I have spent a couple of days testing lots of games and found that some interesting ones are playable. It is a shame the "no keyboard" issue and the corrupted graphics one. I would pay someone who could fix that issue as i guess that with the knowledge in 2023 there might be ways to fix it or workarounds as the cga driver is from 1998!

It seems it is something related with how the games are programmed because i have found some patterns llike for example
- Most of the games made by "Unlimited Software inc." for example Outrun or 4d sports driving/stunts work but no keyboard.
- Versions of games ported from 8 bit computers from europe use to have a splash screen illustration (like the loading screens on cassette) and almost all freeze on that screen.
and so on

I made a couple of fast videos of the palmtop running

Flight Simulator 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3DCC8Bsa4o

Prince of Persia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvnUUBLt2mo

4D sports driving aka Stunts (no keyboard so only intro, but the 3D part is super smooth)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhbX18gkowI

nach wrote on 2023-03-27, 12:44:

Hi, I recently got a Nec Mobile Gear MC-MK12. An MSDOS based palmtop cousin of the HP 200LX but with a 80486SL-33 @ 16 MHz and […]
Show full quote

Hi, I recently got a Nec Mobile Gear MC-MK12. An MSDOS based palmtop cousin of the HP 200LX but with a 80486SL-33 @ 16 MHz and big flaw: the screen resolution is 640 x 240 so cga games won't run natively.

There is a driver called MGCGA that needs a lot of work to have it working but i finally could run i (needs to make many .bat and .dev files, doesn't work if loaded from the command prompt). The problem is that also changes to the japanese character keyboard and i have not being able to make the cga driver work with pure english keyboard.

I got some games working but LOTS of them freeze or the keyboard is not responding when in game or in the main menu. Has anybody experience with this machine and knows how to make the keyboard work? may i be doing something wrong? something related with the japanese keyboard layout? just a MGCGA compatibiliy issue and/or Mobile Gear compatibility issue? By the way, i was able to install windows 3.0 but it freezes instantly when starting it and tries to do the final configuration (configure printers etc...)

My preliminary compatibility list is (you will see that most of the games work but have "no keyboard" issue) (more coming soon):

