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We regularly access the build machine through RDP and it there are lots of command line windows that open. Sometimes these windows hang like someone switched focus to them and press the Pause key. Tapping the keyboard moves the process along, but every once in a while this is missed and everyone waits on the process to finish while it is waiting for someone to press a key. Why does this happen? Is there a setting or version up/down-grade that can keep it from happening?

Kara
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ssorrrell
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  • Wish I had an answer, but instead offer this troubleshooting: take RDP out of the picture, plug in a monitor and keyboard directly to the machine, and then try the same thing. If you have the same behavior, RDP isn't the problem. – jro Feb 26 '09 at 15:40
  • Can't do that. Build machine is in Chicago. I am not. However, we used to use Citrix and it had the same issue. – ssorrrell Feb 26 '09 at 19:21

2 Answers2

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When this happens, does the window title say "Select Command Prompt"? If so, hitting a key will unpause it, but the keystroke will also be sent to the paused program unless it's ESC or enter (or possibly others). You can turn this feature off by going into the Command Prompt properties/defaults and unchecking "QuickEdit Mode".

If that's not it, you'll have to post more information about your build process. What is your build system written in (make, scons, jam, msbuild, etc.)?

bk1e
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  • Any keystroke will do; it doesn't have to be ESC, but +1 for the text in the title bar changing, I never noticed that :) – Patrick Cuff Feb 26 '09 at 15:54
  • I guess I always use ESC because it gets ignored by cmd.exe. I'll edit my post accordingly. – bk1e Feb 26 '09 at 15:57
  • Actually, the behavior seems to be that most keys are sent to the program that is paused, but escape and enter (and possibly others) are not. – bk1e Feb 26 '09 at 16:04
  • I don't think the window title changes, because this has gotten me several times and I'm good at picking up little details like this. I'll look for this next time. – ssorrrell Feb 26 '09 at 19:20
  • is there a way to turn off it by default ? – Arti Apr 08 '19 at 11:27
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One thing to watch out for in command line Windows; if you have QuickEdit Mode enabled (click on icon in title bar, Properties..., Options tab) you can highlight and copy with the mouse, bypassing the Edit menu. Stray mouse clicks in the window highlight the character underneath and the console will appear to "hang" until a key is pressed.

Patrick Cuff
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