Tur-Another Idle Volume Adjuster

[Turranius]

File Name: Tur-Another Idle Volume Adjuster

File Submitter: Turranius

File Submitted: 08 May 2015

File Category: Add-Ons

Credits: Turranius

Basically, this little program is full of features, but its main purpose is to lower (or mute) the volume after a time of idle and to bring it back when you move or press anything.
Any suggestions? Let me know.

 

Some features.

• Set the volume to a percent of the current volume after an amount of time (This is the default).
• Just mute the audio after an amount of time (Works on XP)
• Force the volume to a certain percent at startup.
• Force the volume to a certain percent when going idle (A definable percent instead of a percent of current volume).
• Definable FadeOut delay and FadeIn delay.
• Full-fledged application launcher with working dir, delay and restart options.
• Exceptions. You specify the exe file(s) you want. If one of them is active, it will not go idle.
• Volume per program. has the ability to change the volume to a certain percent if a process (program) is running.
• Splashscreen when idle. Shows some fancy graphics (optionally) that works like a screensaver when idle.
• Right click it in the traybar for a menu.
• A few more advanced options.
  

Do not be alarmed by the number of options for it. Run it as it is to start with and then you can start fiddling with the settings.

Click here to download this file

[Turranius]

For those that use this program, I've been updating it quite a lot since 1.13.1 over at the RocketLauncher forums.

 

You can grab the latest beta/rc version from my FTP if have the ability to test it before 1.14.0 comes out.

 

1.4.0     2016-04-13
    Chg:    Big change. Now uses the Windows API to control volume and mute. Works a lot better as it can now
                check, for example, if mute is on or not. Plus no more external dll files and similar to manage.
        Thanks to bleasby for the idea =)

    Fix:    Fixed crash that occured when the volume was at 0% during startup.

    Chg:    Added a GUI for configuring the basic and advanced options. This will be shown at first startup or if no Settings.ini
        file exists. You can also reach it by clicking the TAIVA icon in the traybar and selecting "Configure".
        I moved the Edit and Reload Settings.ini functions from the trayicon in here as well.
        You can change most of the settings in here without having to restart the application, and test how your
        transparency / volume bar will look etc.
        You may test your settings for a while without saving with the "Apply and Test" button.
        If you like your new settings, do not forget to click "Apply and Save".

        While testing stuff in there, you can always click the "Reapply Settings.ini" button to go back to the
        settings in your Settings.ini directly, provided you have not yet clicked "Apply and Save".

    Chg:    Moved all the ManualVolume* settings from the [Advanced] section to a new [Manual Volume] section.
        They will be created there automatically with the default settings if you do nothing. The ManualVolume
        settings in [Advanced], if you leave them there, will do nothing. I suggest you move them over.

    Chg:    If moving the volume down to 0%, it will automatically mute.
        Basically, there is a new check in place. If volume is at 0%, mute. If the volume is not at 0%, always
        make sure it is not muted.

    Chg:    If you shut down your computer/cab while it is in idle mode, it will do one quick attempt to restore
        the volume. That way, it should not start up muted or at low volume next bootup.
        The same is true if you close TAIVA while it is muted or in the process of restoring the volume.

    Add:    Added a [ProgramLaunch] section to Settings.ini. You can have TAIVA automatically launch other
        programs after it is done with its initialization. Once again, see Readme.txt.
        If upgrading, you'll have to add the [ProgramLaunch] section yourself somewhere in the INI file.

        Not sure if this function will ever be used but here it is..

    Chg:    FadeOutNow hotkey disabled while volume is fading down so you can not press it twice by mistake.

    Chg:    Manual Volume Up and Down no longer uses the built in function in Autoit to raise or lower the volume so
        it no longer counts as a keypress. They now use the Windows API as the rest of the system.

        This is unless you are on Windows XP. If using that old OS, it still uses the built in functions. No
        Windows API functions are used if you're on XP.

        If you would rather use the old system that actually press the VolumeUp and VolumeDn buttons instead of the
        Windows API, I've added ManualVolumeUseAPI to the Settings.ini. Normally its True, but change it to False to
        go back to using the old system.

    Chg:    Manual Volume Up and Down buttons are now disabled while in idle mode or while its restoring the volume.

    Add:    New [Advanced] option: ManualVolumeShowProgressBar=2
        A volume slider will be displayed when using the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. This is the number of
        seconds to show this slider. Set it to False to disable it.
        The slider has the same look as when its fading in/out, providing you have IdleFlashProgressBar=True

    Chg:    The volume slider shown for IdleFlashProgressBar and ManualVolumeShowProgressBar is now thinner and
        looks better IMO. This is the new default setting anyway. I've added 5 options to it so you can make
        it look however you want:
        IdleFlashProgressBarWidth=665
        IdleFlashProgressBarHeight=19
        IdleFlashProgressBarLeft=-1
        IdleFlashProgressBarTop=-1
        IdleFlashProgressBarVertical=False

        You can reach these settings in the new GUI and even test it out from there. You can even have the
        bar cover the whole screen by setting your screen resolution to IdleFlashProgressBarWidth and
        IdleFlashProgressBarHeight. Makes for a rather cool effect.