GAMES THAT WORK WELL AND GAMES THAT ARE MOSTLY PLAYABLE (APPARENTLY) UPDATED 07/04/2023
1 Advance to Boardwalk
2 Alien Fires: 2199 AD
3 ALF: The First Adventure
4 Apollo 18: Mission to the Moon
5 Aussie Joker Poker
6 Autoduel
7 Avoid the Noid
8 Bad dudes
9 Ball Race (1988 freeware game)
10 Beyond Castle Wolfenstein
11 Black Jack Academy
12 Bridge Hopper (flickery platforms but playable)
13 Card Sharks
14 Cgampionship Baseball
15 Codename Iceman
16 Crosscountry Canada
17 Desert Rats: The North Africa Campaign
18 Diamond Digger
19 Double Dare
20 Dream Zone
21 F-15 Strike Eagle
22 Flight Simulator 3
23 Flight Simulator 4
24 Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams (texts partially unreadable though but it is worth to look)
25 Gauntlet 2
26 Gemini-2
27 Guerrilla War aka Guevara
28 Gumboots Australia
29 Hacker (cannot figure keys but it is working)(not sure if 100% playable)
30 Heavy barrel
31 Hidden Agenda
32 Hoyle Official Book of Games
33 Hoyle Official Book of Games - Volume 2
34 Ikari Warriors 3
35 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure (execute with "indy3 cga")
36 Into the eagles nest
37 Jet
38 Jeopardy!: 25th Anniversary Edition
39 Jill of the Jungle - shareware and GOG versions too slow and unplayable. The "Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy" one runs perfect directly from "JJFILE1.EXE"
40 Jill of the Jungle: Jill Goes Underground - all versions ok
41 Jill of the Jungle: Jill Saves the Prince - all versions ok
42 Karateka (cannot figure keys yet though, only b to bow and right arrow to tun)
43 Karnov
44 Lane Mastodon vs. the Blubbermen (texts partially unreadable though but it is worth to look)
45 Las Vegas Video Poker
46 Laser Chess
47 Laser Surgeon The Microscopic Mission
48 Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places) (Larry II)
49 Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals
50 Loom (execute with "loom cga")
51 Lots -o- $lot$
52 Lucky Luke
53 Mad Show (screen inverting recommended)
54 Manhattan Dealers aka Operation: Cleanstreets (screen inverting recommended)
55 Maniac Mansion Enhanced (execute with "maniac cga")
56 Mars Saga
57 Master Ninja: Shadow Warrior of Death
58 Might and Magic: Book One - Secret of the Inner Sanctum
59 Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World
60 Monopoly
61 Murder Club
62 NCR Golf (cannot figure how to play though but keyboard is working)
63 Nobunaga's Ambition II
64 Now You See It
65 Oligopoly
66 Omega
67 Pipe dream (cga command prompt switch is "pipe c")(cursor super faint very difficult to see where it is)
68 Police Quest II
69 Planet x3
70 Portal (Activision 1987 game)
71 Project: Space Station (some screens partially corrupted but mostly playable)
72 Psycho
73 Quest or Glory: So You Want To Be A Hero
74 Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
75 Race!
76 Railroad Empire
77 Railroad Switch Challenge
78 Robomaze (controls slightly weird, not sure if correct but moves)
79 Rockn wrestle
80 Sabotaje (rare spanish game)
81 Shogun
82 Sierra's 3-D Helicopter Simulator
83 Sim City
84 Snack Attack (maybe too fast)
85 Solitaire Royale
86 Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon
87 Spider-Man
88 Strategic Defense Initiative (graphics partially corrupted)
89 Street Hassle aka Bad Street Brawler
90 Strip Poker 2
91 Super Jeopardy (launch with "jeopardy c")
92 Tau Ceti
93 Technocop
94 Tetris (academy soft, text mode game)
95 Tetris (Spectrum Holobyte)
96 Think Quick!
97 The Amazing Spider-Man
98 The American Challenge: A Sailing Simulation
99 The Black Cauldron
100 The Chessmaster 2000
101 The Fourth Protocol
102 The Oregon Trail (oregon cga)
103 The price is right (partially corrupted graphics)
104 The Spy's Adventures in North America (screen inverting recommended)
105 The Twilight Zone (screen inverting recommended)
106 Ticket to Hollywood
107 Tracker - works but it seems it needs mouse?
108 Triclops Invasion
109 Trump Castle II
110 Twilight's Ransom
111 Ultima III
112 Ultima IV
113 Ultima V
114 Ultima VI (installation menus corrupted, you have to know what keys to press beforehand (guided by dosbox better). Create a character also in dosbox recommended. Once this is done it works with game.com ... it is a mess but it is worth)
115 Voyager 1 Sabotage Of The Robot Ship
116 Welltris
117 Wheel of Fortune
118 Wheel of Fortune 2nd Edition
119 Wheel of Fortune New 2nd Edition
120 Wheel of Fortune Gold
121 Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego
122 Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego
123 Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders Enhanced (execute with "zack cga")
124 Zeliard
125 ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle
126 ZorkQuest 2: The Crystal of Doom

GAMES THAT RUN BUT RUN TOO FAST
1 Dr. Sleeptite and the Nightmare Factory - runs but too fast
2 Bouncing Babies - runs but too fast
3 GBA Championship Basketball Two-on-Two
4 Zaxxon - too fast (i cannot check if keyboard works or not)
5 Defender - too fast (i cannot check if keyboard works or not)
6 Five-a-Side Indoor Soccer - runs but too fast!

