clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi (Matthew Tran Clegg/VTT) (02/13/91)
I've been working on a program that uses the curses package and cbreak mode. Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to crash (for example, with a segmentation fault). This completely unhinges the terminal. It won't respond to anything anymore, except if I press ^C, then the csh prompt will be printed. (I've noticed sometimes that nethack will crash in this way too, but only when the game is better than any I've had in months -- a real bummer.) Does anyone know how to restore the terminal to a sane state? So far, the only thing that has worked for me is the power switch :-). Matthew Clegg clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi, February 13
pawel@cs.UAlberta.CA (Pawel Gburzynski) (02/14/91)
From article <1991Feb13.133332.22320@ousrvr.oulu.fi>, by clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi (Matthew Tran Clegg/VTT): > I've been working on a program that uses the curses package and > cbreak mode. Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to > crash (for example, with a segmentation fault). This completely > unhinges the terminal. It won't respond to anything anymore, > except if I press ^C, then the csh prompt will be printed. > > (I've noticed sometimes that nethack will crash in this way too, but > only when the game is better than any I've had in months -- a real bummer.) > > Does anyone know how to restore the terminal to a sane state? > So far, the only thing that has worked for me is the power switch :-). > > Matthew Clegg > clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi, February 13 How about 'tset ^j' (^j stands for control j). Generally, it is a bad habit for a program using curses to crash without regaining control for resetting the terminal. Pawel Gburzynski
Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM (02/14/91)
> Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to crash (for example, > with a segmentation fault). This completely unhinges the terminal. Most of the time I find the terminal will respond to "command^J", so I my .profile I have: if test -t then stty="eval stty sane; stty echo echok echoe ixany hupcl icanon icrnl -ocrnl onlcr -onocr erase ${erase_character-^?} intr ^G kill ^- eof ^D $stty_extra " #$erase_character: can set to ^H for those terminals where more convenient #swtch '^Z' #^Z: datakit, swtch: not in Sun's 5bin/stty #hupcl: then Oliver Lauman's screen(1) won't hang. sure, buddy. export stty; $stty #now have handy $stty variable... if my terminal #gets screwed up I just say $stty at the prompt yup, I just say $ $stty^J and everthing is comfy again. you're welcome. -- Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM Naperville IL USA +1 708-979-6364
jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) (02/14/91)
Your program should keep track of when curses is activated and when it isn't. It should then install signal handlers for all of the fatal signals, and when it gets such a signal, restore the tty modes, remove the signal handler, and send itself the signal again (to get a coredump, which you presumably want for debugging). Actually, you shyould remove your signal handlers before calling the curses function to restore the tty modes. That way, if curses has somehow gotten confused and manages to generate another signal while restoring the modes, you'll get a coredump instead of an infinite loop. (Yes, I know it's considered bad form to call complicated functions like curses functions inside signal handlers. But in this case, it's considerd even worse form to leave the terminal in a screwed up state, so I think it's worth trying.) As for recovering from screwed up terminal settings -- someone else suggested using tset, and that will probably work; you can also try just typing "reset," which should clear things up a little bit. -- Jonathan Kamens USnail: MIT Project Athena 11 Ashford Terrace jik@Athena.MIT.EDU Allston, MA 02134 Office: 617-253-8085 Home: 617-782-0710
mike (02/14/91)
In an article, clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi (Matthew Tran Clegg/VTT) writes: >I've been working on a program that uses the curses package and >cbreak mode. Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to >crash (for example, with a segmentation fault). This completely >unhinges the terminal. It won't respond to anything anymore, >except if I press ^C, then the csh prompt will be printed. When your terminal is in a good mood, enter the following command: stty -g >$HOME/.stty Then, put an alias in your $HOME/.profile (or whatever), such as: sane() stty `cat $HOME/.stty` Obviously this is for the Bourne shell; translate as appropriate for csh, or whatever you prefer to use. So, when nethack bites the dust, you enter: $ sane^J This will restore your terminal exactly the way it was when you first entered the 'stty -g' command. -- Michael Stefanik | Opinions stated are not even my own. Systems Engineer, Briareus Corporation | UUCP: ...!uunet!bria!mike ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- technoignorami (tek'no-ig'no-ram`i) a group of individuals that are constantly found to be saying things like "Well, it works on my DOS machine ..."