    Chg:    The volume slider shown for IdleFlashProgressBar and ManualVolumeShowProgressBar does now use the
        IdleFlashTransparency setting to be transparent. I do not think it needs its own transparency setting.
        Anyone objects?

    Add:    Added option ForceFocusSetup to the [Advanced] section.
        It is not added to your Settings.ini automatically. It takes two keys that you hold for a number of seconds
        to force a specific Windows Title back into focus.
        See Readme if this is something you need, otherwise don't bother.
        It was created for those times that HyperSpin lost focus for some reason.

[Turranius]

1.4.0 is live in the downloads section.

 

Full change log:

1.4.0     2016-04-13
    Chg:    Big change. Now uses the Windows API to control volume and mute. Works a lot better as it can now
            check, for example, if mute is on or not. Plus no more external dll files and similar to manage.
            Thanks to bleasby for the idea =)

    Fix:    Fixed crash that occured when the volume was at 0% during startup.

    Fix:    Setting either Fade Delay to False did not instantly change the volume as it should have (in or out).

    Chg:    Added a GUI for configuring the basic options. This will be shown at first startup or if no Settings.ini
        file exists. You can also reach it by clicking the TAIVA icon in the traybar and selecting "Configure".
        I moved the Edit and Reload Settings.ini functions from the trayicon in here as well.
        You can change all the settings in here without having to restart the application, and test how your
        transparency / volume bar will look etc.
        You may test your settings for a while without saving with the "Apply and Test" button.
        If you like your new settings, do not forget to click "Apply and Save".

        While testing stuff in there, you can always click the "Reapply Settings.ini" button to go back to the
        settings in your Settings.ini directly, provided you have not yet clicked "Apply and Save".

    Chg:    Moved all the ManualVolume* settings from the [Advanced] section to a new [Manual Volume] section.
        They will be created there automatically with the default settings if you do nothing. The ManualVolume
        settings in [Advanced], if you leave them there, will do nothing. I suggest you move them over.

    Chg:    If moving the volume down to 0%, it will automatically mute.
        Basically, there is a new check in place. If volume is at 0%, mute. If the volume is not at 0%, always
        make sure it is not muted.

    Chg:    If you shut down your computer/cab while it is in idle mode, it will do one quick attempt to restore
        the volume. That way, it should not start up muted or at low volume next bootup.
        The same is true if you close TAIVA while it is muted or in the process of restoring the volume.
        This can be controlled with the new [Advanced] setting RestoreVolumeOnExit.
        It defaults to "Fade", meaning that it will try to fade the volume back in quickly.

    Add:    Added a [ProgramLaunch] section to Settings.ini. You can have TAIVA automatically launch other
        programs after it is done with its initialization. Once again, see Readme.txt.
        If upgrading, you'll have to add the [ProgramLaunch] section yourself somewhere in the INI file.

        Not sure if this function will ever be used but here it is..

    Chg:    FadeOutNow hotkey disabled while volume is fading down so you can not press it twice by mistake.

    Chg:    Manual Volume Up and Down no longer uses the built in function in Autoit to raise or lower the volume so
        it no longer counts as a keypress. They now use the Windows API as the rest of the system.

        This is unless you are on Windows XP. If using that old OS, it still uses the built in functions. No
        Windows API functions are used if you're on XP.

        If you would rather use the old system that actually press the VolumeUp and VolumeDn buttons instead of the
        Windows API, I've added ManualVolumeUseAPI to the Settings.ini. Normally its True, but change it to False to
        go back to using the old system.

    Chg:    Manual Volume Up and Down buttons are now disabled while in idle mode or while its restoring the volume.

    Add:    New [Advanced] option: ManualVolumeShowProgressBar=2
        A volume slider will be displayed when using the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. This is the number of
        seconds to show this slider. Set it to False to disable it.
        The slider has the same look as when its fading in/out, providing you have IdleFlashProgressBar=True

    Add:    New [Advanced] option: IdleExceptionIfActiveOnly=True/False.
        Works in the same way as ProgramSpecificVolumeIfActiveOnly does, but for programs in [IdleException].
        If set to False (Old default method), as long as the process is started, it will idle forever until it closes.
        If set to True however, the process must exist AND be the active window for TAIVA to wait for it. As soon
        as it loses focus or is closed, TAIVA will resume operations.

