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Matthew
Asked: 2010-10-15 07:18:04 +0800 CST

Why does pasting sometimes not work in gnome-terminal?

  • 772

Ctrl + Shift + C and Ctrl + Shift + V are supposed to replace the normal Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V in gnome-terminal.

Sometimes they work, but usually they have no effect. What are some potential reasons for this? I'm not sure what other information to give.

Edit: It seems that manually selecting Paste from the Edit menu does not work either. Right click > Paste works, but Edit > Paste does not. Copying works, but pasting does not.

Also, I have vi-mode enabled (set -o vi in my ~/.bashrc). Could this have something to do with it?

Edit: Here is a video demonstrating the problem. I used Screenkey (in "raw" mode, to catch "shift") to show what keys I am pressing.

gnome-terminal

9 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    This is a bug in gnome-terminal, the bug report is here with a patch:

    https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=600876

    Gnome has not fixed the problem though.

    Ubuntu has fixed it independently of Gnome. The detailed bug report is here:

    https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+bug/630383

    According to the bug report, the fixed Ubuntu package is gnome-terminal version 2.32.1-0ubuntu3. It is currently in the upload queue of maverick-proposed repository (with unapproved status). The upload queue is here:

    http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/maverick/+queue

    You could download the source package and build it yourself with debuild.

    Hopefully it will be soon pushed to normal update repositories.

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  2. It has to do, as you suspect, with "vi" mode.

    "vi" mode has separate insert and command modes, as you know. When in command mode, all text sent to the terminal is interpreted as a command.

    To convice yourself do this:

    • copy somewhere a string containing "isometext"
    • go to the terminal and press ESC to go to command mode
    • paste

    you should see only "sometext", because the initial "i" has been interpreted as the insert command.

    Solution: if in command mode, press "i" before inserting. If not sure, press ESC and "i" before inserting.

    • 7

  3. Using the terminal copy and paste utilizes two different methods based on which way you perform the copy and paste. If you use the highlight and paste-with-third-button, you are utilizing one of the buffers in X to do the work. If you use the menu or right-click to copy and paste, you are utilizing a different buffer.

    Thus, if you copy with a selection from the menu, then you must either paste using the menu or use the right-click menu. You can't select using Edit > Copy and then use the third mouse button to paste.

    This is also the reason you can't copy by highlighting then going to another application and using Edit > Paste.

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  4. try shift-ctrl-v (same buttons, different order). You can also reassign your keyboard shortcuts under terminal Edit menu. Do not reassign it to Ctrl+C, because Ctrl+C is used for killing processes under terminal (well, sending TERM signal).

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  5. For me, the easiest way to paste is the middle mouse button click. However I still copy using the menu, because I don't need to copy often.

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  6. For the record, I've run this test on various virtual instances of stock installs, ranging from 9.04 all the way through 11.04 Alpha 3. I've been unable to replicate your issues.

    I believe that the issue may be some type of configuration somewhere conflicting with another. As to the specific configuration, I do not know. However... (quote from chat)

    I'd blow away my .config stuff for gnome-terminal, but it's a pain to back up profiles.

    You might consider erasing your gnome-terminal configs to start, but after that i am not sure of how you'd fix this.

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  7. I don't know why, but I ever use the Menu-Key(=on the right between Super and Ctrl) for copy&paste.
    I hope that's a help for you ;-)

    • 0

  8. i've never had problems with this not working unless the cursor focus was not set to the terminal. make sure you've clicked into terminal before trying to paste.

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  9. I would guess this is a problem with the terminal's inner widget not having focus, perhaps connected to the inner mouse bar. If you click in the body of the terminal before pressing the keys does that fix it?

    (If this is true, it's a bug.)

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