GAMES THAT RUN BUT HAVE MAJOR ISSUES
1 3D-Ball - Playable but partially corrupted graphics
2 4D Sports Boxing - works but no keyboard
3 4D sports driving aka stunts - works but no keyboard (demo loops forever)
4 A Nightmare on Elm Street - Freezes on the 2nd credits screen
5 Aargh - stuck on "will you attack with 1 or 2 monsters?"
6 Adventures of Beetlejuice: Skeletons in the Closet - Works but at a point once pressed key it gets stuck in that key and keyboard stops responding
7 African Trail Simulator - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
8 After Burner II - works but keyboard stops responding after starting a game
9 Airball - stuck on "get the spellbook" screen
10 Airborne ranger - black screen after selecting control method (before ranger assignement screen)
11 Altered beast - stuck when asking "restore previous game"
12 Ancient Art of War - works but no keyboard
13 Arkanoid - runs but freezes when starting round 1
14 Artic Adventure - Works but extremely corrupted graphics (unplayable)
15 Astro blaster - runs but no keyboard
16 Ballistix - Stuck on video mode selection
17 Barbarian aka Dead Sword - stuck on "how many joysticks are connected" (no keyboard?)
18 Batman The caped crusader - freezes when the game starts ("the batcave")
19 Batman The movie - Stuck on main menu (no keyboard?)
20 Battlehawks 1942 - works but the keyboard goes crazy
21 BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
22 Bedlam - stuck on main menu, no keyboard but credits scrolling so no freeze
23 Big Busine$s - Stuck on main screen illust
24 Blades of Steel - freezes on 1 or 2 players selection screen
25 Block Out - Stuck on "California dreams presents". Curiously the game doesn't even start using the command "bl.exe c" as stated in the manual for CGA
26 Block Buster - Works but extremely corrupted graphics (unplayable)
27 Bruce lee - hangs on main menu
28 Bubble Bobble - Freezes on "fun time arcade" screen (no keyboard?)
29 Burger Blaster - Works but extremely corrupted graphics (unplayable)
30 Caesars Palace - stuck on control type selection
31 Carl Lewis go for the gold - freezes in the main menu
32 Castlevania - Freezes on control selection screen
33 Chaplin - works but no keyboard (screens loops forever)
34 CD-Man - Crashes at start menu
35 Chip's Challenge - runs but no keyboard
36 Circus games - Stuck on "press enter" screen. keyboard works (num lock and caps on and off and can invert screen)
37 Cobra - Stuck on main screen illust
38 Colorado - Works but extremely corrupted graphics (unplayable)
39 Combat course - stuck on display type selection (no keyboard?)
40 Crack Down - runs but no keyboard
41 Crazy cars - Shows splash screen and shuts off the palmtop when pressing a any key
42 Crystals of Arborea - Works but extremely corrupted graphics (unplayable)
43 Cybotron - no keyboard ingame?
44 Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge - Stuck on main screen illust
45 Dark Side - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
46 Days of Thunder - works but no keyboard (demo loops forever)
47 Dejavu - runs but suddenly "divide overflow" error
48 Demon Stalkers - Stuck on main screen
49 Dizzy Dice - Stuck on main screen
50 Double Dragon - Stuck on main screen
51 Double Dragon 2 - Stuck on main screen
52 E-motion - stuck on "present" screen (no keyboard?)
53 Enchanted pinball - freezes on main menu
54 European Superleague - Works but needs mouse
55 Exterminator - no keyboard (demo loops forever)
56 Fallen angel - freezes on "loading game"
57 Fire Power - Stuck on "press the spacebar to start a game" (no keyboard?)
58 Flightmare - freezes after selecting monitor type (shows "press space" screen)
59 Gato - almost playable, graphics corrupt gradually
60 Gauntlet - Stuck when trying to start a game
61 Ghostbusters II - works but no keyboard (screens loops forever)
62 Grand prix 500cc - Freezes when choosing skill level
