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backspace doesn't work in program "screen"

Asked by temporalnexus

When I run the command line program "screen" inside a terminal, backspace stops working.

^h works as a backspace, but this is annoying for a touch typist.

I tried the standard stty erase ^v^h, but this didn't work either.

I suspect that the problem lies either in curses or the terminfo definition for screen.

Any ideas?

The backspace works fine in a standard terminal outside a screen session.

[Or am I the only person that still uses command line programs? Nah.]

-Kurt

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MilesZS (miles-sterrett) said : 		#1

What terminal emulator are you using? Using screen within xfce4-terminal, I had this problem, if I remember correctly (when I fix things, I tend to forget how I fixed them within about a week, and I, of course, don't write it down). In the advanced tab of the preferences window for xfce4-terminal, I have backspace set to generate Control-H, the delete key generates Escape sequence, and my $TERM setting is xterm.

I'm not positive this will fix it, because, like I said, I don't remember. Start here, and if you still have problems at least that will eliminate one variable.

MilesZS

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Best temporalnexus (temporalnexus-gmail) said : 		#2

Yeah, it was the xfce terminal.

Backspace was set to "Auto detect". After I changed it to "^h", it works fine.

I remember in years past having to hard code something similar in every emacs I installed, and I had to stty in the .bashrc to get backspace to work in the BSD's.

Fortunately, with time, these backspace issues seem to be getting fewer and farther between.

Problem is resolved.

Now if we can just get computer and terminal manufacturers to put the control key to the left of the "a" key, the world would be perfect. [If you've ever typed on a REAL terminal from the '80's, you know what I'm talking about...]

Thanks again.

-Kurt