HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: wombat@nano.nsc.com (Greg Collins x12920)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Need help connecting old Sun HD to MAC IIci
Date: 13 Oct 92 02:19:54 GMT
Reply-To: wombat@galaxy.nsc.com
Organization: National Semiconductor Corporation

Hello,


I just aquired an old Sun "shoebox" containing a Micropolis 327mb
hard disk and an Emulex 60mb (?) 1/4" tape drive. This box used to
come with the Sun 3/60 workstations. I would like to connect this to 
a Mac IIci. Can anybody confirm if this is possible and what hardware
or software I will need?


The hard disk is a Micropolis 1558 (1218 cyl.) which I think is 327mb.

The 1/4" tape is an Emulex MT02 QIC-11/QIC-24 which I think is 60mb.


The "shoebox" has two SCSI-1 50 pin ports, one input and one output.
I believe it is internaly terminated. I assume I need some kind of
adapter cable to the Mac's db-25 (?) SCSI connector.

Sun map's SCSI "target" numbers to SCSI device names (ie. The SunOS
kernal maps target 0 [the switch setting on the disk] to SCSI id 3 
[/dev/sd3, the file descripter the user references]). The target number of 
the hard disk is 0 and the 1/4" tape is 4. I am believe these are set 
internally  with dip switches. Does the Mac OS "remap" target numbers 
or use them directly as SCSI id's?

Do I need "drivers" for these guy's. Who do I get them from Micropolis/
Emulex or Apple? My IIci already has an internal Quantam which I formated 
with software called "SpotOn". Will this work for the Micropolis?

Any help would be greatly appreciated especially direct experience with this
hardware. You can respond to c.s.m.h or via email.


Thanks,
-- 
Greg Collins                         
Linear Design Automation             A wombat is a slow ponderous creature 
National Semiconductor Corp.         but is dangerous when riled.
POTS: 408-721-2920                   Internet: wombat@galaxy.nsc.com         
Disclaimer: Sometimes I don't even agree with what I say!
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: john@jlc.mv.com (John Leslie)
Subject: ImageWriter II Form Advance Problem
Organization: John Leslie Consulting, Milford NH
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 17:30:58 GMT

   We're mystefied by a problem where Imagewriter IIs are printing OK but
advancing 2" too much paper for each page.

   The ImageWriters were working fine before being upgraded with the
AppleTalk interface board; but now (connected through Ethernet stuff) are
advancing the paper as if the form length were 13".

   If it makes any difference, we're printing using Claris Works from LC-IIs
going through AppleShare's PrintServer, Asante hubs, a Dayna EtherPrint Plus
and PhoneNet cabling.  (We were chasing some other problems at the same time,
so we didn't finish the obvious test of bypassing all that stuff.  RSN...)

   Has anybody seen this kind of problem?  I notice some old postings in
our .thread file, but the articles have long since been expired...  Even a
pointer on where to look for more info would be helpful.

   E-mail preferred -- I'll summarize if anyone asks.

John Leslie <john@jlc.mv.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: Bud Bach <bachww@rtsg.mot.com>
Subject: Re: Drivers for Epson Dot Matrix?
X-Xxdate: Sun, 11 Oct 92 20: 12:43 GMT
Organization: Motorola, Inc
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d9
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 19:12:12 GMT

In article <2AD75315.11981@news.service.uci.edu> Andrew Theodore
Laurence, eaeu137@orion.oac.uci.edu writes:
>shareware: A wihle back, somebody was beta-testing a product called Witch
>which :-) would serve as a driver. You needed a mac serial<==> PC serial
>cable.

Witch is from "cheshire@pescadero.stanford.edu"  The nice thing about it
is that is uses the standard stylewriter drivers and sits between it and
the printer/serial port.  It is what I started to use after the "Epson LQ
S/W for Macintosh" broke.  I know Stuart was going to market a commerical
version and that I am not at liberty to redistribute the version I
received as a beta tester. 


