI card. Keep the monitor plugged to the AGP card. Turn on computer and go to the BIOS screen. See if you can find the Video Settings, in there set videocard to "PCI". Save settings and restart computer. This will route the bootscreen to the PCI card, but no monitor is connected there. So that means that the monitor (connected to the AGP-card) will be seen as secondary monitor thus you'll see nothing untill Windows starts.

Step 2: Getting rid of Windows' bootscreen
This should be quite easy. There are many programs that do this, here are I name a few:
Windows XP: Boot Editor
Windows Vista: Boot Logo Generator (click "Nu Downloaden!")
Windows 7: Boot Updater
Make a nice picture you'd like to see your computer boot with.

Step 3: Hide Windows' GUI elements
Remove pop-up balloons:
1. Press [Win]+[R] and type regedit and then press [Enter]
2. Navigate to the following subkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
3. Right-click the right pane, create a new DWORD value, and then name it EnableBalloonTips
4. Double-click this new entry, and then give it a hexadecimal value of 0 and click OK
5. Quit Registry Editor. Log off Windows, and then log back on
These steps disable all Notification Area balloon tips for the active user. There is no way to disable balloon tips for Synthesia only
6. Disable all the programs that start with Synthesia and may pop-up or slow the system down or affect it in any way. These may be in your Startup folder (I'll come later to that)

Get rid of "Loading Settings" screen in Windows XP
1. Press [Win]+[R] and type regedit and then press [Enter]
2. Navigate to the following entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
If there is an entry for "DisableStatusMessages" set it to 1 (the digit one)
If there is no entry, rightclick the "System" word, and select New > DWORD value, and enter "DisableStatusMessages", rightclick to edit the value of it, and enter 1 (the digit one).

Hide Startmenu
1. Rightclick Startmenu > Properties
2. Enable automatically hiding > OK

Boot directly into Synthesia
1. Turn off Login Screen so it will go to one account only
2. Don't give up a password. Doing so will Windows cause to halt logging in 'till you've given a password
3. Download and install AutoHotkey (Download link near beginning of my post)
4. This is where my script comes in. Download here:
SynthesiaModev1.0.0.ahk.zip
(2.11 KiB) Downloaded 1913 times
Open Start > All Programs > Startup (it's a folder)
Unpack the AutoHotkeyfile and place it in there.

Get a Synthesia-look
1. Remove all shortcuts of desktop and place them somewhere else e.g. C:\DesktopStuff
2. Turn off screensaver
3. Get a Synthesia-background

Step 4: Restart computer and connect TV/monitor; place it on keyboard/behind the keyboard/mounted on the wall

More information
Hiding Windows
AutoHotkey

Source script
Spoiler:

Code: Select all

; SynthesiaMode Configuration Screen by aria1121
devr = v1.0.0
SetTitleMatchMode, 1
osbit = 32
IfExist, "C:\Program Files (x86)" ; Will set architecture to x64 if so
	osbit = 64
IfNotExist, %Temp%\SynnMode\SynnMode.syn ; Will check if ran earlier
{
	notready = 1
	FileCreateDir, %Temp%\SynnMode
}
IfExist, %Temp%\SynnMode\SynnMode.syn ; Will delete older files
{
	FileDelete, %Temp%\SynnMode\SynnMode.syn
}
FileAppend, SynthesiaMode has been activated at least once, %Temp%\SynnMode\SynnMode.syn ; Will create new file
; ================================
; == Settings ====================
; ================================
; Here you can edit the settings of SynthesiaMode.
; Every line that begins with a ; doesn't count as a command.
; If you want to change something, change what comes after the equals-sign

; The path of Synthesia's applicationfolder f.e. C:\Program Files\Synthesia
synnpath =

; The path where the downloads should be stored f.e. C:\MyDownloads
downloaddir =

; Don't edit anything below this line unless you know what you're doing.
; ================================
SetWorkingDir = %downloaddir%


; Mainmenu GUI
Main:
If notready = 1
	Goto, NotReadyStuff
Gui, Add, Text, x6 y7 w240 h20 , Synthesia Configuration Screen
Gui, Add, Text, x290 y7 w150 h20 , %devr%
Gui, Add, Button, x6 y27 w150 h40 gStartSynthesia, Start Synthesia
Gui, Add, Button, x176 y97 w150 h30 gShutDownComputer, Shutdown
Gui, Add, Button, x176 y77 w150 h20 gLogOffComputer, Log off
Gui, Add, Button, x6 y107 w150 h20 gStartWebsite, Visit website
Gui, Add, Button, x176 y37 w150 h30 gTerminateMode, Return to Windows (Exit)
Gui, Add, Button, x6 y77 w150 h30 gSettingsGUI, Settings
Gui, Show, Center h133 w333, SynthesiaMode
Return

