What is the most probable cause of terminal freeze / unresponsive keys? I'm a relatively new Linux user (2 yrs) and am still learning to use the command line. I have used xkill and similar commands to clear a stuck process, but in some cases the keys simply don't respond and I've reverted to pulling the battery due to impatience. My question is - if the keys on the terminal are unresponsive then is it because there are processes still working, unseen by me, that have not finished? If I can't use my keyboard, then I'm unable to execute ANY command. Were I to be patient and let the software complete its tasks, would I at some point regain access to the keyboard? Or are there situations where I can never regain active keys without a reboot? Thanks.
2 Answers
If a terminal is frozen but not the rest of the GUI, then the first place to check is if you typed Ctrl + S, (which stops output to the terminal) and the fix for that is to type Ctrl+Q (resume output).
Because OP explicitly said "terminal", however, there is no reason to suspect the GUI.
Further reading:
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Thanks - I will write this down and apply next time. In most cases when this happens, it's due to trying too many things too quickly on my part. Appreciate the response. Feb 22, 2016 at 13:41
If it is a gnome-terminal: Possibly the "read-only" mode is toggled. Right click anywhere in the input/output panel, and unselect "read-only" (by clicking on it) in the pop-up context menu to release the terminal from the frozen state.
CTRL+C
? What commands are we talking? Does it happen randomly, even without you putting in commands?