    Chg:    The volume slider shown for IdleFlashProgressBar and ManualVolumeShowProgressBar is now thinner and
        looks better IMO. This is the new default setting anyway. I've added 5 options to it so you can make
        it look however you want:
        IdleFlashProgressBarWidth=665
        IdleFlashProgressBarHeight=19
        IdleFlashProgressBarLeft=-1
        IdleFlashProgressBarTop=-1
        IdleFlashProgressBarVertical=False

        You can reach these settings in the new GUI and even test it out from there. You can even have the
        bar cover the whole screen by setting your screen resolution to IdleFlashProgressBarWidth and
        IdleFlashProgressBarHeight. Makes for a rather cool effect.

    Chg:    The volume slider shown for IdleFlashProgressBar and ManualVolumeShowProgressBar does now use the
        IdleFlashTransparency setting to be transparent. I do not think it needs its own transparency setting.
        Anyone objects?

    Chg:    Rewrote parts of the Program Specific Volume function to be more effective when ProgramSpecificVolumeIfActiveOnly
        is set to True.

    Chg:    When restoring volume from a Program Specific Volume (it's not running anymore), it will fade the volume
        back up with a delay of 20 which is quite fast. It will NOT show a volume bar when that happens.
        Previously, it just set the new volume instantly which could be a bit painful.

        If it needs to restore the volume down though, it will still be instantly set as before.

    Add:    If a program in [IdleException] or [ProgramSpecificVolume] causes TAIVA to idle or set a specific volume, the traybar
        icon tooltip will reflect this. Simply hover over the icon.

    Add:    Added option ForceFocusSetup to the [Advanced] section.
        It is not added to your Settings.ini automatically. It takes two keys that you hold for a number of seconds
        to force a specific Windows Title back into focus.
        See Readme if this is something you need, otherwise don't bother.
        It was created for those times that HyperSpin lost focus for some reason.

    Chg:    Trimmed the various messages that pop up in the center of the screen to look better (for example when forcing fade out).

[Metalzoic]

Just letting everyone know that this program is basically essential for running a perfectly setup arcade cab.

Lets your cab never power on to loud, lets the sound fade out automatically when people walk away from it and it goes idle. Perfect for cabs that run in attract mode all day because as soon as someone walks up and touches the controls the sound comes back on to exactly the volume you choose. You can bind the volume controls to dedicated volume buttons on the cab, or as a hidden shift function. On and on etc...

This latest version is vastly improved over the prior versions. I actually launch my HyperSpin directly from this app (another feature it supports).

Highly recommended.

[griffin518]

This is really cool... I had no idea you had put this together. Nice! Thank you!

[Turranius]

Thanks for the kind words =)

[damageinc86]

Now if there was a volume normalizer for all those videos and emulators that are louder and quieter than each other.

[Dime333]

For the emulators, you can use this app to set a specific volume to anything that you launch.

[Turranius]

Updated to 1.4.1. Now you can replace your startup script with TAIVA and have it restart them all when you restart TAIVA.

 

1.4.1    2016-05-04
    Chg:    Changed the look of the Basic Configuration GUI to look more like the Advanced Configuration in that you
        can hold over the text to get details.

    Add:    Added "Idle Flash Move" and "Idle Flash All Screens" to the Basic Configuration GUI.

    Chg:    Default value for ManualVolumeStep changed from 5 to 1.

    Chg:    If ProgramSpecificVolumeIfActiveOnly=True and a program is closed or lose focus, it will do a check
        if the process still exists before restoring the volume up. If it exists, it will wait a maximum of 2
        seconds before restoring the volume up. It will stop waiting if its closed sooner.
        Why? If you have a fadeout screen active in RocketLauncher, it will show before the emulator that you
        set a specific volume on is closed, thus making it lose focus and restoring the volume too soon otherwise.
        As always, if the volume should go down, it will not delay. Only on up.

    Add:    Added [Advanced] option ProgramLaunchCloseOnExit=True/False.
        With it set to True (default), any program launched at startup with [ProgramLaunch] will be closed when
        TAIVA is closed. That way you can use TAIVA as the main launcher for all your apps and just restart TAIVA
        to restart them all. Available in the Advanced Configuration GUI.

    Add:    Added [Advanced] option RestartKey. Pressing this key will restart TAIVA. If you have programs being
        launched from [ProgramLaunch] and ProgramLaunchCloseOnExit=True, all programs will be restarted as well.
        Default is empty so its disabled. Can be set via the Advanced Configuration GUI.

        Also added a "Restart TAIVA" option directly from the tray icon.

    Chg:    Applications in [ProgramLaunch] will no longer start again if they are running already. Actually rewrote
        much of how [ProgramLaunch] programs work. Check the bottom of the ReadMe.txt. You can now replace
        your startup scripts, if you have them, and just let TAIVA do the work.

