Scrollback not working in terminal window (ssh session)

Question

I have an ubuntu slice at slicehost, which means it is a DomU on a Xen host - and it's a pretty stripped down installation.

The thing that bugs me is that scrolling back in the terminal using shift-pgup doesn't work.

Can anybody tell me what package enables this scrollback functionality (so I can check if it is installed) - or if you have any other insights into why it might not be working, let me know.

(note: I am currently running screen with "defscrollback 1024" set, but it still doesn't work)

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered May 01 '17 at 22:46

13

Add this to ~/.screenrc log out of screen and back in:

shell "/usr/bin/bash"
termcapinfo xterm* ti@:te@

answered May 01 '17 at 22:46

davidparks21

928
1
12
27

1

The second line was all needed. (I am using zsh) – OverCoder Sep 21 '18 at 14:47
Same. The 2nd line is all that's needed. Can you explain what this does and why it works? – Mathematician May 09 '21 at 11:38

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 15 '09 at 19:43

6

Screen disables the standard scrollback in your local X terminal, because it is actually a curses program behind the scenes. As Murali said, if you want to use screen's scrollback, you'll need to Ctrl-A esc and then use the regular keys (PgUp/PgDn/cursor) to look through the history. Escape will get you back out.

answered Jun 15 '09 at 19:43

womble

96,255
29
175
230

Hmmm. This is NOT the case on other (Debian) servers that I am running screen on. I can still use shift-pgup to scroll back on those servers. – Brent Jun 15 '09 at 19:50
1

Vi key bindings (hjkl, Ctrl+F, Ctrl+B, / for search etc) will also work in screen's scrollback. – Murali Suriar Jun 15 '09 at 19:50
Oh - also, this is NOT an "X terminal" - it is an ssh session. – Brent Jun 15 '09 at 19:52
And what is your SSH session running in, perchance? – womble Jun 15 '09 at 22:20

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 15 '09 at 19:36

1

Is the screen session on your local or remote machine? If it's on the remote, then try going into screen's scroll back mode (Ctrl+A, [ by default).

Does Shift+PgUp work, out of interest?

answered Jun 15 '09 at 19:36

Murali Suriar

10,296
8
41
62

My mistake - I meant shift-pgup (not ctrl-pgup). – Brent Jun 15 '09 at 19:46
+1 Ctrl-A [ does give me scrollback functionality (although not the same as I am used to.) – Brent Jun 15 '09 at 19:47
Screen's scrollback also allows you to copy and paste between mutliple screen windows. Ctrl-A [ puts you into copy mode; hit space once to set you first mark, space again for the second mark. Then Ctrl-A ] will paste the contents of the buffer into the window you're currently in. – Murali Suriar Jun 15 '09 at 19:49

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 09 '09 at 14:32

0

If you use PuTTY as your terminal, with a screen session running on the server, you must check the box next to "Disable switching to alternate terminal screen" in PuTTY Configuration Terminal->Features. The scroll-back then works as usual.

answered Oct 09 '09 at 14:32

simplr

520
5
11

I am using gnome-terminal, not PuTTY - but thanks. – Brent Oct 09 '09 at 15:24

Scrollback not working in terminal window (ssh session)

4 Answers4