Terminal became type "dumb"

[GoogleCodeExporter]

> What steps will reproduce the problem?
I updated gcloud components (I'm pretty sure it's the last modification I have 
done), and then I couldn't do what I was doing for about 2 months, including 
using emacs. When I try to use it, it tells me :
" emacs: Terminal type "dumb" is not powerful enough to run Emacs.
It lacks the ability to position the cursor.
If that is not the actual type of terminal you have,
use the Bourne shell command `TERM=... export TERM' (C-shell:
`setenv TERM ...') to specify the correct type.  It may be necessary
to do `unset TERMINFO' (C-shell: `unsetenv TERMINFO') as well. "

> What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
I should be able to use emacs, but I can't. It's the same if I use nano, I 
don't see anything on my terminal, as well as vim. Moreover, some other 
commands don't work anymore, like "clear".

What is the output of 'gcloud version'?
Google Cloud SDK 0.9.26

app-engine-python 1.9.6
app-engine-python-extras 1.9.6
bq 2.0.18
bq-win 2.0.17
compute 2014.06.11
core 2014.06.11
core-win 2014.06.03
dns 2014.04.30
gae-python 2014.05.06
gae-python-launcher-win 1.9.6
gcutil 1.16.0
gcutil-win 1.16.0
gsutil 4.1
gsutil-win 3.42
sql 2014.06.03
windows-ssh-tools 2014.06.03

> Please provide any additional information below.
I'm using gcutil on cmd Windows terminal. I searched a bit on the web and found 
absolutely noone having my problem, except people encountering this one while 
trying to use git/svn with emacs.
I hope someone has the solution, since I'm pretty sure it came after the last 
gcloud sdk update.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by carglass...@gmail.com on 18 Jun 2014 at 10:32

[GoogleCodeExporter]

More information : 
I'm using gcutil on Google Compute Engine Virtual Machines, and I'm logging on 
them with the ssh command line.

Original comment by carglass...@gmail.com on 18 Jun 2014 at 10:44

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Just to confirm:
1) You are on a Windows machine
2) You are using cmd
3) You are running gcutil ssh to connect to a compute engine linux vm
4) You are trying to use emacs on that remote machine though ssh

The "dumb" terminal type in this case is expected.  This is because cmd does 
not support the ascii escape sequences that things like emacs use to manipulate 
the terminal.  If you want to use applications like this on the remote VM, you 
should use a more fully featured ssh client like putty (or any other of your 
choosing) that does not run directly in cmd.

If I've misunderstood the problem, please feel free to re-open the bug.

Original comment by markp...@google.com on 18 Aug 2014 at 4:32

• Changed state: WorkingAsIntended

[GoogleCodeExporter]

You completely understood.
However, it has been working perfectly for more than 1 month. Then it suddenly 
happenned.
How could it have been working for so long if it couldn't?

Anyway, I'm using putty/remote VM now so I solved the problem (the issue has 
been created 2 months ago..), but it doesn't answer to the question anyway !

Thanks for your time anyway.

Original comment by carglass...@gmail.com on 18 Aug 2014 at 4:52

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Having the terminal set to "dumb" in this case was not implemented from the 
start (which was an oversight).  We corrected that at some point, which is 
probably what you are seeing.  I am surprised that emacs actually worked for 
you through cmd before.  The problem we were seeing was that cmd was reporting 
itself as a fully featured xterm and remote applications were sending back 
control characters that cmd could not render.  Setting the terminal type to 
"dumb" is safer, but can prevent some things from working (like emacs 
apparently).  But yes, you should continue to use Putty for anything that 
requires a fully featured terminal.

Original comment by markp...@google.com on 18 Aug 2014 at 5:10

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Ok that explains everything. Thanks.

Original comment by carglass...@gmail.com on 19 Aug 2014 at 8:53