Console saving does not work in FreeBSD #3292

mc-butler · 2014-10-24T07:12:50Z

Important

This issue was migrated from Trac:

Origin	https://midnight-commander.org/ticket/3292
Reporter	`hempalex`
Mentions	`egmont@….com` (@egmontkob)

After update to 4.8.13 from freebsd ports (misc/mc) console saving stopped to work.

I'm tried FreeBSD 8.4, 9.1, 10.0 on about 10 different servers.

Steps to reproduce

ssh to server
run mc
in mc run, for example "ls", giving a list of files in current dir
Press Ctrl-o, panels have been hidden, but screen is empty - but i'm expecting an output from "ls"

mc -v output:

GNU Midnight Commander 4.8.13
Built with GLib 2.36.3
Using the S-Lang library with terminfo database
With builtin Editor
With subshell support as default
With support for background operations
With mouse support on xterm
With support for X11 events
With internationalization support
With multiple codepages support
Virtual File Systems: cpiofs, tarfs, sfs, extfs, ftpfs, sftpfs, fish, smbfs
Data types: char: 8; int: 32; long: 64; void *: 64; size_t: 64; off_t: 64;

Strange enough, but rolling back to 4.8.12 does not solved problem!
Additionally I tried to remove a .cache/.config/.local directories, but no luck...

Note

Original attachments:

typescript.old (raw) by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:12 UTC
typescript.new (raw) by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:13 UTC
typescript.old2 (raw) by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:38 UTC
typescript.new2 (raw) by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:38 UTC

The text was updated successfully, but these errors were encountered:

mc-butler · 2014-10-24T07:14:49Z

Changed by hempalex on Oct 24, 2014 at 7:14 UTC (comment 1)

$ LC_MESSAGES=C mc -F
Root directory: /home/alexm

[System data]

Config directory: /usr/local/etc/mc/
Data directory: /usr/local/share/mc/
File extension handlers: /usr/local/libexec/mc/ext.d/
VFS plugins and scripts: /usr/local/libexec/mc/

extfs.d: /usr/local/libexec/mc/extfs.d/
fish: /usr/local/libexec/mc/fish/

[User data]

Config directory: /home/alexm/.config/mc/
Data directory: /home/alexm/.local/share/mc/

skins: /home/alexm/.local/share/mc/skins/
extfs.d: /home/alexm/.local/share/mc/extfs.d/
fish: /home/alexm/.local/share/mc/fish/
mcedit macros: /home/alexm/.local/share/mc/mc.macros
mcedit external macros: /home/alexm/.local/share/mc/mcedit/macros.d/macro.*

Cache directory: /home/alexm/.cache/mc/

$ mc --configure-options

'--with-internal-edit' '--enable-charset' '--enable-nls' '--enable-vfs-smb' '--with-smb-configdir=/usr/local/etc' '--with-smb-codepagedir=/usr/local/etc/codepages' '--with-subshell' '--disable-x' '--with-screen=slang' '--with-slang-includes=/usr/local/include' '--prefix=/usr/local' '--mandir=/usr/local/man' '--infodir=/usr/local/info/' '--build=amd64-portbld-freebsd9.3' 'build_alias=amd64-portbld-freebsd9.3' 'CC=cc' 'CFLAGS=-O2 -pipe -fno-strict-aliasing' 'LDFLAGS= -L/usr/local/lib' 'LIBS=' 'CPPFLAGS=-I/usr/local/include' 'CPP=cpp' 'PKG_CONFIG=pkgconf'

mc-butler · 2014-11-19T08:01:39Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 19, 2014 at 8:01 UTC (comment 2)

same issue(freebsd 10, mc 4.8.13), very annoying

mc-butler · 2014-11-19T09:56:55Z

Changed by egmont (@egmontkob) on Nov 19, 2014 at 9:56 UTC

Strange enough, but rolling back to 4.8.12 does not solved problem!

Are you sure this ever worked?

According to my best knowledge, although I might be wrong:

mc ships a cons.saver binary. Its intent is to save the contents underneath if running on the Linux console (tty1-tty6). This is a workaround for the Linux console not having an "alternate screen" (the one which doesn't have a scrollbar, and apps like mc, less, vim etc. switch to, and the original contents are automatically restored when quitting this mode). I don't know if cons.saver supports FreeBSD, and it definitely can't work over ssh or any other channel since it requires access to the local /dev/vcs* files.

When running inside a graphical terminal (e.g. xterm), it's the terminal that supports alternate screen. MC switches to this mode when it starts up (you should tell e.g. by the scrollbar no longer working), and it's also the terminal emulator itself that restores the contents when quitting mc or when pressing Ctrl-O (mc only asks the terminal emulator to leave the alternate screen mode).

I suspect either a broken terminal emulator, or a misunderstanding of what's supposed to work and wishing for something that never worked.

