Using csh & tcsh

Did Your Terminal Stop Working?

If your terminal seems to be locked, you may have inadvertently typed CTRL-S, which stops terminal output. To get it going again, type CTRL-Q. Even if CTRL-S wasn't the problem, CTRL-Q won't do any harm.

It's also possible for your terminal to become confused, even if it's normally set up correctly. This situation can occur for several reasons:

• You ran a program that set your terminal to a special mode, but crashed before resetting it.

• You tried to display a binary file or a directory:

  % more core
  % more /bin/cat
  % more .

• You logged in over a noisy modem connection. Garbage characters generated on the line can have adverse effects.

If your terminal is left in an unusable state under these or similar circumstances, try the following remedies:

• First, try CTRL-Q, in case a stray CTRL-S was sent to your terminal.

• If that doesn't work, type CTRL-J reset CTRL-J. (If character echoing was turned off, you might not see anything as you type.) The reset command might at least get you to the point at which you can log out and then back in, to re-establish your normal working environment.

• Finally, try CTRL-C to interrupt your current job, or CTRL-Z to suspend the job so that you can use kill to kill it.