# Midnight Commander works wrong



## w1k0 (Sep 24, 2009)

I use FreeBSD 7.2 with GENERIC kernel updated by a few ALTQ options and I encountered different problems using Midnight Commander. 


*1. mc -- first take*

Yesterday I installed Midnight Commander using misc/mc port. Unfortunately I couldn't change Midnight Commander's configuration. When I tried to write the changes the program displayed the message:


```
Setup saved to ~/.mc/ini
```

but didn't created ~/.mc/ini file and when I exited it and started for the next time the program ran in the default configuration. 

Moreover it didn't allow me to copy a marked text to a file. 

Default Midnight Commander's settings are very uncomfortable and the lacking of a text buffer is a serious limitation from my point of view. 


*2. mc-light -- first take*

So I removed Midnight Commander and installed Midnight Commander Light using misc/mc-light port. That program allowed me to store the configuration permanently but used an ugly color scheme (and I couldn't find the default scheme in Internet) as well as blocked the terminal didn't allowing me to use it as a console. 


*3. mc -- second take*

Today before writing my first post here I reinstalled FreeBSD 7.2 from the scratch. Then I installed Midnight Commander once again. As before it didn't allowed me to store the configuration. Moreover after a few exits and runs the program slowed down the startup procedures. 

Now it takes 31 seconds from running Midnight Commander with mc command to seeing the panels of the program. It works the same in X Window and in the console mode; in root's account and in regular user's account; before and after the reboot. 


*4. tricky installation*

So finally I tried simple trick. I installed Midnight Commander Light, I changed its configuration, stored it in ~/.mc/ini file, and finally removed light version and installed the full one. Midnight Commander works well with Midnight Commander Light's configuration files 

Now Midnight Commander uses my settings and allows me to write and read selected text to and from a file. 

Unfortunately it still runs in 31 seconds.


*5. Questions and suggestions*

I have one question and one suggestion...

Question: what can I do to avoid described above slow startup of Midnight Commander?

Suggestion: It will be good idea to improve misc/mc port to avoid the problems described above. I'll send e-mail about it to the maintainer of that port.


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## w1k0 (Sep 24, 2009)

As for two first issues I just discovered that Midnight Commander is unable to create ~/.mc directory when I use ``Options | Save setup'' menu. After I made it the program is able to store there its configuration as well as to write to cooledit.clip file.

I'm not sure the third issue. I just restarted the system for the next time and it seems that Midnight Commander starts now properly.

***

I sent the information about these issues to the maintainer of misc/mc port.


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## w1k0 (Sep 24, 2009)

Well... Something wrong happens in the system. Just after reboot Midnight Commander runs properly. After a few minutes of uptime it starts to run slowly.


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## w1k0 (Sep 24, 2009)

It seems I finally resolved that problem. When I installed FreeBSD yesterday I configured local network in a proper way. When I installed it today I forgot to customize /etc/hosts file. It caused some error messages during start and stop of X Window as well as slow startup of Midnight Commander.


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