Blank Terminal?

Question

I can open the terminal on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS with Ctrl+Alt+T, but it's completely blank and there appears to be no way to input anything.

I tried typing just in case there was something hidden, but it's as though the font is black on black. I've also tried changing font colours, but it didn't do anything.

How do I get to see what I'm doing (or what I did do that screw it up)?

I figured it out (sort of) Opened terminal, went to Edit, Profile Preferences, Color, un-check 'use colors from system theme, changed font colour to Yellow and background colour to black Strange thing though, I have no idea how everything got switched to 'grey' yet came out as black on black? — Peer Jones, Nov 16 '13 at 00:54
https://askubuntu.com/a/1418553 This answer on the other question solved the issue for me — Faris Demirović, Nov 04 '22 at 08:04

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 08 '23 at 18:17

4

For me the problem was a previous command that had crashed. Ctrl+C broke out of it for me. Perhaps something everybody knows, but not me until now!

edited Feb 08 '23 at 18:17

BeastOfCaerbannog

14,585

answered May 21 '14 at 16:08

S..

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score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 24 '18 at 21:38

3

I had the same problem. I went to terminal Preferences by right clicking on the terminal and choosing the Preferences option. Then I went to the Command tab and unchecked Run a custom command instead of my shell.

edited Jul 24 '18 at 21:38

wjandrea

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answered Jul 24 '18 at 19:39

user853129

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thanks, I mess up with that setting yesterday and Im totally freaking out when seeing the blank terminal,
Thanks for your answer
– Thinh NV Nov 22 '20 at 02:37

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 16 '13 at 04:05

3

Open virtual terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1.Then run the following commands to reinstall gnome-terminal,

sudo apt-get install --reinstall gnome-terminal

To return to GUI press Ctrl+Alt+F7

edited Nov 16 '13 at 04:05

sourav c.

44,715

answered Nov 16 '13 at 02:24

Avinash Raj

78,556

score 3 · Answer 4 · edited Jul 24 '18 at 21:39

It can be possible because of previous command crashed or not run successfully, and terminal has been closed OR forcefully closed. FATAL error can also play role for such scenario. You can try: Ctrl+c.

OR You can reinstall gnome-terminal by using virtual terminal.

OR Backup your current .bashrc file:

cp ~/.bashrc ~/.bashrc.bak

Copy the skeleton .bashrc file over yours:

cp /etc/skel/.bashrc ~/

Afterwards, load the new one:

source ~/.bashrc

score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Feb 08 '23 at 18:19

1

From OP's comment:

I figured it out (sort of). Opened terminal, went to Edit, Profile Preferences, Color, un-checked Use colors from system theme, changed font colour to Yellow and background colour to Black.

Strange thing though, I have no idea how everything got switched to 'grey' yet came out as black on black!

edited Feb 08 '23 at 18:19

BeastOfCaerbannog

14,585

answered Jul 24 '18 at 21:41

wjandrea

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Blank Terminal?

5 Answers5