63 Grand prix 500cc II - Freezes when choosing color pallette
64 Green Beret - stuck in the controls screen when "press escape to start game"
65 Gremlins 2 - works forcing cga with "gremlins cga". Once pressed an arrow key to move and the screen scrolls it gets stuck in that key and keyboard stops responding
66 Hardball - stuck on main screen (no keyboard?)
67 Hard Drivin' - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
68 Hard Drivin' 2 - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
69 Harlem Globetrotters - Stuck on "do you want to play the computer?" screen (no keyboard)
70 Hammerboy - stuck (no keyboard?)
71 Hat Trick - runs but no keyboard when the match starts (runs too fast)
72 High Rollers - works but messed up when changes from graphics - text - graphics mode, stuck on text mode therefore corrupt graphics
73 Hill Street Blues - stuck on main screen
74 Hunchback - Works but extremely corrupted graphics (unplayable)
75 Impossible Mission 2 - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
76 Indiana Jones Last crusade - Stuck on video mode selection
77 International Karate - stuck on main screen
78 Interphase - runs but no keyboard
79 Jackal - unplayable, super corrupted graphics (it seems it is running though)
80 John Madden Football - Stuck on main screen illust
81 Julius Erving and Larry Bird Go One-on-One - runs but keyboard goes crazy (maybe a hint for the no keyboard issue?)
82 King's Quest - Works but once pressed an arrow key it gets stuck in that key and keyboard stops responding
83 Knight Games - Stuck in game selection screen, no keyboard, text scrolling so no freeze
84 L.A. Crackdown - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
85 LastDuel - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
86 Last Ninja 2: Back with a Vengeance - works but no keyboard when ingame
87 Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf - works but no keyboard (title screen and press f1 to start screens loop forever)
88 Leisure Suit Larry In The Land Of The Lounge Lizards - Graphics partially corrupted and non readable texts
89 Life & Death - freezes when asked to sign in
90 Lock-on - Stuck on video mode selection
91 Lone Wolf The Mirror of Death - Stuck on main screen. no keyboard
92 Loopz - Works but extremely corrupted graphics (unplayable)
93 Low blow - Works but no keyboard whe starting a fight
94 Lunar Explorer: A Space Flight Simulator - Seems working but corrupted because turns to text mode)
95 Macadam bumper - crashes to command prompt when pressing enter on main menu
96 Mach 3 - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
97 MadMix Game - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
98 Manhunter - Works but at a point the cursor starts moving to the left side and keyboard stops responding like the left arrow is all the time pressed
99 Manhunter 2 - Works but at a point the cursor starts moving to the left side and keyboard stops responding like the left arrow is all the time pressed
100 Maniac Mansion - Works but extremely corrupted graphics (unplayable)
101 Marble Madness - Stuck when trying to start a game (no keyboard?)
102 Mind-Roll - no keyboard and crashes before demo
103 Metal Gear - Stuck on main screen. no keyboard
104 Monty Pythons Flying Circus - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
105 Moon Patrol - Crashed with invalid opcode trap error
106 Moonwalker - freezes when redefining keys (no keyboard?) (note: any way to skip the forced keyboard redefinition?)
107 Murders in Venice - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?) (note: "venise cga english" to start the game)
108 Ninja - freezes when starting to play
109 Ninja Gaiden - runs but no keyboard
110 Oils Well (1984) - runs but too slow
111 Oils Well (1990) - runs but no keyboard
112 Out Run - Works but no keyboard (demo loops forever)
113 Paganitzu - Crashes with illegal function call error (anyway extremely corrupted graphics)