Good luck.  -- Bud
From: jonathan@hermes.bc.edu (Jonathan A. Duke)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Driver Level Compression
Date: 14 Oct 92 13:18:19 GMT
Organization: Boston College
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1


I'm looking at moving a large number of Macs to 
using Golden Triangle's TimesTwo.  Is there anything
else out there like this (either here now or coming
soon)?

One would think that this would have been a logical 
point to start compression at a long time ago....

The only problem I have personally with TimesTwo is
that it doesn't allow partitioning.  For most of the
people who will be using this, that doesn't really matter.


Thanks,

Jon Duke
Boston College
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: a-kevinp@microsoft.com (Kevin Purcell)
Subject: Re: Failing Quantum 105S hard disks
Date: 15 Oct 92 16:39:24 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corp.

I tried playing with my recently purchased (pre-owned) dead MacinStor 
(Quantum 105S mechanism). Initially I though the problem might be 
"sticktion" from the owners description, but it seems to spin up most 
of the time. A local hardware shop checked out the system, swapped the 
drive for a know good disk and it worked. Pronoucement: "dead disk".

Attempting to boot a Mac Plus from the disk results in a Sad Mac 0F000A 
rather than a '?' floppy icon. The mac boots fine from a floppy. No other 
symptoms were reported by the previous owner: she just turned it on one 
day and it didn't work, she said it didn't make the same noise (I presume she meant disk seeks).

However when the drive spins up it sounds like most other Quantum disks
I've played with: whirrrrrrrrrr, clickityclickityclick (we'll have 
multimedia one day! :-).

Any suggestions, hints and tips appreciated -- I don't have a Sad Mac 
code list here.

Thanks,
Kevin Purcell
a-kevinp@microsoft.com
My views are often orthogonal to those of Microsoft Corp
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: gewong@mtholyoke.edu (G.e.R.m.a.I.N)
Subject: Question on SIMMs (for Mac Plus)
Organization: Mount Holyoke College
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 19:58:54 GMT



Just a quick question: Does the Mac Plus take 2 Meg SIMMs?
Or is it only upgradable to a max of 4 Megs (ie. 4 1 Meg
SIMMs)..


Thanks,
germain.

-- 
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      	        |  gewong@orixa.mtholyoke.edu	   P.O. Box 1465
 Germain Wong   |  gewong@mhc.mtholyoke.edu	   Mount Holyoke College
	        |  Tel: 413-538 3015		   South Hadley, MA 01075.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: RE: price of LCII vs Perf 400
From: Adam.Frix@p18.f20.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Adam Frix)
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 92 01:46:26 EST
Organization: FidoNet node 1:226/20.18 - cmhGate UF Gateway, Columbus OH

CTB103@psuvm.psu.edu (Chad Burkins) writes:

CB> LCII (4mb/80mb) --->>> $1349    (suggested retail price)
CB> Performma 400 (4mb/80mb) --->>> $1499   (at my local Sears store.)
CB> 
CB> Granted, I believe a keyboard and mouse are included with the 400,
CB> however, it's not the extended keyboard, so it can't make more than
CB> a $100 difference.  What the heck is going on.....
CB>

Don't forget that software bundle.  EVERY Performa will come with some
integrated applications package, which basically accounts for the extra $150.

--Adam--
 
--  
Adam Frix via cmhGate - Net 226 fido<=>uucp gateway Col, OH
UUCP: ...!n8emr!bluemoon!cmhgate!20.18!Adam.Frix
INET: Adam.Frix@p18.f20.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG
From: JBrandt@AAA.UOregon.EDU (Jay Brandt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Rogue Mac Plusses Take Lab Hostage!
Date: 9 Oct 92 16:51:18 GMT
Article-I.D.: nntp.1992Oct9.165118.29658
Organization: University of Oregon, Architecture