mark@intek01.uucp (Mark McWiggins) (02/15/91)
I have a little shell script named "j" in my bin directory: stty sane stty intr stty erase Then I just have to type 'j CTRL-J' and I'm back. Hope this helps. -- Mark McWiggins Integration Technologies, Inc. (Intek) +1 206 455 9935 DISCLAIMER: I could be wrong ... 1400 112th Ave SE #202 Bellevue WA 98004 mark@intek.com Ask me about C++!
mjm@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Andy Behrens) (02/15/91)
clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi (Matthew Tran Clegg/VTT) writes: > I've been working on a program that uses the curses package and > cbreak mode. Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to > crash (for example, with a segmentation fault). > > Does anyone know how to restore the terminal to a sane state? > So far, the only thing that has worked for me is the power switch :-). The 'reset' command will do this. However, since curses has probably left your terminal in raw mode, carriage return is no longer considered to be an end-of-line character -- you'll have to use a newline instead. Typing ctrl-J reset ctrl-J should fix everything. If you've changed your kill characters, it will be reset to a default value, so you might want to set it again with 'stty'. Andy
gwyn@smoke.brl.mil (Doug Gwyn) (02/16/91)
In article <436@bria> uunet!bria!mike writes: > stty -g >$HOME/.stty I also recommend this technique (assuming that stty -g is supported on your system). It is the shell script equivalent of saving a struct termio obtained via TCGETA and later restoring it via TSETAW in a C program.
epeterso@houligan.encore.com (Eric Peterson) (02/16/91)
pawel@cs.UAlberta.CA (Pawel Gburzynski) writes: | From article <1991Feb13.133332.22320@ousrvr.oulu.fi>, by clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi (Matthew Tran Clegg/VTT): | > I've been working on a program that uses the curses package and | > cbreak mode. Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to | > crash (for example, with a segmentation fault). This completely | > unhinges the terminal. It won't respond to anything anymore, | > except if I press ^C, then the csh prompt will be printed. | > | > Does anyone know how to restore the terminal to a sane state? | > So far, the only thing that has worked for me is the power switch :-). There are three things that Curses programs typically do -- disable character echoing, allow only a newline (^J) to be used as the end-of-line character, and disable backspace, interrupt, and kill character processing. To return your terminal to sanity, you have to undo these three things, which can be done with the command: % stty echo -nl -cbreak^J The 'echo' argument turns on echoing, '-nl' disables the exclusive use of a newline as a line terminator, and '-cbreak' enables special key processing. And you must terminate the line with a ^J instead of Enter (^M). | How about 'tset ^j' (^j stands for control j). Not everyone has 'tset' though. But it can do the same thing. However, 'tset' is a much more powerful command than that, as it can return your terminal name, termcap entry, and all sorts of other good stuff. Some systems have a command called 'reset' which will do a 'stty echo -nl -cbreak'. But again, not everyone has this. Some implementations of 'stty' also allow you to say 'stty sane' to return the terminal to a standard state. All of the stty parameters are reset, including your erase, kill, and interrupt keys. | Generally, it is a bad habit | for a program using curses to crash without regaining control for resetting | the terminal. Generally, it is a bad habit for any program to crash ever :-) Eric -- Eric Peterson <> epeterson@encore.com <> uunet!encore!epeterson Encore Computer Corp. * Ft. Lauderdale, Florida * (305) 587-2900 x 5208 Why did Constantinople get the works? Gung'f abobql'f ohfvarff ohg gur Ghexf.
