SciTech SNAP (System Neutral Access Protocol) is an

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

portable, dynamically loadable, native-size

32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...

64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing units (CPU) and arithmetic logic units (ALU) are those that are based on processor registers, a ...

device driver In the context of an operating system, a device driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer or automaton. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabli ...

architecture. SciTech SNAP defines the architecture for loading an operating system neutral binary

for any type of hardware device, be it a

graphics controller A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics accelerator, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or colloquially GPU) is a computer expansion card that generates a feed of graphics output to a displa ...

, audio controller,

SCSI Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices, best known for its use with storage devices such as hard disk drives. SCSI was introduced ...

controller or network controller. SciTech SNAP drivers are

source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...

portable between different

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

platforms, and the binary drivers are operating system portable within a particular microprocessor family. SNAP drivers were originally developed for

Intel 386 The Intel 386, originally released as the 80386 and later renamed i386, is the third-generation x86 architecture microprocessor from Intel. It was the first 32-bit processor in the line, making it a significant evolution in the x86 architect ...

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, log ...

with any 32-bit operating system or environment supported on that CPU. With the introduction of SNAP 3.0, native binary SNAP drivers are available for 32-bit

PowerPC PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...

CPUs and 64-bit

x86-64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...

CPUs. On 27 August 2002, SciTech Software, Inc. announced the intention to release the Scitech SNAP driver development kit. On 16 November 2006, SciTech Software, Inc. announced that it has ceased further development of its SNAP device driver technology in favor of a new line of web and

business logic In computer software, business logic or domain logic is the part of the program that encodes the real-world business rules that determine how data can be created, stored, and changed. It is contrasted with the remainder of the software that might ...

technologies. SciTech also announced that it would begin looking for a buyer for SciTech SNAP. In December 2008 Alt Richmond Inc. closed the acquisition of SciTech Software's SNAP technology. The plans of SciTech Software in 2008 to create OpenSNAP, an

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

version of the driver technology, are therefore no longer an option unless Alt Richmond decides to pick this up. In May 2015, Arca Noae, LLC announced that they have reached an agreement with Alt Richmond, Inc. to license the source code for SNAP Graphics for OS/2.

Relationship with Scitech Display Doctor

SciTech Display Doctor 6.5 included a replacement video driver for

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...

or higher, which works with any hardware supported by SDD. In SDD 7, the driver was renamed to Scitech Nucleus Graphics driver. The Nucleus Graphics driver was later incorporated into SciTech SNAP Graphics. In SNAP 3, Nucleus was renamed to SNAP. SciTech SNAP Graphics version 2 also included VBETest/Lite -

VESA BIOS Extensions VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE) is a VESA standard, currently at version 3, that defines the interface that can be used by software to access compliant video boards at high resolutions and bit depths. This is opposed to the "traditional" INT 10h B ...

(VBE) Compliance Test version 8.00. It was later removed in SciTech SNAP Graphics 3. In SciTech SNAP 3 for DOS, most of the

OpenGL OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a Language-independent specification, cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D computer graphics, 2D and 3D computer graphics, 3D vector graphics. The API is typic ...

tests from SciTech Display Doctor 7

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represe ...

can be found in GACtrl Driver Control Center. The Windows version of Scitech SNAP Graphics maintained the user interface found in SDD 7 beta.

SciTech SNAP Graphics

It is the first product for the SciTech SNAP line, which provides accelerated graphics. SciTech SNAP Graphics has been ported to

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

OS/2 OS/2 is a Proprietary software, proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers. It was created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

(CE, NT, 2000, XP),

QNX QNX ( or ) is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market. The product was originally developed in the early 1980s by Canadian company Quantum Software Systems, founded March 30, 1980, and l ...

, SMX (the SunOS/Solaris port of

MINIX MINIX is a Unix-like operating system based on a microkernel Software architecture, architecture, first released in 1987 and written by American-Dutch computer scientist Andrew S. Tanenbaum. It was designed as a clone of the Unix operating syste ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

On Time RTOS-32 On, on, or ON may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * On (band), a solo project of Ken Andrews * ''On'' (EP), a 1993 EP by Aphex Twin * ''On'' (Echobelly album), 1995 * ''On'' (Gary Glitter album), 2001 * ''On'' (Imperial Teen album), 200 ...

Unununium OS Roentgenium () is a synthetic element, synthetic chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Rg and atomic number 111. It is extremely radioactive and can only be created in a laboratory. The most stable known isotope, roentgenium-282, has ...

operating systems. Supported hardware included video processors from

3dfx 3dfx Interactive, Inc. was an American computer hardware company headquartered in San Jose, California, founded in 1994, that specialized in the manufacturing of 3D graphics processing units, and later, video cards. It was a pioneer in the f ...

3Dlabs 3DLABS Inc. Ltd. was a fabless semiconductor company. It was founded by Yavuz Ahıska and Osman Kent in 1994 with headquarters in San Jose, California. It originally developed the GLINT and PERMEDIA high-end graphics processing unit, graphics chi ...

Alliance Semiconductor Alliance Semiconductor Corporation was an American semiconductor company active from 1985 to 2006 and originally based in San Jose, California. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and static ...

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...