; This is what happens if you start SynthesiaMode for the first time
NotReadyStuff:
Gui, Add, Text, x6 y7 w310 h70 , It looks like you're starting SynthesiaMode for the first time.`n`nIf you want to use SynthesiaMode`, you have to tell me where Synthesia is. I'll open my script so you can tell me`, then start me again to activate.
Gui, Add, Button, x6 y87 w310 h30 gIClickedOK, OK
Gui, Show, Center h121 w325, Not ready yet
Return
IClickedOK:
Gui, Destroy
Goto, Settings2



; Websites GUI
StartWebsite:
Gui, Destroy
Gui, Add, Text, x6 y7 w160 h20 , SynthesiaMode \ Open website
Gui, Add, Text, x176 y7 w50 h20 , %devr%
Gui, Add, Button, x306 y7 w160 h20 gBackMain, Return to mainmenu
Gui, Add, GroupBox, x6 y27 w460 h100 , Downloads
Gui, Add, Button, x16 y47 w150 h30 gDownloadInstaller, Windows Installer
Gui, Add, Text, x176 y57 w280 h30 , Will open the downloadsite in the default browser
Gui, Add, Button, x16 y87 w150 h20 gDownloadDevrelease, Development Release
Gui, Add, Text, x176 y87 w280 h30 , Will open the Developments site in the default browser
Gui, Add, GroupBox, x6 y127 w460 h90 , 
Gui, Add, Button, x16 y147 w150 h20 gOpenSynnH, synthesiagame.com
Gui, Add, Text, x176 y147 w280 h20 , Will open the homepage of Synthesia in the default browser
Gui, Add, Button, x16 y167 w150 h20 gOpenSynnF, synthesiagame.com/forum
Gui, Add, Text, x176 y167 w280 h20 , Will open the forum of Synthesia in the default browser
Gui, Add, Button, x16 y187 w150 h20 gOpenSynnT, SynthesiaMode topic
Gui, Add, Text, x176 y187 w280 h20 , Will open SynthesiaMode's website in the default browser
Gui, Show, Center h225 w475, Open Website...
Return

DownloadInstaller:
Run, http://www.synthesiagame.com/getTheGame.aspx
Goto, BackMain
DownloadDevrelease:
Run, https://www.synthesiagame.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=9
Goto, BackMain
OpenSynnH:
Run, http://www.synthesiagame.com
Goto, BackMain
OpenSynnF:
Run, http://www.synthesiagame.com/forum
Goto, BackMain
OpenSynnT:
Run, https://www.synthesiagame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3649
Goto, BackMain


; This will start Synthesia
StartSynthesia:
Run, %synnpath%\Synthesia.exe
Goto, RunInBackground


; Here will the executable run in the background
RunInBackground:
Gui, Destroy
Gui, Add, Text, x6 y7 w170 h20 , Synthesia Configuration Screen
Gui, Add, Text, x6 y37 w200 h40 , I am currently running in the background.`nClick "Activate" to go back to the mainmenu.
Gui, Add, Button, x6 y87 w190 h30 gBackMain , Activate
Gui, Show, Center NoActivate h127 w210, Configuration Screen
Return

; Will destroy all windows and go to mainmenu
BackMain:
Gui, Destroy
Goto, Main

; Here will the computer logoff
LogOffComputer:
MsgBox, 4, SynthesiaMode, Confirm logoff?
IfMsgBox Yes
	Shutdown, 0 && Goto, GuiClose
else
	Goto, Main

; Here will the computer shutdown
ShutDownComputer:
MsgBox, 4, SynthesiaMode, Confirm shutdown?
IfMsgBox Yes
	Shutdown, 1 && Goto, GuiClose
else
	Goto, Main


