Problem solved!  A big thank you to everyone who responded.  Your answers led me to the culprit - a faulty file called .inputrc in the user’s Home directory.  Based on the file’s contents, it seems that somehow she ran a script which inadvertently created the file and output a few lines of nonsense to it.  I’m not sure why it would have produced the particular symptom that it did, but no other user had this config file in their Home directory so we removed it and normal terminal operation resumed.

Thanks again!

Dan Wyrembelski

Information Technology Professional

MSU Dept. of Horticulture

517-355-5191 ext. 1372

From: Daniel Wyrembelski [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2014 11:45 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MSUNAG] Question for the Linux wizards

Hello Everyone,

Long-time listener, first time caller here - so I apologize if this is not the proper venue.  I’m reaching out for help today on an issue from one of my users.  She has a Linux (Ubuntu 12.04LTS) machine for bioinformatics work and a problem has arisen in using the Terminal.  The numbers 1, 4, 6 and 9 do not work (using the number pad or otherwise).  Even when doing copy/paste, it will paste all other characters and omit instances of those four numbers.  They do work in something like a web browser – the problem only produces in the Terminal.  Additionally, the issue is isolated to just one local user account.  The numbers do begin working if she connects to HPCC via SSH.  I’ve tried checking basics like keyboard mapping but have been unable to find any good information on the interwebs and am admittedly not a linux expert.  I also tried installing a different terminal software (‘Konsole’ to be exact) and the problem carried over so it seems to be deeper than that – maybe with BASH itself.

If anyone has any ideas or has seen a similar issue, I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks and Happy Monday!!

Dan Wyrembelski

Information Technology Professional

MSU Dept. of Horticulture

517-355-5191 ext. 1372