[SOLVED] command prompt missing in terminal

ibwood · 07-15-2010, 01:10 PM

Hi all,

Something unfortunate just happened. I was editing the bash file from my terminal and changed a source. After this I was no longer able to input commands for interpreting in the terminal..

In short, this doesn't show up: "user@user-laptop:$"

Any ideas? Thanks for any help.

-Ian

trickykid · 07-15-2010, 01:13 PM

Are you able to type at all? Which bash file, the one in your home directory (.bash_profile, .bashrc)

What specifically did you change if you can recall?

ibwood · 07-15-2010, 01:19 PM

Yes, I can type. The bash file I edited was .bashrc and since i'm using an open-source program (ROS), i'm trying to redefine the path to my packages. I changed:

"source ~/.bashrc.ros"
to
"source ~/.bashrc"

I did this because it said the location ~/.bashrc.ros didn't exist.

trickykid · 07-15-2010, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibwood

Yes, I can type. The bash file I edited was .bashrc and since i'm using an open-source program (ROS), i'm trying to redefine the path to my packages. I changed:

"source ~/.bashrc.ros"
to
"source ~/.bashrc"

I did this because it said the location ~/.bashrc.ros didn't exist.

If you can and your .bashrc is messed up, you can try to source the file in /etc, usually /etc/bash_profile or /etc/bashrc will get you a normal prompt again. Then proceed in editing your users own .bashrc accordingly.

ibwood · 07-15-2010, 01:33 PM

Hmm, it's not working. The terminal is acting as if i'm just typing, kind of like the editing program gedit. If i press enter, it just moves to a new line without doing anything. Even if I type /etc/bashrc

trickykid · 07-15-2010, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibwood

Hmm, it's not working. The terminal is acting as if i'm just typing, kind of like the editing program gedit. If i press enter, it just moves to a new line without doing anything. Even if I type /etc/bashrc

Open a new terminal. If you sourced it on the previous terminal, a new terminal will use the default file to source from. You can also try logging out and back in as well. Or try typing reset in the terminal and hitting enter.

ibwood · 07-15-2010, 01:46 PM

Still no luck unfortunately. Nothing is getting me anywhere.. I tried all of those things.

trickykid · 07-15-2010, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibwood

Still no luck unfortunately. Nothing is getting me anywhere.. I tried all of those things.

Perhaps it's time to reboot into single user mode and restore the original .bashrc. Or if you are a regular user, just su (or sudo if you setup sudo) to become root to restore or create a useful .bashrc file for the user.

ibwood · 07-15-2010, 02:05 PM

But I can't use the command line.. I have a feeling I am stuck :S

trickykid · 07-15-2010, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibwood

But I can't use the command line.. I have a feeling I am stuck :S

Nope, booting into single user mode should allow you to fix this issue. Are you logged in as root and messed up root's .bashrc? If not, ctrl-alt-F2, login to console as root, fix issue for user. If you are root with no other created users, reboot into single user mode by passing single as an option on the grub line.

ibwood · 07-15-2010, 02:29 PM

Ok, I think I got it now. Thanks again man!

trickykid · 07-15-2010, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibwood

Ok, I think I got it now. Thanks again man!

What fixed it, just so any other users know if they end up with same type of problem? Glad it's working for you.

ibwood · 07-15-2010, 02:42 PM

All i did was press ctrl-c to cancel any tasks running in the terminal. I did try going into single-user mode and resetting first, which may have had something to do with it. But the first thing I would suggest with this problem is pressing ctrl-c.

-Ian

trickykid · 07-15-2010, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibwood

All i did was press ctrl-c to cancel any tasks running in the terminal. I did try going into single-user mode and resetting first, which may have had something to do with it. But the first thing I would suggest with this problem is pressing ctrl-c.

-Ian

Ah so it sounds to me like you were just stuck in a process running type mode.