From: apm233m@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au Subject: VT one line bug? Date: 2 Sep 1992 14:34:18 +1000
I have observed some strange behaviour on my system.
Once in a while, perhaps after a couple of hours of computer use,
a virtual terminal will go into a "one-line" mode. This has not
happened frequently enough for me to be certain about exactly when
it is likely to occur, but for the last couple of times it has been
in response to my entering a 'less' command like:
less wx*
where wx* matches one file.
What happens is that the screen scrolls up, filling blanks from the
bottom, except for the bottom line. The contents of the file are
displayed in the bottom line. This leaves all except the bottom line
blank. The virtual terminal is now in a one-line mode, with everything
happening in the last line of the screen (although perhaps the blank
part of the screen is still scrolling, but I can't tell). It remains
in this mode when I quit less. I have not discovered yet how to get
the virtual terminal out of this mode. Fortunately, it has no observed
effects on the other virtual terminals.
The effect may happen on any virtual terminal.
Running the identical command from another virtual terminal immediately
after the problem occurs has not resulted in the same problem on that vt.
Has anyone else observed this?
Is it a bug in less, or the kernel, or me?
I am using 0.97pl2 and a Hercules card. My less is from the 0.96c
mcc-interim distribution.
(p.s. I wrote this message via kermit on a VAX editor and every so often
the screen behaviour gets out of sync with what the VAX thinks it is.
Typically I will use a cursor key to move up the screen only to find
that it won't move up but scrolls the bottom part of the screen down
(starting from the cursor line). I can break out of this mode by
hitting the HELP key.)
-- =============== Bill Metzenthen Mathematics Department Monash University Australia