Re: ring menu problem

bochner@das.harvard.edu (Harry Bochner) writes: : In article <C5InCu.Ao@salmon.demon.co.uk>, : neil@salmon.demon.co.uk ("Neil S. Briscoe") writes: : |> The observed fault is that if the user leaves the application at a : |> ring menu and does nothing for some time (the user has not been able : |> to quantify how long) when they next press a letter to access a menu : |> item, instead of the menu bar moving and the relevant actions being : |> performed, the letter typed is echoed in the position just left of the : |> first menu item. To get the actions executed, you then have to press : |> the RETURN key. : : This is a good description of what would happen if the (software) terminal : mode was changed to normal ("cooked"), instead of the "cbreak" mode that : 4GL runs in. : We actually have some C code that messes with this but it does reset it before returning control to Informix. That was the only thing that caused porting hassle to the PC's (no surprise). Reading on... : |> We changed both the console terminal, and the processor board : |> and the fault continued (it only happens on the console). : : The fact that it only happens on the console, combined with the fact that the : time interval is unpredictable, suggests that one of the system processes : (perhaps one of the ones that occasionally outputs error messages to the console) : is misbehaving, and resetting the terminal mode to normal. : : (Note that terminal mode is _not_ local to the process: if one process changes : it, it affects everything that uses that terminal.) : I suspect I know just what causes it now. Interactive outputs a message at about 5 PM that says: "The following file systems need backing up..." But I can't find a cron entry in any cron table for a program that runs at that time. Having said that, I left my PC at a menu all day yesterday, even over the time when the backup message would have been output, and didn't suffer the problem on mine. : If this is the kind of thing that's going on, then you could: : : 1) Avoid using the console. Isn't it annoying to have all the error messages : disrupting the screen? Not a possibility on the current (to be upgraded Sun), the console (VT100) is in the film library. Possible on the PC's, using VT's, I'll suggest it. : 2) Use X, or Sunview, or some such, so that "console" behavior is redirected : toward just one window, leaving the other windows undisturbed. No framebuffers on the Suns, old or new. Fortuneately, the new console is not in the film library. : 3) Track down the background process that changing the mode. (How? :-() Then try : to fix it, or do without it. Havn't a clue which one on the Sun, probably some syslogd output. That machine is also 99% full (they waited a *long* time before going for the upgrade we'd been urging for ages) so the messages, "accounting suspended" and, rarely, "accounting resumed" get printed. : 4) Upgrade the operating system, and hope the problem disappears. : Well, we're upgrading that Sun to a SPARC 10 with loads of disc space, we'll just have to see what occurs. Doubtless, getting them to use the VT will solve the PC's hickups. : Hope this helps! : : -- : Harry Bochner : bochner@das.harvard.edu I think it probably has. Many thanks. Regards Neil -- Neil S. Briscoe Telephone: +44 252 376737 System Administrator Fax: +44 252 376644 Email: neil@salmon.demon.co.uk nbriscoe@cix.compulink.co.uk