( Geode GX2),

ARK Logic ARK Logic, Inc., simply known as ARK (an abbreviation of Advanced Rendering Kernels), was an American computer graphics hardware company active from 1993 to 2002 and based in San Jose, California. The company designed a number of 2D graphics proce ...

, ATI, Chips & Technologies,

Cirrus Logic Cirrus Logic Inc. is an American fabless semiconductor company, fabless semiconductor supplier that specializes in analog, mixed-signal, and audio Digital signal processor, DSP integrated circuits (ICs). Since 1998, the company's headquarters have ...

Cyrix Cyrix Corporation was a microprocessor developer that was founded in 1988 in Richardson, Texas, as a specialist supplier of floating point units for 286 and 386 microprocessors. The company was founded by Tom Brightman and Jerry Rogers. Ter ...

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

, InteGraphics,

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

Matrox Matrox Graphics, Inc. is a producer of graphics card, video card components and equipment for personal computers and workstations. Based in Dorval, Quebec, Canada, it was founded in 1976 by Lorne Trottier and Branko Matić. The name is derived ...

NeoMagic NeoMagic Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company and supplier of low-power audio and video integrated circuits for mobile use (MagicMedia). In October 2012, NeoMagic entered into the e-commerce arena with the acquisition of its MercadoMag ...

, Number Nine,

NVIDIA Nvidia Corporation ( ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang (president and CEO), Chris Malachowsky, and Curti ...

Oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

, Rendition, S3,

Sigma Designs Sigma Designs, Inc., was an American public corporation that designed and built high-performance system-on-a-chip semiconductor technologies for Internet-based set-top boxes, DVD players/recorders, high-definition televisions, media processors, d ...

Silicon Motion Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, stylized as SiliconMotion, is an American-Taiwanese company involved in developing NAND flash controller integrated circuits (ICs) for solid-state storage devices. The company has claimed to have supplied ...

SiS Sis or SIS may refer to: People *Michael Sis (born 1960), American Catholic bishop Places * Sis (ancient city), historical town in modern-day Turkey, served as the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. * Kozan, Adana, the current name ...

Tseng Labs Tseng Laboratories, Inc. (also known as Tseng Labs or TLI) was a maker of graphics chips and controllers for IBM PC compatibles, based in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and founded by Jack Hsiao Nan Tseng. History 1983–1995 Founded in 1983, Tseng L ...

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

VIA Via or VIA may refer to the following: Arts and entertainment * ''Via'' (Volumes album), 2011 * Via (Thalia Zedek album), 2013 * VIA (music), Soviet and Russian term for a music collective Businesses and organisations * Via Foundation, a Cz ...

Weitek Weitek Corporation was an American Microprocessor, chip-design company that originally focused on floating-point units for a number of commercial Central processing unit, CPU designs. During the early to mid-1980s, Weitek designs could be found ...

, as well as any video card supporting

VBE VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE) is a VESA standard, currently at version 3, that defines the interface that can be used by software to access compliant video boards at high resolutions and bit depths. This is opposed to the "traditional" INT 10h BIO ...

1.2 or higher. Although SciTech SNAP Graphics does not offer standalone VBE driver, SNAP driver accelerates applications using VBE calls via SciTech SNAP Graphics driver. SNAP Graphics for Windows can also accelerate VBE 3 calls, if DOS programs is run in Windows DOS box.

Spin-off products

* SciTech SNAP Graphics ENT * SciTech SNAP Graphics ENT/BC with DPVL support (SciTech SNAP Graphics VESA DPVL) * SciTech SNAP Graphics IES

Personal Edition

SciTech also offer SciTech SNAP Graphics "PE" (Personal Edition) under the My SciTech site, which allows registered users to download a SNAP driver of hardware and operating system specified by users. Each user account can download two drivers per week. The driver generated by the service can be run for six months. In Scitech SNAP Graphics PE, tools GACtrl, GAMode, GAOption, GAPerf DOS tools are included. The GLDirect tests are not included in Windows driver.

SciTech SNAP Audio

Similar to Scitech SNAP Graphics, it provides OS-independent audio drivers. It has been ported to

Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the data server and personal workstation markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 3.51, and was released to manufacturing on July 3 ...

. Supported hardware include

AC'97 AC'97 (''Audio Codec '97;'' also MC'97 for ''Modem Codec '97'') is an audio codec standard developed by Intel Architecture Labs and various codec manufacturers in 1997. The standard was used in motherboards, modems, and sound cards. The specif ...

and Intel HDA, but HDA does not support

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

function.

SciTech SNAP DDC

It is designed to provide easy access to an attached display in order to program it directly via

I²C I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit; pronounced as "" or ""), alternatively known as I2C and IIC, is a synchronous, multi-master/multi-slave, single-ended, serial communication bus invented in 1980 by Philips Semiconductors (now NXP Semiconduct ...

or simply to read the monitor's

EDID Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) and Enhanced EDID (E-EDID) are metadata formats for display devices to describe their capabilities to a video source (e.g., graphics card or set-top box). The data format is defined by a standard publish ...

record.

References

{{Reflist, refs= Alt Richmond Inc. closed the acquisition of SciTech Software’s SNAP technology
/ref> Arca Noae licenses source code for SNAP Graphics for OS/2
/ref>

External links

* ttp://www.altrichmond.ca/ Alt Richmond Inc., the new owner of the SciTech SNAP technology Device drivers