vanishing terminal

[seannachie]

I'm currently running Mint 9 Xfce 32bit. I have the Java VM and OpenJava JDK installed, but I can't set my classpath variables. When I edited my bash file and tried to open a terminal, it flashed for a few seconds, then vanished. I removed the entries I made, and this still happens. I don't know what effect deleting the file would have, because there is an 'ELF' line there and a few masked characters. Rebooting didn't help either. Please advise.

[Old Ruler]

There should be a copy of the default .bashrc in /etc/skel/ so there are various things you could do. The easiest would be to just backup your existing one and copy the default one to your home. You may need to change its owner and group though.

If you want to compare them:

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diff /etc/skel/.bashrc .bashrc

Edit: Ach! Just noticed you're using Xfce. If there isn't one in /etc/skel/ you could try:

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locate bashrc

[seannachie]

Thank you for responding. Unfortunately, as I had stated, I could not use the terminal. So I couldn't copy bashrc, or search for it. Fortunately, I always keep my liveCD handy for events like this, even if I have to do a last-resort re-installation of the OS. Simply put and to make it short, I deleted the faulty BASH and replaced it with the CD version. (I have the terminal again.) But I still have my original problem (I had a similar one with the Mint Gnome version). This makes the second time I've tried to install a programming language that required editing any of the BASH files. And nothing has worked.
Uhhh, I've even been tempted to try Python...

[seannachie]

Ummm, I posted too soon. The terminal now comes up, but there's no prompt, and the cursor is frozen.

[Old Ruler]

Hmm, might be worth saying what you're trying to put in bashrc. Setting a classpath value shouldn't be so hard. Sounds like the system path is getting corrupted somehow...

I installed Python 3 on this PC a few days ago and I'm currently reading through /usr/share/doc/python3.1/html/tutorial/ It's very good IMHO.

[seannachie]

If the system path is corrupted, then resetting/reconfiguring it may be more complicated than replacing a file. Is there a way to restore the original bash configuration other than re-installing the OS?
Since Linux apps aren't exactly forthcoming about certain info, I tried to input the classpath manually. The install for both the VM and the JDK seemed to go to the /usr/lib/jvm directory. I also set an individual classpath for both of them as well. Maybe shell got confused.
Oh well, I can always reinstall...

[Old Ruler]

Is there a way to restore the original bash configuration other than re-installing the OS?

Of course. Simply open a terminal and...

Just use Xfce's file manager to copy the .bashrc from /etc/skell/ (if it exists) to your home. Other possibilities:

1) Create another user and use his terminal window to: su originalusername then do the copy (I think that will work).

2) Re-name or even Delete your .bashrc any way you can. Bash should pick one up from somewhere else, I think.

3) Use a different shell. I'm very fond of tcsh myself...

[seannachie]

I may have to re-install after all, because something is seriously wrong. As I have stated, I can't use the terminal because when I open it, there is no prompt and the cursor is frozen. I tried creating a guest account as you suggested, but when I log into it, all that comes up is the wallpaper. There are no icons, or a taskbar or a start menu.