bash does not know the letter 'p'

Question

My bash does not know the letter p. zsh does though.

When I type a p in bash, it simply ignores it, and even pasting in text that contains a p will result in no p in the pasted text. This behavior is the same across terminals (I tried, urxvt, st and tty)

I tried commenting out everything in my ~/.profile, ~/.bash_profile and ~/.bashrc, the problem still persists. Using root though, everything is fine. My /root/.profile, /root/.bash_profile and /root/.bashrc are symlinked to the files in my home directory. So the problem can't originate there, but it's got to be something that is different for root and my user.

I use a custom keyboard layout, but when I switch to standard US keyboard layout, the problem still persists as well.

Just to rule this out as well: I do not use gnome.

Where else can I look?

ha, yes, that's it! I had this left in there: `# fix not working delete-key, see https://git.suckless.org/st/file/FAQ.html
line 51

printf '\033[?1h\033=' >/dev/tty` I'm using urxvt again anyways, so it doesn't matter — maddingl, Jun 07 '19 at 09:12
That was easier than I thought :) If you make your comment an answer, I can accept it — maddingl, Jun 07 '19 at 09:14
@maddingl could you copy that content into the answer. This would be a very good one for future readers! I understand this was something you might have done yourself but it's good for people to understand cause -> effect. — Philip Couling, Jun 07 '19 at 09:17
That printf command doesn't belong in ~/.inputrc which doesn't understand commands such as that. It should go in ~/.bashrc or similar shell startup file. — Dennis Williamson, Jun 08 '19 at 00:07
Symlinking root's shell startup files elsewhere is a security issue. — Dennis Williamson, Jun 08 '19 at 00:08
Protip: Any time Bash's input system is "broken" and Zsh's isn't, it's probably a GNU Readline problem (as in this case). Zsh has its own input system (ZLE) that has nothing to do with Readline. — Kevin, Jun 08 '19 at 03:31
@PhilipCouling Don't suggest new users to perform major edit on other people answers. You should instead have suggested the OP to write their own answer. — Giacomo Alzetta, Jun 10 '19 at 07:06
@GiacomoAlzetta: That's not what was suggested. I'd probably word it a bit differently, "into an answer" - but English is my second language, so I'm not sure. — choroba, Jun 10 '19 at 07:18
@GiacomoAlzetta Adding a new answer would be totally inappropriate, the information added is NOT a new answer but a clarification of the existing one. To quote the help center on this: When should I edit posts? ... ... To include additional information only found in comments, so all of the information relevant to the post is contained in one place. Adding new answers saying "thank you this was the problem ... because" is actively discouraged on stack exchange. Such posts are frequently flagged and deleted. — Philip Couling, Jun 10 '19 at 09:01

score 19 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 11 '20 at 14:16

19

Besides the files you mentioned, there could be .inputrc in effect that changes the interpretation of the p key.

Edit: maddingl (the OP) confirms:

That's it. I had left the following in there:
# fix not working delete-key in st, see https://git.suckless.org/st/file/FAQ.html
# line 51
printf '\033[?1h\033=' >/dev/tty
That line does fix the delete-key in st, but it also causes the described problem. I went back to urxvt anyways, so for me it does not matter. If the reader is using st and wants both working p and delete, see the above mentioned link for more info.

edited Jun 11 '20 at 14:16

Community

1

answered Jun 07 '19 at 09:15

choroba

47,233

4

@maddingl I don't think your edit was warrented. First of all: don't write edits using first-person. Edits should fix errors or add small amounts of information. IMHO instead of editing this answer you could have added your own answer instead. – Giacomo Alzetta Jun 07 '19 at 10:54
4

@GiacomoAlzetta: Let's not treat new users with conflicting demands. maddingl was asked to do it this this commend on the question above. – user000001 Jun 07 '19 at 19:07
I think the comment was suggesting that @maddlingl write his own answer, but it was written unclearly. – Barmar Jun 07 '19 at 22:08
@Barmar Yes, that's what I meant. If a user edits someone else's answer/question they should do so in an "integrated manner", not like "Hey, different user here. This is what I did ...". At that point they should simply write their own answer and add a reference to the other answer. – Giacomo Alzetta Jun 10 '19 at 07:05
@GiacomoAlzetta please don't encourage people to write new posts inappropriately. Answers are for new answers not further clarification of existing answers. – Philip Couling Jun 10 '19 at 09:06

bash does not know the letter 'p'

line 51

printf '\033[?1h\033=' >/dev/tty` I'm using urxvt again anyways, so it doesn't matter

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