; This will open the settingsscreen
SettingsGUI:
Gui, Destroy
Gui, Add, Text, x6 y7 w220 h20, SynthesiaMode Settings %devr% by aria1121
Gui, Add, Button, x246 y7 w160 h20 gSettMain, Return to mainmenu
Gui, Add, GroupBox, x6 y27 w400 h70 , 
Gui, Add, Button, x16 y47 w180 h40 gSettings2, Edit SynthesiaMode.ahk
Gui, Add, Text, x206 y47 w190 h40 , This will terminate SynthesiaMode and then open it again so you can edit the settings inside the file.
Gui, Add, GroupBox, x6 y97 w400 h70 , 
Gui, Add, Button, x16 y117 w180 h40 gSettings3, Open Temp\SynnMode
Gui, Add, Text, x206 y117 w190 h40 , There isn't really something interesting in there`, but if you want to append SynthesiaMode`, you can do it in here.
Gui, Add, GroupBox, x6 y167 w400 h70 , 
Gui, Add, Button, x16 y187 w180 h40 gSettings4, Open Synthesia's Configurationmanager
Gui, Add, Text, x206 y187 w190 h40 , This will open Synthesia's own configurationmanager so you can change Synthesia's settings over there.
Gui, Show, Center h244 w417, Settings
Return

; Will destroy Settings window then open mainmenu
SettMain:
Gui, Destroy
Goto, Main

; Will open this file you are reading, so you can edit the settings somewhere near the beginning of the file
Settings2:
MsgBox, I will now close.`nEdit me, then open me so the changes take effect.
Run, notepad.exe %A_ScriptFullPath%
Goto, GuiClose

; Will open Temp\SynnMode in Windows Explorer
Settings3:
Run, %Temp%\SynnMode
Gui, Destroy
Goto, Main

; Will open Synthesia's Configurationmanager
Settings4:
Run, %synnpath%\SynthesiaConfig.exe
Gui, Destroy
Goto, Main



;Closing SynthesiaMode
TerminateMode:
ExitApp
GuiClose:
ExitApp
If you have any suggestions, idea's or any trouble post below.
Last edited by aria1121 on 06-01-12 8:38 am, edited 4 times in total.
Nicholas
Posts: 13132

Post by Nicholas »

This is kind of a scary idea. :D
aria1121
Posts: 1505

Post by aria1121 »

@ Nicholas
Why, because of the system changes in the registry and the hardware mods? You can just pass 'em and just install the script if you're too lazy... :)
Edit I wanted to compile the script but then you can't edit the settings. Instead I also could've used INI files, but I am not familiar with that.
Nicholas
Posts: 13132

Post by Nicholas »

Nah, I mostly just meant the idea of a computer whose sole purpose is to run Synthesia! :lol:
aria1121
Posts: 1505

Post by aria1121 »

Yes, it isn't really worth to get a good computer with some nice graphics with a nice CPU just to run Synthesia. But you can also just move all your workplace-stuff to your keyboard, right?
User avatar
Laserbeak43
Posts: 102

Post by Laserbeak43 »

love this idea as i'm getting ready to move some computers around. I'll see if i can get my hands on some low power mini pc instead of running DVI across my living room!!
aria1121
Posts: 1505

Post by aria1121 »

This post contains nothing... but I just wanted to reach the 1400 posts. I can't be so active because I have lots of other stuff to do and can't be so active anymore. I want to thank Nicholas for proiding such an awesome software because I still use it and it's just awesome. I'll be back every few weeks.
Nicholas
Posts: 13132

Post by Nicholas »

No way, someone just asked for exactly this thing over here.
aria1121
Posts: 1505

Post by aria1121 »

Tip Want Synthesia on your TV? Just hook up the computer to the TV with VGA or something (if your TV has it).
Really, why spend developing for the Wii, XBox, PS or something. Those things aren't really support some of the essentials of Synthesia (I think) so just hook up the computer to the TV for this project. (Moving this message in threadstart)

tl;dr Notice I pasted this in the thread up there:
earlier aria1121 wrote:> This makes it possible to hook it up to your TV so you have a bigger screen to play along with.
You won't be needing a monitor (if using a PC. If using a laptop, use its video-out (usually VGA, DVI or HDMI)) to connect to, just find a port you can connect your laptop to.
You can then mount the TV/monitor above your keyboard. How nice is that?
Lemo
Posts: 313

Post by Lemo »

Someone's gotta make a Raspberry Pi Linux/Arm version of this sometime :geek:
Stuff & experiments for Synthesia: Gramp v0.2SkinboxFireSynthVideoWebradio
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