Could you please provide exact details about the OS and terminal in front of which you're sitting and ssh'ing to FreeBSD?

mc-butler · 2014-11-19T09:59:37Z

Changed by egmont (@egmontkob) on Nov 19, 2014 at 9:59 UTC (comment 4)

Cc set to egmont@….com

mc-butler · 2014-11-20T06:36:26Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 20, 2014 at 6:36 UTC (comment 5)

As for me, it worked all years before on all oses i've ever seen. Including any versions of freebsd. And now it stops working after update of mc to 4.8.13.
Now I have two identical servers with Freebsd 10 on board, one with updated mc and one with old mc (4.8.11). Old mc saves console output, while new mc does not.
This behavior still the same when i sshing from Debian with xterm, and from windows with putty.

mc-butler · 2014-11-20T22:28:40Z

Changed by egmont (@egmontkob) on Nov 20, 2014 at 22:28 UTC (comment 6)

Hmmm, this might indeed be a problem with mc.

It would be nice to see the result 'typescript' files of a run of mc inside 'script', both with working and nonworking mc. The files contain tons of hard-to-understand stuff, so it'd help if otherwise everything (e.g. directories) would be the exact same. It would be nice to do the minimal possible stuff inside mc. That is:

Run 'script', run 'mc', press Ctrl-O, press Ctrl-O again, quit mc, quit script (e.g. Ctrl-D), save the 'typescript' file.

Beware that the file might contain sensible information (list of filenames), preferably do it with empty directories on both panels.

Comparing the two typescript files (with mc-4.8.11 vs. mc-4.8.13) might reveal what's the problem.

In the mean time, if you could do a 'git bisect' to catch the malicious commit, that'd be even better :)

(Unfortunately I don't have FreeBSD, that's why I'm asking for this.)

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T06:12:52Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:12 UTC

Attachment typescript.old (raw) added

old mc

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T06:13:05Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:13 UTC

Attachment typescript.new (raw) added

new mc

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T06:18:17Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:18 UTC (comment 7)

Sorry, but I can't find the differences between typescript files attached

The sequence was the same on both machines:

script
mc

ctrl-o
enter (to get clean prompt)

ls

enter (here were receive ls output)
ctrl-o (mc panels are back)
ctrl-o (back to command line, now can see ls output for old mc, and completely blank screeen for new mc)
ctrl-o (mc panels are back)
F10
enter
ctrl-d

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T06:38:02Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:38 UTC

Attachment typescript.old2 (raw) added

old mc with timestamping

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T06:38:17Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:38 UTC

Attachment typescript.new2 (raw) added

new mc with timestamping

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T06:40:47Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 6:40 UTC (comment 8)

I've recorded all the same again, now with timestamping (script -r)
New files can be played with "script -p <filename>", with clearly visible buggy behavior of new mc.

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T10:23:42Z

Changed by egmont (@egmontkob) on Nov 21, 2014 at 10:23 UTC (comment 9)

(FreeBSD script's timing seems to be incompatible with Linux's, I don't have an option to play it back with timing :( I can do a slowcat on the raw version.)

The buggy version never prints [?47h (nor [?1047h or [?1049h), meaning it does not switch to the alternate screen.

You could also verify this by first producing more than a screenful of update (e.g. ls -l /etc) and then starting mc. With the correct mc you shouldn't be able to use the terminal's scrollbar to scroll back (when mc's panels are on). With the buggy one you'll be able to scroll back.

Looks like subshell support is not being used. (I should have thought of it at the beginning.) What does "mc --version" say about subshell?

Are you using FreeBSD packages of mc, or compiling yourself? If the former, it _could_ be a bug in FreeBSD's way of packaging it, maybe they changed something. If the latter, is 4.8.12 buggy for you too, as for the original reporter? Could you maybe please do a git bisect between .11 and .12?

What shell are you using? (There were zsh changes in .12).

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T10:57:15Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 10:57 UTC (comment 10)

root@dedic53 [~/aa]# mc --version
GNU Midnight Commander 4.8.13
Built with GLib 2.36.3
Using the S-Lang library with terminfo database
With builtin Editor
With subshell support as default
With support for background operations
With mouse support on xterm
With support for X11 events
With internationalization support
With multiple codepages support
Virtual File Systems: cpiofs, tarfs, sfs, extfs, ftpfs, sftpfs, fish, smbfs
Data types: char: 8; int: 32; long: 64; void *: 64; size_t: 64; off_t: 64;

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T11:00:01Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 11:00 UTC (comment 11)

I've tried mc from ports first (compiling myself). When noticed the bug, reinstalled it from packages - nothing changed.

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T11:02:22Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 11:02 UTC (comment 12)

I've tried zsh and bash - all the same

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T11:06:13Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 11:06 UTC (comment 13)

"You could also verify this by first producing more than a screenful of update (e.g. ls -l /etc) and then starting mc. With the correct mc you shouldn't be able to use the terminal's scrollbar to scroll back (when mc's panels are on). With the buggy one you'll be able to scroll back."