roger@gtisqr.uucp (Roger Droz) (02/16/91)
In article <DANJ1.91Feb13170109@cbnewse.ATT.COM> Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM writes: >> Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to crash (for example, >> with a segmentation fault). This completely unhinges the terminal. > >Most of the time I find the terminal will respond to "command^J", so I >my .profile I have: > >if test -t >then >stty="eval > stty sane; > stty > echo [ rest deleted ] How about simply: stty="stty `stty -g`" >yup, I just say >$ $stty^J >and everthing is comfy again. I agree with jik@athena.mit.edu (Jonathan I. Kamens) that one should write the signal handlers early on so that your curses programs die gracefully. ____________ Roger Droz () () Maverick MICRoSystems / Global Technology International (_______) Mukilteo, WA ( ) | | Disclaimer: "We're all mavericks here: | | Each of us has our own opinions, (___) and the company has yet different ones!" Internet: roger@mav.COM UUCP: uw-beaver!gtisqr!roger
jpr@jpradley.jpr.com (Jean-Pierre Radley) (02/16/91)
In article <DANJ1.91Feb13170109@cbnewse.ATT.COM> Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM writes: >> Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to crash (for example, >> with a segmentation fault). This completely unhinges the terminal. > >Most of the time I find the terminal will respond to "command^J", so I >my .profile I have: > >if test -t >then >stty="eval > stty sane; > stty > echo > echok > echoe > ixany > hupcl > icanon > icrnl > -ocrnl > onlcr > -onocr > erase ${erase_character-^?} > intr ^G > kill ^- > eof ^D > $stty_extra >" >yup, I just say >$ $stty^J >and everthing is comfy again. I do about the same thing, but with somewhat less effort. In .profile, STTY=`stty-g` export STTY In .login, setenv STTY `stty-g` Then, after a scrambled screen, $stty^J restores my prior settings. Jean-Pierre Radley NYC Public Unix jpr@jpradley.jpr.com CIS: 72160,1341
Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM (02/16/91)
>>>>> On 16 Feb 91 03:23:19 GMT, jpr@jpradley.jpr.com (Jean-Pierre Radley) said: J-P> In article <DANJ1.91Feb13170109@cbnewse.ATT.COM> Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM writes: >Most of the time I find the terminal will respond to "command^J", so I >my .profile I have: > >if test -t >then >stty="eval > stty sane; > stty > echo > echok > echoe > ixany > hupcl > icanon > icrnl > -ocrnl > onlcr > -onocr > erase ${erase_character-^?} > intr ^G > kill ^- > eof ^D > $stty_extra >" >yup, I just say >$ $stty^J >and everthing is comfy again. J-P> I do about the same thing, but with somewhat less effort. J-P> In .profile, J-P> STTY=`stty-g` export STTY J-P> In .login, J-P> setenv STTY `stty-g` J-P> Then, after a scrambled screen, J-P> $stty^J J-P> restores my prior settings. Yeah but, you omit any stty-ings you did before you captured them into an environment variable---unless you're happy with the differing defaults on different machines, e.g., "#"=erase. Plus, stty -g, and certainly stty-g, aren't portable. Plus I invoke $stty in the .profile too. [Ego restored] -- Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM Naperville IL USA +1 708-979-6364
jerry@ora.com (Jerry Peek) (02/16/91)
In article <1991Feb14.192959.22939@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> andyb@coat.com (Andy Behrens) writes: > clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi (Matthew Tran Clegg/VTT) writes: > > I've been working on a program that uses the curses package and > > cbreak mode. Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to > > crash (for example, with a segmentation fault). > > Typing > ctrl-J reset ctrl-J > should fix everything. Once in a while I've had a session wedged bad enough that *each* character I type is treated as a new command. After this happened a few times, I made the following symbolic link in my bin directory: ln -s /usr/ucb/reset ] It makes a single-character command called "]" that does a "reset". You should be able to use a single-character name for the other fixes people have posted here, too. --Jerry Peek, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. jerry@ora.com +1 617 354-5800
mike (02/17/91)
In an article, gtisqr.uucp!roger (Roger Droz) writes: >In article <DANJ1.91Feb13170109@cbnewse.ATT.COM> Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM writes: > >How about simply: > stty="stty `stty -g`" > This won't work, because the ``stty -g'' will simply set the terminal to what it was already set to. You need to preserve the terminal state _prior_ to it going insane. -- Michael Stefanik, MGI Inc., Los Angeles| Opinions stated are not even my own. Title of the week: Systems Engineer | UUCP: ...!uunet!bria!mike ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remember folks: If you can't flame MS-DOS, then what _can_ you flame?
