[SOLVED] TTY Login Cursor Movement Problem/Annoyance

DeletedUser210719 · 2012-05-23 17:51:02

When I log in through TTY, if I press any of the arrow keys, my cursor moves independently of what is typed for the login information. I am able to backspace, but only an amount equal to how many characters I have typed.

This doesn't seem like it would be a default function of the TTY login, so I was wondering if there something I potentially messed up regarding the login, or if this is by default, how I can make the arrows function "normally" or disable them altogether.

I did put a line in rc.local that changes the loglevel to 3 (dmesg -n 3), but I tried commenting it out and rebooting with no success.

Last edited by DeletedUser210719 (2012-05-30 23:38:43)

ConnorBehan · 2012-05-23 18:17:15

Hey, that happens to me too! I can move my cursor arbitrarily far to the right when I have typed nothing and I can erase the prompt. I'm pretty sure it wasn't like this when I first installed Arch (kernel 2.6.22) but it could've happened years ago. Before reading this post, I never felt like typing something other than my username.

alphaniner · 2012-05-23 18:23:42

I hadn't noticed but it seems I have the same problem. Additionally, if I type something then press ^C, I can't backspace out the stuff I typed. This happens only with the original login: prompt. If I enter incorrect credentials and thus another login: prompt appears, ^C seems to restart the tty (for lack of a better term).

altbdoor · 2012-05-24 05:22:04

i did notice this, but since i usually just key in the user and pass, i never bothered to look deep into it.

although i do admit, its frustrating if you accidentally keyed an arrow key, you literally have to "fail a login", before you could do a proper login again. seems like the arrow keys are logged, and could not be backspaced.

DeletedUser210719 · 2012-05-30 23:38:11

Found what some might consider a solution...it does fix the free-floating arrows anyway haha.

I replaced agetty with mingetty, and even though it shows the strange arrow characters, I prefer the new behavior to the former.

I'll just mark it as solved, its close enough of a solution for me.

Trilby · 2012-05-31 00:39:49

You can even arrow right, type a little, then backspace all the way back to delete some (or all) of the prompt. However, you can still log in, this only affects the characters displayed, not those read into the username.

This is likely just a detail that isn't worried about for the login program to keep it simple. Have you ever tried to write a keypress response loop that handles all such details in a reasonable way? I have, it's really a b*^(#. Since I disovered the wonders of the readline library, I've never dreampt of trying to do that myself again. But, readline is not used in the login program. Why would such a simple tool want to use a library like readline - as wonderful as readline is, it's a decent size. Readline is great for truly interactive programs; but just to type a login name, I'd say it's overkill.

Anyhow, that's probably more detail than anyone cared about. I'm happy with a login program that is limited in its simplicity.

alphaniner · 2012-05-31 13:08:17

Trilby wrote:

You can even arrow right, type a little, then backspace all the way back to delete some (or all) of the prompt. However, you can still log in, this only affects the characters displayed, not those read into the username.

That may not affect logon, but just about any other movement does. Arrow up, left or down, or arrow right and don't backspace as far back as it will go, and I can't login.

The program serves its purpose, no argument here. Still, it's not surprising that behaviour would be seen as a bug.

And why does Ctrl-C only function after a failed login attempt?

Last edited by alphaniner (2012-05-31 13:09:58)

Arch Linux

#1 2012-05-23 17:51:02

[SOLVED] TTY Login Cursor Movement Problem/Annoyance

#2 2012-05-23 18:17:15

Re: [SOLVED] TTY Login Cursor Movement Problem/Annoyance

#3 2012-05-23 18:23:42

Re: [SOLVED] TTY Login Cursor Movement Problem/Annoyance

#4 2012-05-24 05:22:04

Re: [SOLVED] TTY Login Cursor Movement Problem/Annoyance

#5 2012-05-30 23:38:11

Re: [SOLVED] TTY Login Cursor Movement Problem/Annoyance

#6 2012-05-31 00:39:49

Re: [SOLVED] TTY Login Cursor Movement Problem/Annoyance

#7 2012-05-31 13:08:17

Re: [SOLVED] TTY Login Cursor Movement Problem/Annoyance

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