In article <81147@ut-emx.uucp>, death@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Gregory A.
Mulhollan) writes:
> 
> In our small LocalTalk network, there reside two MacPlusses. Since
> upgrading them to System 7.0 & TuneUp 1.1.1, both have refused to 
> print correctly(we get the "there is a printing problem" dialog box) from
> either Word 4.0 or BBEdit, or just about anything(filesharing enabled). 
> The second try a printing does always work. Both have updated
> hard disk drivers. The only extensions(besides apple's) are Gatekeeper,
> Gatekeeper Aid and SuperClock(the latest version of all). The printers
> in question are a LaserWriter Plus and a LaserWriter IINT. Will we just
> have to live with this, or is this a quirk of System 7?
> 
> 

TRASH GATEKEEPER AID! That is your problem. I ran into the same problem in
a lab I used to manage. It is NOT compatible with System 7!

I recommend getting a copy of Disinfectant 2.9, and using it's INIT as your
virus protection. It's more comprehensive, regularly updated, and it's
FREE. Northwestern University posts it on a lot of BBSes and FTP sites.

BTW, IMHO you are better off sticking with System 6.0.8 on those Mac Plus
systems. System 7 will slow them down too much. They don't have fast enough
CPU's for the overhead, and the benefits gained are marginal at best.
System 6.0.8 uses the same LaserWriter drivers as system 7.0. It can use
the AppleShare client software to access shared volumes from the System 7
Macs. Few of the other fancy additions from system 7 work on a 68000 based
CPU.

On my site I don't recommend system 7 unless the Mac has at least a 68030
CPU, 4MB of RAM, and a hard disk drive. But if they -do- have that level of
capability, System 7 is the standard here.

Jay Brandt
Servicing & supporting the Mac since it was introduced in
1984!
From: sb6s+@andrew.cmu.edu (Stephen Blessing)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Woz in apple ad?
Date: 15 Oct 92 08:15:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.oerNYTe00iVgQ1bLRm
Organization: Doctoral student, Psychology, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

mike_steiner@qm.claris.com writes:
>In article <1992Oct13.194831.17179@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>,
>abs0@coos.dartmouth.edu (Kelvin Leung) wrote:
>> 
>> mike_steiner@qm.claris.com (Mike Steiner) writes:
>> Don't forget that Jobs designed the case for the Apple II.
>> You sure about this??? I thought Jobs&Woz hire a guy to design the case...
>> can anyone verify this?? (does anyone have Accidental Millionair handy?)
 
>I'm fairly sure that I read it in _Accidental Millionaire_.  He was so
>impressed with himself for doing so, that he designed the case for the
>Apple /// way before the electronics were ready, and to make them fit, the
>engineers had to design a daughter board for some of the components.

I actually just read this part in _Accidental Empires_ (I believe that's
the book you're referring to, by Robert Cringely--not a bad book, I'd
recommend it). Here's the quote:

"From a technical standpoint, Woz literally _was_ Apple Computer. He
designed the Apple II and wrote most of its system software and its
first BASIC interpreter. With the exception of the computer's switching
power supply and molded plastic case, litterally every other major
component in the Apple II was a product of Wozniak's mind and hand." (p.
186)

So, I don't know who did design the case, but at least according to
Cringley, it wasn't Steve Wozniak.

Steve
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: Jonathan A. Duke <jonathan@hermes.bc.edu>
Subject: Re: 512 Upgrade (Macquarium)
Organization: Boston College
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 12:51:08 GMT



Subject: 512 Upgrade (Macquarium)
From: Steve Goyette, Steve_Goyette@mindlink.bc.ca
In article <16110@mindlink.bc.ca> Steve Goyette,
Steve_Goyette@mindlink.bc.ca writes:
>Hi all,
>
>        I have heard a little about the Macquarium, but would like to
find
>out more info.  Also, where can I get this file.  I don't have FTP or
>compuserve access, but is there a BBS somewhere (ANYWHERE) that I can DL
it
>from??

