Rolo Posted March 12, 2010 Share #81  Posted March 12, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) Ha, punched cards were for sissies....We´ve come a long, long way......  Arggghhh ... you've reminded me of my time simulating multi-model auto assembly lines looking for preferred sequences. Coding errors meant that the overnight run failed and another day lost. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 12, 2010 Posted March 12, 2010 Hi Rolo, Take a look here Good news! M9 FW Update this week! (Merged). I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lars_bergquist Posted March 12, 2010 Share #82  Posted March 12, 2010 Ha, punched cards were for sissies.... The real thing was the 5-hole wide punched paper tapes: a single mistake, and you had to make a new roll. And the sound of a room full of tape punches were similar to a shooting range....  We´ve come a long, long way......  I was just being modest. When I started school in 1943, they programmed by connecting jacks, telephone exchange style.  The old man from the Age of Steam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdtaylor Posted March 12, 2010 Share #83 Â Posted March 12, 2010 I remember getting excited when our facility got a resorter, that would reshuffle your cards in order when the boxes overturned, etc.- about the time I got the AE-1 . Of course, we didn't have firmware updates in those days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJP Posted March 12, 2010 Share #84 Â Posted March 12, 2010 resorter based on what? I'm not aware of a unique sorting code. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfokevin Posted March 13, 2010 Share #85  Posted March 13, 2010 I was just being modest. When I started school in 1943, they programmed by connecting jacks, telephone exchange style. The old man from the Age of Steam  I think this lady has you all beat...  Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 13, 2010 Share #86  Posted March 13, 2010 The old man from the Age of Punched-Card Programming  A ex-colleague of mine once tripped on the final step in the foyer of IBM in Manchester and scattered all the cards in the system he'd been writing across the floor.  He was a little more careful descending stairs after that.  The first programming job I had in the mid 70s was on an IBM System 3. The system only allowed programs to be compiled when it wasn't being used to support the interactive users. That meant we had two slots per day in which to compile anything, lunchtime and after 5pm. Oh, and there was no debugger. People desk checked their source a lot more in those days! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgenper Posted March 13, 2010 Share #87  Posted March 13, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) I think this lady has you all beat...  Chinese abacus (5 + 2 beads on each pin). I did use the Japanese variety (soroban, 4 + 1 beads) along with my slide rule for a few years; very fast once you got the knack....  But I do hope the upcoming firmware won´t use one.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdtaylor Posted March 14, 2010 Share #88 Â Posted March 14, 2010 resorter based on what? I'm not aware of a unique sorting code. Â Nothing to do with the Code. It was far more pragmatic! It was a machine that would sort your cards back in numerical order (remember they punched a card # on each) after the top box slid off and went tumbling onto the floor. I only used it a few times, but when you had to several thousand cards, like when using Fortran, the few times this happened you were grateful for this contraption. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted March 14, 2010 Share #89 Â Posted March 14, 2010 I was spoiled - I started out in '71 using punch-tape and teletypes - but linked to a time-share computer at Dartmouth, which gave almost real-time results. Establish link, upload program via punchtape, wait about a minute, and I'd get my program run (or list of the fatal errors). Â When I got to college and had to use Hollorith cards and go through the "go away and come back tomorrow" routine to find out the program had crashed at line 34, it was culture shock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgenper Posted March 14, 2010 Share #90  Posted March 14, 2010 Nothing to do with the Code. It was far more pragmatic! It was a machine that would sort your cards back in numerical order (remember they punched a card # on each) after the top box slid off and went tumbling onto the floor. I only used it a few times, but when you had to several thousand cards, like when using Fortran, the few times this happened you were grateful for this contraption.  Good grief! If you happened to get several thousand cards really shuffled, how many runs through a resorter did it take to get them back in order again? I´d guess the cards were worn out by then... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alnitak Posted March 14, 2010 Share #91 Â Posted March 14, 2010 Sheesh, this thread is packed with a bunch of old-timers! Â Where's my firmware? Â Speaking of which, I was in the Leica store in Mayfair, London yesterday. While I was there, I was trying out a lens on my M9, and the gentleman from the store was watching me preview an image. While we waited for the image to zoom in , he said: "You know there is a firmware upgrade coming out next week that will fix that zoom speed." Â Either he reads the forums, or he has information from Solms. Â Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted March 14, 2010 Share #92  Posted March 14, 2010 Good grief! If you happened to get several thousand cards really shuffled, how many runs through a resorter did it take to get them back in order again? I´d guess the cards were worn out by then...  C'mon, 9999 cards could be sorted in four runs, one for the thousands digit, one for the hundreds, one for the tens, one for the last digit. Ain't number theory grand? Card readers persisted in computer machine rooms into the 1980s, but Real Programmers stopped boasting about their prowess in fixing bugs with single card changes long before then.  scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmo Posted March 14, 2010 Share #93 Â Posted March 14, 2010 spectacular shots!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adli Posted March 14, 2010 Share #94  Posted March 14, 2010 Sheesh, this thread is packed with a bunch of old-timers!  Jeff   As a courtesy for their customers, Leica will release the firmware update on punched cards. The firmware will come supplied with a custom reader that can be plugged in to the M9. Both the cards and reader will have a special retro design to make the design familiar for the customers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted March 14, 2010 Share #95 Â Posted March 14, 2010 5 1/4" diskettes for the younger generation? Â scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom in mpls Posted March 14, 2010 Share #96  Posted March 14, 2010 5 1/4" diskettes for the younger generation? scott 5 1/4" floppies! Yes! 160 kb stored on a single disk! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 14, 2010 Share #97 Â Posted March 14, 2010 5 1/4" diskettes for the younger generation? Â Steady on, it would be 8" surely? Each set would come with an IBM 3741 diskette reader - strange how some numbers stay with you over the years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted March 14, 2010 Share #98 Â Posted March 14, 2010 Punched tape! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalfx Posted March 14, 2010 Share #99 Â Posted March 14, 2010 Its Monday...bring it on! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrice Posted March 15, 2010 Share #100 Â Posted March 15, 2010 Its Monday...bring it on! Â It's still 1:50am in Germany, I think we'll have to wait until Stefan has had his morning coffee before the firmware goes up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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