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SNOOPDOS HOME PAGE

SnoopDos is an Amiga utility that allows you to monitor all file activity on your system, as well as what tooltypes a program is checking, what fonts, libraries and devices are being loaded, and so on. If a program won't start correctly for some reason, SnoopDos can often help track down the cause.
   Snoopdos Technology offers software consulting and development services, primarily in the areas of telecommunications and networking. We are based in Dublin, Ireland but happy to work with clients overseas. For more information, please see our website at www.snoopdos.com.

Latest News
SnoopDos has now been turned over to an OpenSource development team. Please see the SourceForge SnoopDos Project Page for more details.
   A version for AmigaOS 4.0 is also now available. It's nice to know people are still finding it useful, more than 15 years after the first release.

What's New in SnoopDos 3.0
The last version of SnoopDos I released was version 3.0, in September 1994. This was a major rewrite of the previous version which added, among other things, a full GUI, history buffer, many additional monitoring functions, online help, and extensive bullet proofing.
   For more information about the new features in SnoopDos 3.0, you can read the release notes.

SnoopDos and PowerUP Compatibility
Several users have reported problems when using SnoopDos with the new PowerPC-based PowerUP board from Phase 5. Apparently, shortly after SnoopDos starts monitoring system operation, the system hangs while trying to open a library or device.
   PowerUP user Fred Wright has come up with a workaround, which is to set the tooltype PATCHRAMLIB=NO in the SnoopDos icon. This tells SnoopDos to ignore the background ramlib process, which is responsible for loading shared libraries and devices, and stops the system from hanging. Thanks Fred!
   You can still see what libraries and devices are being opened after this change; just make sure that in the Functions window, you have enabled monitoring of OpenLibrary and OpenDevice.

Download SnoopDos
If you haven't already got a copy of SnoopDos, you can download it here. If you're a programmer, you might also be interested in a copy of the source code. And if the latest SnoopDos release is a little on the large side for your taste, you might find the last non-GUI release, SnoopDos 1.7a, fits your needs better:

SnoopDos Language Files
Several SnoopDos users have kindly translated the SnoopDos language file into their native language. Thanks to all of them! You can download the language file of your choice here:

If you want to have a go at translating SnoopDos's language file yourself, you will need a copy of Commodore's CATCOMP developer tool. Since this is rather hard to track down these days, now that Commodore is no longer in business, I've compiled an archive containing this utility, along with the source language file for SnoopDos and some instructions, which you can download:

What the Users Think
Lots of people have kindly sent me feedback about SnoopDos, most of it very complimentary. If you don't mind a little ego-boosting on my part, you can read what the users think.

SnoopDos for the PC
One question I hear more than almost any other is "Where can I get a copy of SnoopDos for my PC?". While as yet, SnoopDos exists only on the Amiga, I'm happy to report that similar utilities have sprung up for DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows NT.
   While I don't have any association with these utilities, I'm happy to provide links to them for those who want to try them out:

SnoopDos for Linux and BSD
I am not aware of any applications for Linux or xBSD which provide a SnoopDos-style GUI (if you know of any, please let me know).
   Linux users can use the strace utility to monitor the kernel operations a program is carrying out. Although only console based, it should provide you with all the detail you need.
   BSD users should check out the ktrace utility, which is provided as standard with most distributions and operates in similar fashion to strace. For more details, please see the OpenBSD ktrace man page.

Using PGP to validate SnoopDos
When SnoopDos 3.0 was first released, there were several unauthorised versions of SnoopDos 1.x in circulation; some of these contained viruses or trojan horses.
   To ensure that people knew release 3.0 of SnoopDos was an official release, I signed the executable using my PGP key. Since including the key with the software distribution would have defeated the purpose (since anyone could have included a fake key if they were modifying the software), instead it has been available via email for anyone who was concerned they might have a false copy.
   For convenience, my PGP key is available here. I should stress that since SnoopDos 3.0 was released, over three years ago, there have been no reports of unauthorised versions appearing. Thus, if you already have a copy, there is an exellent chance it is a legitimate copy. In addition, I can guarantee that the copy available for downloading from this web page is at least as likely to be accurate as my PGP key. However, if you're not convinced:

(If you want to save a copy to disk, hold down SHIFT before selecting the above link.)

Newer Versions of SnoopDos
In the decade since SnoopDos 3.0 was released, it has stood the test of time quite well. As new Amiga architectures and operating systems emerged, a couple of subtle compatibility issues popped up. These have been addressed by helpful users and developers, who have released updated versions; for more information, visit the SnoopDos Project Page at SourceForge.
   You can generally download the latest version of SnoopDos from Aminet.net. Please direct any queries about newer versions to the current authors rather than myself, since I am no longer actively contributing to SnoopDos development (and in fact, it's quite a while since I've even even used an Amiga).

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Last updated 21 July 2006. Comments to ecarroll@iol.ie.