[griffin518]

I just want to say thanks again for this awesome little program... it really put an awesome finishing touch to my set-up. Cannot recommend enough.

[griffin518]

For the emulators, you can use this app to set a specific volume to anything that you launch.

 

True for anything you launch, but would it be possible to profile emulators post HS launch? For example, I'm using it to launch HS... when HS launches MAME would it be possible to have it set a different volume than when it launches DEmul, for example?

[Metalzoic]

True for anything you launch, but would it be possible to profile emulators post HS launch? For example, I'm using it to launch HS... when HS launches MAME would it be possible to have it set a different volume than when it launches DEmul, for example?

Yeah. If I remember right you just set it in the program specific volume section.

[gigapig]

Anyway had an issue with this lowering the volume with HyperSpin running? It's just started doing it and I have no idea why although I have just changed the order of my Ultrastiks in Windows 10.

The only way to get the volume back to normal is hit the keyboard. 

[griffin518]

2 hours ago, gigapig said:

Anyway had an issue with this lowering the volume with HyperSpin running? It's just started doing it and I have no idea why although I have just changed the order of my Ultrastiks in Windows 10.

The only way to get the volume back to normal is hit the keyboard. 

I've never had that issue. Is there a log file you could look at?

[gigapig]

1 minute ago, griffin518 said:

I've never had that issue. Is there a log file you could look at?

I think so, a debug maybe.

[gigapig]

I'm thinking it relies on key presses and not joystick input so I will need to add exceptions for all emulators.

[Turranius]

It relies on the idle timer provided by windows. If the joysticks does not reset the windows idle timers, then no, sadly it'll still think it should go idle.

On the FTP in my signature, there is a test program you can run. Then you can see what resets the timer and what does not. \Tur-AnotherIdleVolumeAdjuster\Extras\Test_Idle_Time.zip

As far as I remember, if joysticks resets the idle timer or not depends largely on the Windows build. If you are on later Windows 10 builds, Microsoft removed the idle timer reset for joysticks for some reason...

Edit: I just ran the Test_Idle_Time program on my Win 10 x64 build 1607 and my X-52 HOTAS does indeed reset the idle timer (All the time, without me moving anything, so my deadzones are off, but it does reset it).

Edit2: I had it in the readme as well =)

	Limitations: Thanks to Microsofts infinite wisdom, moving or pressing on a game controller does not reset the "how long have the user
             been idle" timer, which is what this program uses. Your volume might therefor be lowered if you are playing only with a
             game controller. This is rather individual and might not happen to you though. It depends on Windows version and patch level.
	Extras:      In the Extras folder, you can run Test_Idle_Time.exe. It will display the time the system has been idle and should reset itself
             if you move or do anything. If you find that TAIVA never goes idle, run it and make sure it rises when you do not touch anything.
             If it keeps resettings, you have some device that resets the Windows idle time. Unplug devices (probably a keyboard or controller) until
             you find the culprit.

[gigapig]

On 2/8/2017 at 1:37 PM, Turranius said:

It relies on the idle timer provided by windows. If the joysticks does not reset the windows idle timers, then no, sadly it'll still think it should go idle.

On the FTP in my signature, there is a test program you can run. Then you can see what resets the timer and what does not. \Tur-AnotherIdleVolumeAdjuster\Extras\Test_Idle_Time.zip

As far as I remember, if joysticks resets the idle timer or not depends largely on the Windows build. If you are on later Windows 10 builds, Microsoft removed the idle timer reset for joysticks for some reason...

Edit: I just ran the Test_Idle_Time program on my Win 10 x64 build 1607 and my X-52 HOTAS does indeed reset the idle timer (All the time, without me moving anything, so my deadzones are off, but it does reset it).

Edit2: I had it in the readme as well =)

 

	Limitations: Thanks to Microsofts infinite wisdom, moving or pressing on a game controller does not reset the "how long have the user
             been idle" timer, which is what this program uses. Your volume might therefor be lowered if you are playing only with a
             game controller. This is rather individual and might not happen to you though. It depends on Windows version and patch level.
	Extras:      In the Extras folder, you can run Test_Idle_Time.exe. It will display the time the system has been idle and should reset itself
             if you move or do anything. If you find that TAIVA never goes idle, run it and make sure it rises when you do not touch anything.
             If it keeps resettings, you have some device that resets the Windows idle time. Unplug devices (probably a keyboard or controller) until
             you find the culprit.

 

Thank you Turranius for confirming, I checked and my Ultrastiks don't reset the timer but they do when a system is using JoyToKey.

[MajorWeirdo]

Is there a tutorial included in the downloabable file ? Or were do I find one ?

[gigapig]

3 minutes ago, MajorWeirdo said:

Is there a tutorial included in the downloabable file ? Or were do I find one ?

There is a readme included which explains things.