Try the Boston Computer Society Macintosh Group BBS at 617-864-0712.

>        Is this a hardware project??  Does it take an engineer to do
it??  Am
>I really not facing reality???  Anyway, any help would be appreciated.

Andy Ihnatko, who designed and wrote the thing, isn't an engineer.  So,
you shouldn't have too many problems, assuming you can get all the parts
that are needed.

>
>--
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
>
>Steve Goyette                    |       Email :
Steve_Goyette@MindLink.BC.CA
>Software Engineer                |       Phone : (604) 421-8864
>Abstract Automation Limited      |       Fax   : (604) 421-7722
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
>

Jon Duke
From: jwas_ss@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Jason Wasson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: where to get se/30 motherboard
Date: 15 Oct 92 21:41:25 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York

Does anybody know where I can get a SE/30 motherboard with a warranty.
What I'm thinking of is a mail order firm or something like that.  By 
way I would be willing to swap my SE logic board.

Any info that you could share would be greatly appreciated.

						Thanks,
						Jason Wasson
					jwas_ss@uhura.cc.rochester.edu
-- 
* Jason Wasson        | "Have you been to the mountain yet?| A consultant must*
* CPU 271704          |   Have you kissed the morning dew? | learn as well as *
* Rochester, NY 14627 |  Do you live life without regret?" |    teach         *
                       jwas_ss@uhura.cc.rochester.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: David.Zatz@f947.n107.z1.ieee.org (David Zatz)
Subject: keyboard woes
Organization: FidoNet node 1:107/947 - NJMUG BBS, Clark NJ
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 05:22:06 GMT

The story continues...
 
I finally received my Datadesk Mac-101E keyboard replacement after around
two months of waiting (from August 4 through September 28). It was not
sent UPS Red for Saturday, as promised, but UPS Blue for Tuesday. The
keyboard seemed to be brand new, but was defective -- defective the same
way the original keyboard was defective.
 
After two months, $20 in phone calls, countless lies from Prometheus
(including Steve Murtha, the tech support supervisor), many promised
call-backs that never came, and the return of my original keyboard (in
pieces, and after a month and a half delay)...I expected better.
 
A warranty where you have to wait two months and spend $30 ($10 in UPS
fees and $20 in phone calls) to get a keyboard as bad as the one you sent
in is not a warranty at all.
 
I'm certainly not planning to buy anything from Prometheus again. I posted 
this message to save you from the same problems I went through. Maybe it's 
because Prometheus just bought Datadesk as a cash cow; I don't know. But I 
know their service is as poor as the performance of their keyboard.
 
If anyone has any questions...just E-mail me at the address in the
tagline.

--  
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
 David Zatz - Internet: David.Zatz@f947.n107.z1.ieee.org
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: jcav@quads.uchicago.edu (JohnC)
Subject: Re: Woz in apple ad?
Reply-To: jcav@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: The Royal Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 19:22:07 GMT

In article <1992Oct7.154112.8720@ncsu.edu> blaine@garfield.catt.ncsu.edu (Greyland Blaine Mull) writes:
>	I was just looking through some issues of MacWorld magazine and
>I ran across an interesting Powerbook ad.  If you have access to the
>July 92 issue (the one with the Quadra 950 on the cover) look at the
>apple ad on page 88.  Is that Steve Wozniak (sp?) holding a powerbook? -
>it sure looks like him!

