Hello,

Sorry if this has been asked before. I looked around, but I don't know
of a way to describe it in a few terms, which limits the usability of searching,
so I've resorted to posting.

I've installed Slackware 8.1 on two different systems. On one system the
keyboard works as expected. On my main system, however, typing in a
terminal doesn't delete characters properly. For example, "vi" doesn't delete
the character when I press "delete" or "backspace", it simply moves the
cursor; I also can't use the delete key when I'm not in "Insert" mode. Also,
I flat out can't use my "Home" and "End" keys, as they put me into an
unknown mode and I have to press escape a couple times so I can get back
into "Command" mode.
I'm using the same keyboard on both systems; a Microsoft Natural. I am
using the default "qwerty.us" keyboard layout on both systems. One system
is a Pentium2; I can't remember what chipset. My main system is an AMD
with the VIA MVP3 chipset, if that makes a difference.

TIA,
-- Peter Heatwole
"Murphy was just a well known pessimist."

Well, the first thing I would check would be the sym link for "vi".

ls -l /usr/bin/vi

Mine points to /usr/bin/elvis

Are these two systems compared using regular console mode, no X running, or is it a Konsole screen under KDE, etc.?

If Konsole under KDE, then I know that the keyboard setting can be changed via Settings->Keyboard. I always set it to Linux console mode myself. But I do not use vi, I use emacs most of the time.

Also, check your terminal setting:

echo $TERM

Somewhere among these three things you might find what is set different between the two machines.

Good luck.

Thanks for the response.

I am using xterms in GNOME. I checked /usr/bin/vi, and it is linked to
"elvis". So, I tried vim and "delete", "home", and "end" work as expected.
Unfortunately, when in "Insert" mode the arrow keys now produce "\nA\n",
"\nB\n", "\nC\n", and "\nD\n" one line above the cursor; I have to go to
"Command" mode to move the cursor.

The arrow keys work fine in vim when using the root console. (not in X)
"echo $TERM" reveals "xterm" and "linux", when in an xterm or the root
console.



-- Peter Heatwole
"Murphy was just a well known pessimist."

I just noticed something else. Not only do the arrow keys misbehave when
in "Insert" mode, but also "delete", "end", and "home".

When I press "delete", it overwrites the character just left of the cursor with
a "F" and kicks me back to command mode. "End" and "home" print a "F"
and an "H", but leave me in insert mode.


-- Peter Heatwole
"Murphy was just a well known pessimist."

http://slackware.duffs.org/ <---- The Slackware Doc project might answer some things, I believe there's an area in there somewhere on the keys and how they misbehave.