When I press alt-ctrl-f2 or some other f# combination, I go to a cmd line interface and no longer have the gui. I have been experimenting with commands like rm ls and cat sometimes when i put something like cat in and then follow it with the file, the starting date which says something along the lines of


$ john/johnnyhome/... and so on

disappears and I can no longer input any more commands. How do i make it reappear?

I'm sorry - I don't understand.

Is your question "How do I get back to the GUI after pressing Ctl-Alt-F1?"
<= the answer is usually "Ctl-Alt-F7".
But the Sure Thing is try "Ctl-Alt-ANYthing" until you find the winning combination.

Or is your question "Why is 'cat SOMEFILE' messing up my screen?"
<= The answer is "Gee - it *shouldn't*'
Try a known good text file, like:

cat /etc/hosts

'Hope that helps .. PSM

what i means is if i press alt-ctrl-f2 and then type a certain command e.g. cat *fileName* it made the cmd line disappear and it wont reappear. basically in the cmd line interface, if i press enter i get a blank line and i dont get the $ sign followed by the pathway.

Try
Ctrl-C
reset<enter>

Thank you, that did just the thing.

Hi -

1. If you type "cat /etc/hosts", you should see the contents of your /etc/hosts" file (a text file), and you should get your prompt back immediately.

2. If you type "cat" and hit enter (with no arguments), then the "cat" command will appear to "hang". What it's actually doing is waiting for input to be redirected to it from "stdin" (Unix-speak for "standard input", typically you typing something at the keyboard). <Ctl-C> (interrupt program) is one way to break out. <Ctl-D> (signal "end-of-input") is another, more benign way.

3. It sounds like whatever you typed after "cat", caused it to behave like "cat" (with no arguments). I encourage you to try the "cat /etc/hosts" experiment, and compare it with your first experience. Then try "cat" with any other convenient text (for example, ".profile", in your home directory).

'Hope that helps .. PSM

Another thing to watch is only cat text type files, not binary executables. The way to check is

file <filename>

which will tell you if its a text type file. Trying to cat a binary will screw up the display.
Also, instead of using ctl-alt-f#, open up a cmd terminal (xterm/gnome terminal).
You can have lots open at the same time and still see the GUI.

thanks!