art@pilikia.pegasus.com (Art Neilson) (02/17/91)
In article <1991Feb13.133332.22320@ousrvr.oulu.fi> clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi (Matthew Tran Clegg/VTT) writes: >I've been working on a program that uses the curses package and >cbreak mode. Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to >crash (for example, with a segmentation fault). This completely >unhinges the terminal. It won't respond to anything anymore, >except if I press ^C, then the csh prompt will be printed. > >(I've noticed sometimes that nethack will crash in this way too, but >only when the game is better than any I've had in months -- a real bummer.) > >Does anyone know how to restore the terminal to a sane state? >So far, the only thing that has worked for me is the power switch :-). The best way to handle this is to trap signals in the C program which uses curses and have the signal handler call endwin() prior to exiting. -- Arthur W. Neilson III | INET: art@pilikia.pegasus.com Bank of Hawaii Tech Support | UUCP: uunet!ucsd!nosc!pegasus!pilikia!art
bill@camco.Celestial.COM (Bill Campbell) (02/19/91)
In <1991Feb13.133332.22320@ousrvr.oulu.fi> clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi (Matthew Tran Clegg/VTT) writes: >I've been working on a program that uses the curses package and >cbreak mode. Once in a while, a bug will cause the program to >crash (for example, with a segmentation fault). This completely >unhinges the terminal. It won't respond to anything anymore, >except if I press ^C, then the csh prompt will be printed. >(I've noticed sometimes that nethack will crash in this way too, but >only when the game is better than any I've had in months -- a real bummer.) >Does anyone know how to restore the terminal to a sane state? >So far, the only thing that has worked for me is the power switch :-). >Matthew Clegg >clegg@tolsun.oulu.fi, February 13 I set an environment variable in my .login (.profile for /bin/sh users) setenv NORMTTY `stty -g` This extracts the stty parameters in a form suitable as an argument to stty so all I have to do is type: ^Jstty $NORMTTY^J where ^J is control-j. This resets the terminal to your login state. Bill -- INTERNET: bill@Celestial.COM Bill Campbell; Celestial Software UUCP: ...!thebes!camco!bill 6641 East Mercer Way uunet!camco!bill Mercer Island, WA 98040; (206) 947-5591
jpr@jpradley.jpr.com (Jean-Pierre Radley) (02/19/91)
In article <DANJ1.91Feb16002433@cbnewse.ATT.COM> Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM writes: >>>>>> On 16 Feb 91 03:23:19 GMT, jpr@jpradley.jpr.com (Jean-Pierre Radley) said: > >J-P> In article <DANJ1.91Feb13170109@cbnewse.ATT.COM> Dan_Jacobson@ATT.COM writes: > >J-P> I do about the same thing, but with somewhat less effort. > >J-P> In .profile, >J-P> STTY=`stty-g` export STTY > >J-P> In .login, >J-P> setenv STTY `stty-g` > >J-P> Then, after a scrambled screen, >J-P> $stty^J >J-P> restores my prior settings. > >Yeah but, you omit any stty-ings you did before you captured them into >an environment variable---unless you're happy with the differing >defaults on different machines, e.g., "#"=erase. Plus, stty -g, and >certainly stty-g, aren't portable. Plus I invoke $stty in the >.profile too. Well, I thought one might have cleverly inferred, without my explicitly so stating, that before I set my STTY environment value in my .profile or .login, that _first_ I do all the specific settings for erase, intr, &c., that I desire. Jean-Pierre Radley NYC Public Unix jpr@jpradley.jpr.com CIS: 72160,1341
greywolf@unisoft.UUCP (The Grey Wolf) (02/21/91)
[ Many people write about how to restore terminal settings... ] I'm expecting a perl script from someone real soon :-). Me? Oh, my shell (a superset of {,t}csh) remembers the terminal modes at the beginning of the session, or whenever one types "setty". The shell has code to catch SIGQUIT and restore the terminal modes. This is most useful when you haven't been thrown into raw mode -- you can just hit '^\' twice: once to generate a core, and a second time to reset the terminal. If you're in raw mode, either "^Jreset^J" followed by a keyboard QUIT or "^Jrestty^J" will return the terminal to its last saved state. The really esoteric ones might want to make a Makefile to deal with it, or write it in assembler, or ... -- # The days of the computer priesthood are not over. # May they never be. # If it sounds selfish, consider how most companies stay in business.