Confirmed, things happened exactly as you describe it. Terminal's scrollbar stays usable for buggy mc, and disappears for old one.

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T11:32:24Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 11:32 UTC (comment 14)

Let's play with portdowngrade utility =)
I've just now tried to install 4.8.11 (port revision [340725] just before .12) - it works.
Then installed first revision of 4.8.12 (port revision [349958]) - works too.
Then latest port revision of 4.8.12 ([357939]) - works again.
First port revision of 4.8.13 ([369133]) - doesn't work.

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T11:42:58Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 11:42 UTC (comment 15)

At last I've found the reason.
There is a freebsd port specific patch, named patch-libttywin.c
I've noticed it was changed since 4.8.13
Old version:

--- ./lib/tty/win.c.orig<------>2013-09-02 19:13:32.000000000 +0200
+++ ./lib/tty/win.c<--->2013-12-07 10:33:20.000000000 +0100
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@
 void
 do_enter_ca_mode (void)
 {
-    if (mc_global.tty.xterm_flag && smcup != NULL)
+    if (mc_global.tty.xterm_flag)
     {
         fprintf (stdout, /* ESC_STR ")0" */ ESC_STR "7" ESC_STR "[?47h");
         fflush (stdout);
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
 void
 do_exit_ca_mode (void)
 {
-    if (mc_global.tty.xterm_flag && rmcup != NULL)
+    if (mc_global.tty.xterm_flag)
     {
         fprintf (stdout, ESC_STR "[?47l" ESC_STR "8" ESC_STR "[m");
         fflush (stdout);

New version:

--- lib/tty/win.c.orig<>2014-09-02 09:23:58 UTC
+++ lib/tty/win.c
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
 void
 do_exit_ca_mode (void)
 {
-    if (mc_global.tty.xterm_flag && rmcup != NULL)
+    if (mc_global.tty.xterm_flag)
     {
         fprintf (stdout, ESC_STR "[?47l" ESC_STR "8" ESC_STR "[m");
         fflush (stdout);

I've replaced this new patch with old one (from 4.8.12) and build 4.8.13.
MC works.

Found the solution, but have no idea what to do with this information :(
Should I create bug report to freebsd port maintainer?

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T11:51:30Z

Changed by egmont (@egmontkob) on Nov 21, 2014 at 11:51 UTC (comment 16)

[This comment might not be relevant seeing your most recent comment, but posting it anyway, might be useful in the future]

Replying to maxout:

Then latest port revision of 4.8.12 ([357939]) - works again.

Strange, this differs from the original reporter's observation.

Could you please locate the faulty change:

git clone git://github.com/MidnightCommander/mc.git
cd mc
git bisect start
git bisect good 4.8.11
git bisect bad 4.8.13
./autogen.sh
./configure

and then repeat this in a loop:

make
./src/mc
test to see if it works:
o if Ctrl-O works as expected then execute: git bisect good
o if doesn't work then execute: git bisect bad
o (if fails to compile or you're unable to test, execute: git bisect skip)

each step of the loop will take a few minutes, and you'll have around 7 steps. At the end it'll tell you the faulty mc commit.

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T11:56:06Z

Changed by egmont (@egmontkob) on Nov 21, 2014 at 11:56 UTC (comment 17)

(Note: the "-" sign (removal of line) was converted to a bullet in your patch.)

FreeBSD's change of the patch definitely looks broken, they've modified a condition in a certain way when leaving the alternate screen, but dropped the same modification of the condition when entering it. It's their fault, please notify them.

On the other hand, we should understand why such patch is needed at all, and modify mainstream mc so that freebsd doesn't need a patch.

mc-butler · 2014-11-21T12:06:51Z

Changed by maxout (maxout.mail@….com) on Nov 21, 2014 at 12:06 UTC (comment 18)

Just for information, here is a bugreport:
https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=194627

mc-butler · 2014-12-02T05:20:22Z

Changed by andrew_b (@aborodin) on Dec 2, 2014 at 5:20 UTC (comment 19)

Milestone Future Releases deleted
Resolution set to duplicate
Status changed from new to closed

Closed as duplicate of #2633.

mc-butler · 2014-12-09T05:32:12Z

Changed by andrew_b (@aborodin) on Dec 9, 2014 at 5:32 UTC (comment 20)

Ticket #3368 has been marked as a duplicate of this ticket.

mc-butler closed this as completed Dec 2, 2014

mc-butler closed this as completed Feb 28, 2025

mc-butler marked this as a duplicate of #3368 Feb 28, 2025

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Console saving does not work in FreeBSD #3292

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Console saving does not work in FreeBSD #3292

Console saving does not work in FreeBSD #3292

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