xdotool: Unknown command: erk: (wtf is erk?) [SOLVED]

Ashren · 2011-04-27 13:55:52

Hi,

I have this very weird error on a quite old Arch installation. When I run xdotool key <something> I get:

[regj@t400box:~] > xdotool key alt+2
xdotool: Unknown command: erk:
Run 'xdotool help' if you want a command list

Strace doesn't really give any hints (as far as I can decipher).

Here's a snippet of the strace:

poll([{fd=3, events=POLLIN}], 1, -1)    = 1 ([{fd=3, revents=POLLIN}])
read(3, "\1\3\16\0\261\4\0\0\0\0\10\377\7\0\0\31\31\10\222\1\370\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\10"..., 4096) = 4096
read(3, "\1\1\1\0E\377\10\20\0\0\0\0\1\1\1\0F\377\10\20\0\0\0\0\1\1\1\0G\377\10\20"..., 740) = 740
read(3, 0xdbc214, 4096)                 = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable)
read(3, 0xdbc214, 4096)                 = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable)
write(2, "xdotool: Unknown command: erk:\n", 31xdotool: Unknown command: erk:
) = 31
write(2, "Run 'xdotool help' if you want a"..., 46Run 'xdotool help' if you want a command list
) = 46
poll([{fd=3, events=POLLIN|POLLOUT}], 1, -1) = 1 ([{fd=3, revents=POLLOUT}])
writev(3, [{"\221\1\5\0\3\0\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\5\0\5\0\221\1\4\0\3\0\2\0\0\0\0\0"..., 48}, {NULL, 0}, {"", 0}], 3) = 48
poll([{fd=3, events=POLLIN}], 1, -1)    = 1 ([{fd=3, revents=POLLIN}])
read(3, "\1\1\22\0\0\0\0\0`\0\240\4\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0", 4096) = 32
read(3, 0xdbc214, 4096)                 = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable)
read(3, 0xdbc214, 4096)                 = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable)
close(3)                                = 0
exit_group(1)                           = ?

Any ideas as to what "erk" is?

It works fine on other installations btw.

Last edited by Ashren (2011-05-27 11:11:20)

Ashren · 2011-05-23 14:58:34

Update. Interestingly it works with root. So the Erk must be hiding somewhere in my home.

Stebalien · 2011-05-23 15:54:28

What is the output of `type xdotool`?

Ashren · 2011-05-23 19:02:07

[regj@mybox:~] > type xdotool
xdotool is hashed (/usr/bin/xdotool)

[regj@mybox:~] > hash
hits    command
   3    /usr/bin/xdotool

hash -r brings the hits down to 1.

Edit: This is probably totally unrelated to the Erk.

Last edited by Ashren (2011-05-23 19:03:38)

Ashren · 2011-05-27 11:10:51

Jordan, the developer of xdotool found the solution.

I had a file in my home dir called key and this caused the behaviour:

xdotool checks first if the first argument is a path to a script (you can
write 'xdotool' scripts and do 'xdotool scriptname'). Can you see if you
have a file named 'key' in the directory you are running xdotool from?
If this is indeed what is happening, I think it's an xdotool bug, perhaps,
or at least it should warn about the behavior that it is doing.

Renaming it solved the problem.

Thanks goes out to Jordan.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-04-27 13:55:52

xdotool: Unknown command: erk: (wtf is erk?) [SOLVED]

#2 2011-05-23 14:58:34

Re: xdotool: Unknown command: erk: (wtf is erk?) [SOLVED]

#3 2011-05-23 15:54:28

Re: xdotool: Unknown command: erk: (wtf is erk?) [SOLVED]

#4 2011-05-23 19:02:07

Re: xdotool: Unknown command: erk: (wtf is erk?) [SOLVED]

#5 2011-05-27 11:10:51

Re: xdotool: Unknown command: erk: (wtf is erk?) [SOLVED]

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