TL;DR
- There is an old known issue around using Byobu via PuTTY. Mostly around the function keys not working as expected/needed with Byobu.
- Most common solution is to set Keyboard –> Function Keys and Keypad to
Xterm R6and Connections –> Data –> Terminal-type string toputty-256colour - It makes sense and seems to address the issue for most
- BUT NOT ME BABY! (Windows 10, Putty 0.81, Raspberry Pi 4, Raspberry OS Bookworm, Byobu using tmux backend).
- Mostly the issue was around creating spilt’s.
- What fixed it was setting Terminal-type string to
xtermand Keyboard –> Function Keys and Keypad toXterm 216+ - Not sure what other issues it will cause me but it fixed the function keys not working issue without making it worse.
Intro
This was a quick write up because, I stumbled upon this answer when the most common answers were not giving me love.
None of this makes sense? here’s some background info if you need it:
- Terminal Emulator
- PuTTY
- Xterm
- Byobu (software)
- byobu f2 function keys not working in putty - Google Search
My bias’:
- PuTTY is not my day to day (it’s SecureCRT)
- Still have a lot of love for PuTTY and as soon as things get weird, PuTTY is where I go
- Have installed all the PuTTY tools via Microsoft Store (keeps them up to date)
- I am not Terminal Emulator setting expert but I get the main points of it and to some degree how we got here
The problem: When I was using Byobu via PuTTY I couldn’t get the splits to respond to the default keys. Some things did work and others didn’t. Tinkering let me to the very common solutions such as:
- set Keyboard –> Function Keys and Keypad to
Xterm R6 - set Connections –> Data –> Terminal-type string to
putty-256colour - check version of PuTTY
- Look at some forks (KiTTY, etc)
The first two were the most common, but for me they didn’t work. I decided on the old, try one at a time and got some mixed results. I’d also had some other issues in the past with some networking gear and terminal type of xterm so I decided to adjust bits and pieces until I tried:
- set Connections –> Data –> Terminal-type string to
xterm - set Keyboard –> Function Keys and Keypad to
Xterm 216+
The terminal type wasn’t a complete short in the dark as I’d had some success on unrelated efforts using the xterm value, but the Function key setting of Xterm 216+ was just a “Why not give it a go” choice and I was surprised it got me there. I don’t know much about Xterm 216+ but at this point I’m not complaining.
I’d still recommend checking the most common solution first, but if, like me, you still had some issues, maybe give this a try.
My gut tells me that there is still something else at play somewhere I can’t pin point that may make this solution valid but I couldn’t easily figure it out and wanted to share.
Summary
It works for me. It may work for you. There may be an underlying reason I can’t see that makes it work, but its happened to me a few times over the years that i’m going with it.
The end.
Misc References on this site
- A bunch of Byobu notes and keyboard shortcuts in Linux Commands
- PuTTY Commands
- SSH Tips and Tricks
- Bash Tips