#MARCHintosh 2026 is here and I'm excited to share a project I've been working on.
You may know that many Classic Mac models have a diagnostics mode built into the ROM that you can access over a serial connection. But it's extremely cumbersome, limited, and there are a lot of sharp edges that make it difficult to do much practical with it.
Reconnaissance is a new diagnostics app that runs on your modern machine that makes it easy to run the ROM's built-in diagnostics as well as quite a few custom ones (some of which I have adapted from a certain diagnostic device that repair techs used to have access to...)
The first release supports the following models:
The app runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Windows 10, and Windows 11. There's a lot of cool stuff to come and I can't wait to share the next update!
Check out this related thread about USB-serial adapters and cables
Happy #MARCHintosh, everyone!
You may know that many Classic Mac models have a diagnostics mode built into the ROM that you can access over a serial connection. But it's extremely cumbersome, limited, and there are a lot of sharp edges that make it difficult to do much practical with it.
Reconnaissance is a new diagnostics app that runs on your modern machine that makes it easy to run the ROM's built-in diagnostics as well as quite a few custom ones (some of which I have adapted from a certain diagnostic device that repair techs used to have access to...)
The first release supports the following models:
- Macintosh SE/30
- Macintosh IIsi
- Macintosh Iicx
- Macintosh II
- Macintosh LC III
The app runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Windows 10, and Windows 11. There's a lot of cool stuff to come and I can't wait to share the next update!
Check out this related thread about USB-serial adapters and cables
Happy #MARCHintosh, everyone!
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