[SOLVED] Strange key bindings in shell / vi

[devnulljp]

I Just did a clean install of Lucid (which is much better than the upgrade path -- less headaches).

Weird thing in the shell -- in vi in insert mode my arrow keys input letters
up arrow: A
down arrow: B
right arrow: C
left arrow: D

They move the cursor in Command Mode though.

Where do I set this behaviour?

A
A
Here's what happens when I hit the up arrow twice in insert mode
B
and this is what happens when I hit the down arrow

~

[Snowhog]

Re: Strange key bindings in shell / vi

Yup. You have to return to Command mode (hit Esc) before you can navigate the file using the arrow keys.

[devnulljp]

Re: Strange key bindings in shell / vi

Yup. You have to return to Command mode (hit Esc) before you can navigate the file using the arrow keys.

Hmmmm.... didn't used to be. Must be a setting somewhere.

[Snowhog]

Re: Strange key bindings in shell / vi

It was always that way with vi on my installs. On Lucid, I'm running Vim instead. It's a more user friendly enhancement of vi.

[devnulljp]

Re: Strange key bindings in shell / vi

It was always that way with vi on my installs. On Lucid, I'm running Vim instead. It's a more user friendly enhancement of vi.

This is a first for me. I have vi as a link to vim by default

which vi
/usr/bin/vi

ls -l /usr/bin/vi
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 2010-05-15 18:59 /usr/bin/vi -> /etc/alternatives/vi

vi --version
VIM - Vi IMproved 7.2 (2008 Aug 9, compiled Apr 16 2010 13:20:51)

[Snowhog]

Re: Strange key bindings in shell / vi

I've exactly the same output for each command you gave. I started 'vi' (which runs vim) and my normal arrow-keys behaved as you'd expect - up/down/left/right. No problems.

[devnulljp]

Re: Strange key bindings in shell / vi

I've exactly the same output for each command you gave. I started 'vi' (which runs vim) and my normal arrow-keys behaved as you'd expect - up/down/left/right. No problems.

Fixed it!
make a new .vimrc in your home directory
add the following line

set nocompatible

Arrow keys work as arrow keys now in both modes.

I also found this: http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Fix_arrow_...n_remote_shell

My .vimrc is

set nocompatible
set autoindent
set smartindent
set showmatch
set vb t_vb=
set ruler
set nohls
set incsearch
set virtualedit=all
set softtabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set pastetoggle=<F11>

I used to have set syntax on as well but I get an error now...I guess something else changed

[Snowhog]

Re: Strange key bindings in shell / vi

Fixed it!
make a new .vimrc in your home directory
add the following line

set nocompatible

Interesting. Here, I have no such file (.vimrc), although I do have:

/etc/vim/vimrc
/etc/vim/vimrc.tiny
/usr/share/vim/vimrc
/usr/share/vim/vimrc.tiny

and as stated, my arrow keys behave as they are supposed to.

[devnulljp]

Re: Strange key bindings in shell / vi

Fixed it!
make a new .vimrc in your home directory
add the following line

set nocompatible

Interesting. Here, I have no such file (.vimrc), although I do have:

/etc/vim/vimrc
/etc/vim/vimrc.tiny
/usr/share/vim/vimrc
/usr/share/vim/vimrc.tiny

and as stated, my arrow keys behave as they are supposed to.

It's not there by default, so just make a new one and add that line to it.

[Snowhog]

Re: Strange key bindings in shell / vi

It's not there by default, so just make a new one and add that line to it.

But I don't need it. My arrow keys work they way they are supposed to.

[Snowhog]

Re: [SOLVED] Strange key bindings in shell / vi

Okay, here, in my Vim install, is where the 'compatible' issue is found:

paul@mybrainonlinux:~$ cat /etc/vim/vimrc
" All system-wide defaults are set in $VIMRUNTIME/debian.vim (usually just
" /usr/share/vim/vimcurrent/debian.vim) and sourced by the call to :runtime
" you can find below. If you wish to change any of those settings, you should
" do it in this file (/etc/vim/vimrc), since debian.vim will be overwritten
" everytime an upgrade of the vim packages is performed. It is recommended to
" make changes after sourcing debian.vim since it alters the value of the
" 'compatible' option.

" This line should not be removed as it ensures that various options are
" properly set to work with the Vim-related packages available in Debian.
runtime! debian.vim

" Uncomment the next line to make Vim more Vi-compatible
" NOTE: debian.vim sets 'nocompatible'. Setting 'compatible' changes numerous
" options, so any other options should be set AFTER setting 'compatible'.
"set compatible

But again, note that mine is still commented here, and my arrow keys work normally.

[kubicle]

Re: [SOLVED] Strange key bindings in shell / vi

One thing that can make a difference between compatible/nocompatible mode is whether you're actually running /usr/bin/vim.tiny (provided by 'vim-tiny' package) or /usr/bin/vim.basic (provided by 'vim' package).

vim.tiny defaults to "compatible" mode (via /etc/vim/vimrc.tiny) while vim.basic defaults to "nocompatible".

So you can check whether you have 'vim' package installed (It's possible to have both vim and vim-tiny installed), and check your /etc/alternatives/vi and /etc/alternatives/vim links. You can modify these with 'update-alternatives' command, example:

sudo update-alternatives --config vi

[Snowhog]

Re: [SOLVED] Strange key bindings in shell / vi

paul@mybrainonlinux:~$ update-alternatives --list vi
/usr/bin/vim.tiny