# Random Strings Appearing In Terminal



## SirFixAlot (Sep 7, 2018)

I'm relatively new to BSD and this place so hopefully I'm in the right place.

I've been experiencing a strange issue with BSD. Basically, in the terminal while I'm typing a command or using a simple editor like vi or ee, random strings will suddenly appear in the console or the file editor. It is frustrating because, often one is editing a .conf file and if a random string sneaks in, it jacks up the file if I don't catch it. It's very random and might look like anything ---and sometimes it "sticks" meaning I'll be typing and suddenly the carrot starts running away with random characters, *dddddddsdfsdf~~sfsdekeasdf~ (a fake example.)

Any thoughts on what might be causing this? I've pretty much got a fresh install ---I'm slowly making my way through the os documentation.

Thanks for the help,
SirFixAlot


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## leebrown66 (Sep 7, 2018)

If it's not a laptop, the first thing I would try is  different keyboard.  If the problem persists it's probably an internal hardware issue, if it goes away you know it was the old keyboard (dirty contacts/broken).

If it is a laptop, try a livecd of another OS.  If the problem persists it's your hardware, if it goes away then it's a FreeBSD issue.


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## SirFixAlot (Sep 7, 2018)

I plugged in a new keyboard and so far so good, no random characters appearing in the terminal/editors...  here's hoping it stays that way, fingers-crossed and knock-on-wood. Thanks for your help that was just killing me.


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## leebrown66 (Sep 7, 2018)

SirFixAlot said:


> fingers-crossed and knock-on-wood


That might be your problem right there  
I'm glad to be of some help.


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