Yes, it's him.  Also, take a look at the text on the screen of the PowerBook
he's holding.  ;-) 


-- 
John Cavallino                  |  EMail: jcav@midway.uchicago.edu
University of Chicago Hospitals |         John_Cavallino@uchfm.bsd.uchicago.edu
Office of Facilities Management | USMail: 5841 S. Maryland Ave, MC 0953
B0 f++ c+ g++ k s++ e+ h- pv    |         Chicago, IL  60637
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: kanefsky@halcyon.com (Steve Kanefsky)
Subject: Re: IIsi accelerators
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 16:49:37 GMT

In article <1779@eagle.ukc.ac.uk> dl1@ukc.ac.uk (Duncan Langford) writes:
>In article <1992Oct6.133559.29572@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> mjulian@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Michael R Julian) writes:
>>I have a IIsi with 9mb RAM that I am considering adding an accelerator card of 
>>some type to.  It already has the Nu-Bus adapter card (w/FPU) installed and my 
>>question is: are there any accelerator cards available for the IIsi that can be
>>used on the Nu-Bus slot?  Also, if any such cards are available (I've noticed
>>the Daystar cards are all PDS) will the FPU on the adapter card still be used
>>in conjunction with the accelerator, or will I need to buy another FPU as part
>>of the accelerator?
>
>I'd like to add another strand to this query... my IIsi (17/40) has no
>acceleration, but /does/ have a PDQsi 24-bit graphics card, WITH an
>FPU. Can I add any sort of acceleration? The graphics are lovely, but
>it'd be nice to speed up the processor, too.
>
>Or am I stuck, now the processor direct slot is full of SuperMac card?

If it's a PDS card, there's a good chance it will work with DayStar's
DualPort IIsi card.  This card goes into your PDS and gives you a
pass-through PDS, a slot for a DayStar PowerCache accelerator, and
an FPU (which you don't need, but which shouldn't hurt) .  The DualPort 
IIsi is about $189, and the PowerCache will run you $600-1500 depending 
on how fast you want to go.

If I'm not mistaken, Daystar's cache-only card will work with the
DualPort IIsi too, so you can speed up your system considerably without
having to buy a full-blown accelerator.


--
Steve Kanefsky
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: mtolber@erenj.com (M. Tolbert)
Subject: Quadra 700 bus error problem
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Organization: ER&E
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 19:00:59 GMT

Fellow Quadra Users:

    Over the past several months I've been randomly experiencing the
following
system error message on my Quadra 700:

    Sorry, a system error occurred.
    "Finder"
      bus error

This occurres either when I'm using a program, or when it's just left
standing unused (very strange!).  The Quadra then crashes and needs to
be rebooted.  This usually happens two or three times a week.

     I'm running System 7.0.1 with the System 7 Tuner 1.1.1 installed.  I
am
attached to a network via AppleTalk.  The error occurs either when nothing
is
attached to my external SCSI port or when my external (and terminated--I
did
check that) hard disk is connected. 

     Please respond in this newsgroup (comp.sys.mac.hardware).  Thanks!
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
From: minsky@media.mit.edu (Marvin Minsky)
Subject: Re: Powerbook Caps Lock
Cc: minsky
Organization: MIT Media Laboratory
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 17:22:21 GMT

In article <73339@apple.Apple.COM> blob@Apple.COM (Brian Bechtel) writes:
>chogend1@cc.swarthmore.edu (Chris Hogendorn) writes:
>
>>I'm forever hitting the caps lock key on my Powerbook 140. Does anyone know
>>of a good way of disabling it? --> Chris
>
>You can use one of several INITs, or you can add a keyboard map to your
>system which disables the capslock key.  Both inits and the KMAP are
>available from ftp.apple.com in /pub/powerbook.
>
>--Brian Bechtel     blob@apple.com     "My opinion, not Apple's"

May I recommend a simple solution.  Take a small screwdriver and pry
off the caps lock key!

This gets best of both worlds.  You no longer hit it by accident, but
you can still push the switch on the rare occasions when you want to.

Of course, the powerbook then looks somewhat mutilated. On my PC3000 I
put the key back on, with a rubber pad underneath.  Then you can do
CAP LOCK by pressing hard on it.  I didn't bother to try this on the
powerbook.

Would you call this 'nihilware?'

