Re: Linux problem

[Bob Proulx]

Raghunathan A wrote:
> In Linux, when I give the command 'ls' to list the files in a directory,
> suddenly the screen gets set to black background with white (or
> sometimes color) letters. And I am unable to reset the screen back to
> its original color settings. 'stty -sane' also does not work. Why does
> this problem occur and help me find a way out.

You probably are using the --color option to ls which is somehow
setting the colors strangely.  This is a terminal emulator setting and
not a tty setting which is why 'stty sane' is not working.  (By the
way, it is 'stty sane' not 'stty -sane'.  The '-' means the opposite.
I really don't think you want a non-sane terminal.  :-)

What terminal are you using?  What is the value of the TERM variable?

  echo $TERM

If you are using an xterm then you should be able to do a full
terminal reset with control-middle, then "Do Full Reset".  Other
emulators may have similar options.

What version of ls are you using?  I am assuming an old one because
the mailing address you used 'bug-sh-utils' is an old address.
Perhaps you would update to a newer version?

  ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/coreutils/coreutils-5.2.1.tar.gz
  ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/coreutils/coreutils-5.2.1.tar.bz2
  (coreutils is the union of fileutils, textutils, and sh-utils)

Until the problem is resolved I suggest avoiding using the --color
option.  You may also have a filename with escapes in it which is
causing the trouble.  In which case the -b option may be useful.  If
you are using a POSIX compatible shell then the following might be
useful.

  unalias ls
  unalias ll
  alias ls='ls -Fb'
  alias ll='ls -l'

Bob