114 Paperboy - Stuck on "press a key when ready" (no keyboard?)
115 Paratrooper - works but cannon stuck to the right side (maybe a hint for the no keyboard issue?), num lock doesnt change anything
116 Phantom Fighter - Stuck on main screen (no keyboard?)
117 Pick 'n Pile - freezes on control options screen
118 Platoon - stuck on main screen (platoon illust)
119 Pole Position II - freezes on "press f1 to start" screen
120 Police Quest - Works but once pressed the right arrow key it gets stuck in that key and keyboard stops responding
121 Prime Time - freezes in the main screen
122 Prophecy - Stuck on main screen illust
123 Psychic War: Cosmic Soldier - freezes on "match the ally..." screen
124 Purple Saturn Day - freezes in the main screen
125 Pyramid Power - freezes when starting to play
126 Pyramids of Egypt - freezes when starting to play
127 Qbert - no keyboard when starting a new game (not stuck, enemies and everything moving except qbert)
128 Rad Warrior - Stuck on "MAXX OUT! series" screen
129 Rastan - runs but no keyboard
130 Remote Control - runs but no keyboard
131 Robocop (data east) - freezes on main screen (shows Robocop screen and a letter "B" on top when it sould write "BEST PLAYERS")
132 Robocop (ocean) - stuck on control selection (no keyboard?)
133 Rockford: The Arcade Game - works but movement stuck on the right arrow (like paratrooper) (maybe a hint for the no keyboard issue?)
134 Saboteur II: Avenging Angel - wrong screen mode/monitor error message
135 Saint & Greavsie - Stuck on main screen illust
136 See the USA - works but the map is not visible so unplayable
137 Sky runner - menus ok, freezes when starting a game
138 Sky Shark - stuck on main screen illust
139 Snoopy - stuck on main screen illust
140 Space Adventure - runs but the character doesn't move from his initial place (the keyboard works ok)
141 Space attack - runs but corrupted graphics
142 Space Station Oblivion aka Driller - Stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
143 Spy hunter - stuck in select composite or rgb (no keyboard?)
144 Spy vs Spy 3 - stuck on "how many joysticks would you lke to use" (no keyboard?)
145 Solomon's key - stuck on main screen after pressing a key
146 Sol Negro - stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
147 Star Lord - stuck on main screen illust (no keyboard?)
148 Star Wars - freezes in the main menu
149 Street fighter - runs but no keyboard
150 Street Rod - runs but no keyboard
151 Strip Poker - freezes in girl selection screen
152 Strider - freezes when starting a game
153 Superbike Challenge - freezes in the main menu
154 Superleague Soccer - freezes in the main menu
155 Tapper - stuck in main menu (no keyboard?)
156 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - runs but no keyboard
157 Tera - creation menus ok but corrupted graphics when starting the actual game (it seem doesn't change to graphical mode but stays in text mode)
158 The Games: Winter Edition - freezes in the first screen of the game
159 The King of Chicago - freezes in the main menu
160 Thexder - runs but no keyboard (demo loops forever)
161 The Red Baron - runs but very corrupted
162 Tie Break - stuck in main menu (no keyboard?)
163 Tiger Road - runs but no keyboard
164 Tournament tennis aka Match Point - runs but no keyboard when the match starts
165 Train Escape to Normandy - runs but no keyboard
166 Treasure Hunt - almost playable (fairly corrupted lieft side of the screen)
167 Ultima VI - won't start (maybe requires to be an specific directory?)
168 Vegas Gambler - stuck in main menu
169 Vixen - Works but extremely corrupted graphics (unplayable)
170 Wings of Fury - stuck in main menu (no keyboard?)
171 Winter Games - freezes in the "opening ceremony"
172 Wizball - runs but stuck on "get ready!" screen
173 Wordtris - stuck in main menu, no keyboard
174 World Games - stuck in main menu, no keyboard