Xref: sparky comp.sys.mac.hardware:18736 comp.sys.mac.misc:17617
From: IO91748@MAINE.MAINE.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware,comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: IIsi Cache Cards: Which one to get?
Date: 9 Oct 92 17:14:37 GMT
Organization: University of Maine System

If you ever plan to upgrade to the IIci (or IIvx/IIvi), get
the DayStar.  Otherwise, save yourself some money and get the
QuickSilver.

I'm using the AE card, and it works fine.  The performance is
slightly better than a stock IIci (tested with Speedometer 3.06).

The advantage of the DayStar card is that it uses the same cache
card as the IIci cache.  They just add the right-angle board and
the 68882 FPU.

I'm assuming the IIvx/IIxi's will have a similar cache expansion
port.  Anyone know for sure?
From: davoli@natinst.com (Russell Davoli)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: Let's talk Performas, Boys and Girls
Date: 16 Oct 1992 16:14:12 -0500
Organization: National Instruments, Austin, TX
Distribution: comp
NNTP-Posting-Host: eagle.natinst.com

In article <1992Oct16.102808.3600@spdcc.com> pentangl@spdcc.com (Scott Moir) writes:
>MacUser states in its review of the Performa series that they are 16 bit 
>machines. Proof enough?

Let's finally put this bit of negative knowledge to rest.  If you would only
look at the table on pg. 56 of the November issue of MacUser, you would see
that in the Data Bus row both the Performa 600 and Performa 600 CD are listed
as 32 bits.  Only the Performa 200 and 400 are 16-bit machines.  The really
mysterious thing about this article is how they can claim in the third
paragraph that "the Performa 600... has slightly superior performance to
that of a IIci."  Later on in the by now famous graph they show the
Performa 600 solidly between the IIsi and IIci and remark upon that surprise
in the caption.  Of course they don't tell you what the "three applications
sure to be popular for home-office use" are or how they got the graph
numbers, nor do they notice the inconsistency in the article.  Sheesh.

-- Russell Davoli


From: Mark.J..Sisson@p842.f70.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Mark J. Sisson)
Sender: Uucp@blkcat.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Tokamac 33Mhz 68040 accelerator for Mac IIfx
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 02:44:05 -0500

  YK> From: yaosenko@acsu.buffalo.edu (Yaosen Ko) Newsgroups:
  YK> comp.sys.mac.hardware Organization: UB
  YK> 
  YK> Hello, Anybody has information or experience on this accelerator
  YK> board?
  YK> ---
  YK>  * Origin: The Black Cat's Usenet <=> Fidonet Gateway (1:109/401.0)
Haven't had any experience with this particular one (I have a Tokamac LC....love
it!) but there is a review - I think - in the last MacUser or MacWorld......it
won in speed over all the other contenders.
Xref: sparky comp.sys.mac.hardware:18741 comp.sys.mac.system:12677 comp.unix.aux:3725
From: hermens@wsuaix.csc.wsu.edu (Leonard Hermens -- EECS)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware,comp.sys.mac.system,comp.unix.aux
Subject: Re: Which 3-button mouse to buy - Mouseman or A3 mouse?
Date: 9 Oct 92 19:35:50 GMT
Article-I.D.: serval.1992Oct9.193550.19676
Organization: Washington State University

In article <BARNETT.92Oct9060513@grymoire.crd.ge.com> barnett@crdgw1.ge.com writes:
>My Mac mouse is dying, which gives me an excuse to buy a new mouse. I
>want a 3-button mouse for A/UX, X Windows, system 6 + 7. Any advice?
>I like the ergonomic look of the Mouseman (by Logitech). Is it
>optical?

   No.

>Does this sound easy [key-programming] to do on any of these input devices? 

  MouseMan comes with software to program the keys application-specific.
  However, I got one of the first versons of the software and it diabled
itself constantly. I hope this has been fixed now.

MouseMan is one of the best mice I have every used that weren't optical.
It just feels right (to quote a TV commercial for a different product entirely.)

Leonard