Found out my old Rio Karma has a hidden diagnostic mode after 17 years

I was digging through a 2006 forum thread archived on some random geocities mirror, trying to fix the clickwheel drift on my Rio Karma. Buried in the third page, someone mentioned holding the play and rec buttons together while plugging it in. Tried it on a whim and got a full battery voltage readout and hard drive error log on the little screen. Always figured that thing was just a dead brick after the proprietary dock fried. Makes me wonder what other secrets are hiding in these forgotten players. Anyone else stumble on a hidden feature in their old gear that nobody documented in the manuals?

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1 Comment

rivershah10d ago

That "dead brick" probably has better build quality than most new gear, honestly.