GAMES THAT DON'T RUN
1 Advantage Tennis
2 African Raiders - Won't run (black screen)
3 Alien Syndrome - Won't run
4 Arcade volleyball - won't start
5 Arkanoid 2 - won't start
6 Atomino - Won't run
7 Awesome Earl in SkateRock - won't start
8 Back to the Future Part II - won't start
9 Battle Chess - won't start
10 Battle Chess 2 - won't start (insert the startup disc and press enter)
11 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - won't start
12 Bounce Zone - Won't run
13 Buck Rogers planet of zoom - Won't run
14 Bush Buck: Global Treasure Hunter - Won't run
15 Cabal - won't start
16 California Games II - won't start
17 California Games - won't start
18 Captain comic - does not start
19 Circuit's Edge - needs installation (note: try again later)
20 Cloud Kingdoms - Won't run
21 Colossus Chess X - Won't run
22 Contra aka gryzor - Won't run
23 Commando - Won't run (black screen)
24 Crazy cars - Won't run (shuts off the palmtop)
25 Days of Thunder - Won't run
26 Demon Stalkers - Won't run
27 Dick Tracy - Won't run
28 Digger - Won't run (black screen)
29 Don't Go Alone - Won't run
30 Dragon's Lair - Won't run
31 D/Generation - Won't run
32 F 15 Strike-Eagle II - "CGA mode is not supported on your machine" error
33 F40 Interceptor - Won't run (shuts off the palmtop)
34 Fire! - Won't run (black screen)
35 Fire and Forget - Won't run (shuts off the palmtop)
36 Ford Simulator II - Won't run (black screen)
37 Frank Bruno's Boxing - Won't run (black screen)
38 Galactic Conqueror - Won't run (shuts off the palmtop)
39 Gazza 2 - Won't run
40 Grave Yardage - Won't run
41 Hacker II: The Doomsday Papers - won't start
42 Hole-In-One Miniature Golf - won't start
43 Hollywood Squares - won't start
44 Ikari Warriors - Won't run (black screen)
45 Klax - Won't run (freezes and doesnt let even choose video mode)
46 LHX: Attack Chopper - Won't run
47 Lombard RAC Rally
48 MGT aka Magnetik Tank - Won't run
49 Mental Blocks - Won't run
50 Metal Mutant - Won't run
51 Miami Vice - Won't run (black screen)
52 Mini-Putt - Won't run
53 Mission - Won't run
54 Motor Mania - Won't run
55 Nuclear War - Won't run
56 Obliterator - Won't run
57 Off Shore Warrior - Won't run (shuts off the palmtop)
58 Omnicron Conspiracy - Won't run
59 Panza kick boxing - Won't run. doesnt let even choose video mode
60 Pocket rockets - Won't run
61 Popcorn - Won't run
62 Power Drift - Won't run
63 Prowler - Won't run
64 Qix - Won't run
65 Quadralien - Won't run
66 Rambo III - Won't run
67 Rampage - Won't run
68 Renegade - stuck on "loading"
69 Revenge of Defender - Won't run
70 RoadWar 2000 - Won't run (black screen)
71 Rock n Roll - Won't run (shuts off the palmtop)
72 Rose Pennant Fever - Won't run
73 Sentinel - Won't run
74 Sherman M4 - Won't run
75 Shufflepuck Cafe - Won't run
76 Side Arms - Won't run (black screen)
77 Sid Meier's Covert Action - "CGA mode is not supported on your machine" error
78 Sid Meiers Railroad Tycoon - "CGA mode is not supported on your machine" error
79 Snarf - Won't run
80 Sopwith - Won't run, after selecting keyboard
81 Space School Simulator: The Academy - Won't run
82 Speedball - Won't run
83 Skweek - Won't run
84 Star Chamber - Won't run
85 Stargoose Warrior - Won't run
86 Storm - Won't run
87 Street Rod_2 - Won't run
88 Superman: The Man of Steel - Won't run
89 Super Ski - Won't run (shuts off the palmtop)
90 Super Solvers: Midnight Rescue! - Won't run
91 Super Tetris - stuck on main menu, no keyboard
92 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - The Arcade Game - freezes at drm page (note: find a version without drm)
93 The Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America in Dr. Doom's Revenge! - INITGRAPHICSSYSTEM: Unable to set mode 4 error
94 Bart vs. the Space Mutants - Won't run
95 The Three Stooges - Won't run
96 Thunder Blade - won't start
97 Toobin' - won't start
98 Treasure Trap - won't start
99 Trojan - won't start
100 Up'n Down - won't start
101 Victory Road - won't start
102 Video Vegas - won't start
103 Where in time is Carmen Sandiego
104 Wibarm - won't start
105 Windsurf Willy - won't start
106 World Karate Championship - Won't run
107 World Tour Golf - Won't run

