Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2007 13:28:22 -0700 From: Gary Kline <kline@tao.thought.org> To: Garrett Cooper <youshi10@u.washington.edu> Cc: FreeBSD Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: remote [ssh] Backspace] key gives me "^?" Message-ID: <20070915202822.GA61976@thought.org> In-Reply-To: <46EC1D5C.3000208@u.washington.edu> References: <20070915010103.GA54302@thought.org> <20070914134128.GB33051@demeter.hydra> <46EC1D5C.3000208@u.washington.edu>
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On Sat, Sep 15, 2007 at 10:58:52AM -0700, Garrett Cooper wrote:
> Chad Perrin wrote:
> >On Fri, Sep 14, 2007 at 06:01:03PM -0700, Gary Kline wrote:
> >
> >> Sometimes when I ssh from a remote server and edit a file with
> >> vi, my [Backspace keys] are not interpretered correctly.
> >> Instead of erasing characters and backing up one byte and
> >> clearing that character my cursor moves forward.
> >>
> >> Example: typing "This" as "thos" and backspacing to the 'o'
> >> I'll see "thos^?^?" Can anybody 'splain what idiot thing i'm
> >> doing wrong and how to fix it?
> >>
> >> tia,
> >>
> >> gary
> >>
> >
> >I tend to guess you're using a terminal emulator from within X when
> >logging in remotely -- probably aterm or another rxvt-based terminal
> >emulator. I had similar problems. I don't recall my exact fix, but it
> >involved a two-tiered approach:
> >
> > 1. set a behavior using stty
Trying to use stty failed... .
> > 2. change a setting in the aterm makefile before installing from ports
> >
> >My reference to the aterm makefile in part of the solution is because I
> >suffered this problem when I used aterm as my terminal emulator of
> >choice. I have since then switched to rxvt-unicode (also known as urxvt)
> >as my preferred terminal emulator, however, and no longer have this
> >problem (as well as no longer having funny broken ASCII spew on my screen
> >when reading email that contains unicode characters).
> >
> >Best o' luck. Let us know if you think this pseudo-solution doesn't
> >apply to you so we can help you brainstorm other diagnoses of your
> >problem.
>
> It's because the TERM'inal emulation / keyboard layout's not
> meshing. ^?--as I discovered after I asked the question ~8 months
> ago--is a remnant DEC keyboard mapping, when if properly addressed by
> setting TERM or fixing the keyboard layout to a standard ASCII keyboard
> layout, the problem will go away.
>
> In shorter terms, if you...
> 1. ... switch over to TERM=xterm (assuming that the terminal prog
> you're using is xterm compatible) under the settings for the app (if
> they exist) ...
> 2. ... script in a fix so that it does this in your login shell [you
> shouldn't use xterm systemwide for your TERM var, especially if you
> login remotely via SSH and use CLI programs like pine (pine's stupid and
> doesn't know how to emulate the xterm terminal properly without hacking
> the source IIRC)] ...
Ok, I have TERM Set everywhere, plus in ~./zlogin, I have stty
set things correctly, so it must be 3.
> 3. ... fix the keyboard layout ...
Problem here is HOW? Many months ago my daughter spilled a
glass of water on my working IBM keyboard. Surprise, the
water washed away the rinted leads... . (*mumble*) Since I
have a few others, (old, without the M$ cr*ap keys), I
chose the best, least sticky keyboard and used it.
I remapped my ~/.xmodmaprc file {{ "temporarily", ha, ha }}.
How else do I fix the layout? IIRC, there was some place
to set the keyboard: 101, 104, 105, &c. This old one is
probably a 101-key model. It's a no-name deal.
Clues please?
gary
PS: {{ WARNING}}: I'Ve got a beg-athon posting upcooming....
>
> ... '^?' will be replaced with backspaces. 3. is the best solution, but
> I had to do 1. before, because I didn't have root access on the servers.
>
> Cheers,
> -Garrett
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--
Gary Kline kline@thought.org www.thought.org Public Service Unix
http://jottings.thought.org http://transfinite.thought.org
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