[gnu.bash.bug] Strange line editing error - characters lost

andrewt@watsnew.waterloo.edu (Andrew Thomas) (07/12/89)

I am using bash-1.02 as my login shell on a uVax II running Ultrix 2.0

Periodically, and soon after I log in (in as little as one command),
bash starts to lose characters on the screen.  This normally happens
after I have used ^A, ^K, ^L, ~, or RUBOUT.  The characters I type
actually get recorded and entered into the command line, they just
don't appear on the screen.  For example, if I type:

bash$ ls<DEL><DEL><DEL>ls

I see on the screen

bash$ s

But when I hit return, or refresh the line, I get ls as expected.

Another interesting behaviour is that if I type

bash$ <DEL><RETURN>

I see on the screen:

ash$

It loses the first character of the prompt.  This also happens when I
type ^L on a blank line.

I have not been able to track down any causality for this bug.  I have
had it happen on the very first command after login if that command is
a ^L.  In addition, I only get this behaviour on my LOGIN SHELL.  No
subshell, including a subshell started with 'bash -login' has ever
behaved this way.  This bug persists from bash-1.01.

I compiled bash using gcc 1.35 with -g -O -traditional


In a probably unrelated bug, I have noticed that periodically the
shell stops accepting input of any characters except ^C (there
may be others, but I have not found them).  I have to press ^C to get
a new prompt, and then everything works fine.  This most often happens
within a couple of typed characters of stopping an emacs session.  I
have not noticed whether this is limited to my login shell or not.

Sorry there is not more information, but I have no clue as to how to
debug a login shell.

--

Andrew Thomas
andrewt@watsnew.waterloo.edu	Systems Design Eng.	University of Waterloo
"If a million people do a stupid thing, it's still a stupid thing." - Opus