Please could you help me go to dos with my mobile gear I, could not do it... thing with holding shift does not work on my...

I just got one of these (mostly for writing purposes) and I'm wondering if you've had any better luck in the past year. Not had much luck with most word processors or IDEs - Qbasic and Xywrite just freeze. I've fiddled around with it a bit and not had a whole lot of luck - most things turn out garbled. Ultima 1 and Rogue both have garbled graphics, Telengard is fine up to the game screen and then garbles out the character graphics. No idea what you're doing with .bat and .dev files to get other things working but I'd love some tips. Also wondering if you've been able to boot straight to DOS or modify the autoexec.bat - I'd love command memory. And finally have you gotten ctrl-alt-delete or equivalent to work - very annoying to constantly reach underneath when testing. Thanks again!

McCheeseBob wrote on 2024-05-16, 04:27:

I just got one of these (mostly for writing purposes) and I'm wondering if you've had any better luck in the past year. Not had much luck with most word processors or IDEs - Qbasic and Xywrite just freeze. I've fiddled around with it a bit and not had a whole lot of luck - most things turn out garbled. Ultima 1 and Rogue both have garbled graphics, Telengard is fine up to the game screen and then garbles out the character graphics. No idea what you're doing with .bat and .dev files to get other things working but I'd love some tips. Also wondering if you've been able to boot straight to DOS or modify the autoexec.bat - I'd love command memory. And finally have you gotten ctrl-alt-delete or equivalent to work - very annoying to constantly reach underneath when testing. Thanks again!

Hi, sorry for the delay in the reply as i have very few free time lately.

The information is very sparse and I had to spend hours on japanese 90's pages and forums (most of the time using archive.org). As far as i know it was possible to modify the autoexec and config files but i have to search again because i don't remember sorry. It could take some time but i will post it here when i find it. HOWEVER the cga driver doesn't work when initializing it on config.sys and autoexec.bat

For the DOS "jailbreak" the best is to follow the instructions in this page (it is in Japanese but with google translator it should be ok). There is no way to get into the "clean" command prompt apart of the double shift method: pressing both shift keys at the same time while the palmtop is initializing.

https://www.mobile-gear.net/doskitfre04.htm
https://www-mobile--gear-net.translate.goog/d … &_x_tr_pto=wapp

There is a tricky part where you have to copy files using the email app:
https://www-mobile--gear-net.translate.goog/h … &_x_tr_pto=wapp

Once you can access to the clean msdos you need some apps to make work the cga driver and other keys. I have a .bat file that i modified from an old japanese user and it is like this. It is meant to have a pcmcia card reader in the slot, hence the "a:".
This is to have the cga driver working and the mgalt application. The mgalt application changes the "menu" key (the third starting from the left in the lowermost row of keys) for the "alt" key, therefore you can use that and the "control+alt+del". Please note that according to some forum users and pages the "control+alt+del" to restart doesn't work always. The pansi and the mgai are for the japanese characters.It is a must for this configuration otherwise all the characters become a grabled mess. The mgbatt and mgoff i don't remember now 100% what they were for but I think they were for idling the palmop and avoiding to turn suspend mode after certain time.

By the way, there is an screen inversion option included with the mgcga driver when loaded and it is "CTRL + NUM + RIGHT SHIFT"

@echo off
set path=%path%;a:\data\cga;a:\data\dos;a:\data\tools;a:\data\vz;a:\bin;a:\cga;
set tmp=a:\data\temp
set temp=a:\data\temp
set disp=mgcga
a:
cd \data\dos
mgcga
adddev a:\cga\jp.dev >nul
rem --my note: remove the nul if it doesn't work like this--
mgalt -s
pansi
mgai -s
rem mgbatt -A BATT=MID AC=HI -T TIMER=50 UP=HI -K KEYCHK=120 NOKEY=240
rem mgoff -s

Here you can find a zip file with those applications and more. Mainly you need mgalt24.lhz - mgai14d.lhz - pansi100.lhz - mgcga247.lhz That file comes from a CD included in a book like a bible for the mobile gear that have and all the files are the same.
https://palmtops.net/DOSPALMTOP/MGTools.zip

In theory it is possible to get to run windows 3.0 and 3.1 but they need drivers. In the 90s and early 2000s there was a particular who sold the needed files keyboard.drv、mgcga.drv and oemsetup.ini for 1,000 yens but the guy disappeared and doesn't reply to the emails (maybe passed away?). There is no driver for cga on windows 3.1 but the one for 3.0 works.
I was able to have run windows 3.0 bu tit freezes after loading all the menus and windows, and 3.1 also freezes on me just while loading (white screen).

In addition i was able to load the cga driver with no japanese characters but almost no app/game works well. There are a fery a few that work with this though.

@echo off
a:
cd\
mgalt -s alton apon numoff >nul
mgcga >nul

I think i am not missing anything, please feel free to ask and i will try to help you .