Finch Does Not Detect Esc/Alt/Meta Key

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What steps will reproduce the problem?
1. Connect remote server
2. Connect launch finch (command line ncurses based pidgin/libpurple, 
http://developer.pidgin.im/)
3. Attempt to change windows, Alt-n Alt-p

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
Should change to the next window, instead the character being meta'd is 
displayed, eg Alt-n is pressed finch just recieves 'n'

What version of the product are you using (you can see this by using Menu
-> About in the Host List)?
1.7.0-rc2 (r571ea52)

What type of system are you trying to connect to?
HTC Evo

If you are able to connect, what is the output of "echo $TERM", "uname -a",
and any other relevant information on the host?
echo $TERM
screen

Have also tried setting vt100 with same results

uname -a
Linux 2.6.28-18-server Ubuntu
Please provide any additional information below.

May be finch issue?

Original issue reported on code.google.com by ramblinp...@gmail.com on 30 Aug 2010 at 9:35

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Turns out was a finch issue, it seems to grab the esc, and doing a timeout 
itself.  This is fairly short and doesnt work with the delays inherit in 
virtual keyboard/cell connections.

Best workaround I've found so far is running finch in screen and set the 
maptimeout value to something around 1000 (value is in ms)

Original comment by ramblinp...@gmail.com on 2 Sep 2010 at 3:39

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I have the same issue, but I don't understand how to set maptimeput value.
Thanks.

Original comment by asam...@gmail.com on 16 Sep 2010 at 3:03

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I tried to say maptimeout value.

Original comment by asam...@gmail.com on 16 Sep 2010 at 12:45

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I've posted this issue at track for pidgin developer.
Ticket URL: http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/12642

Original comment by asam...@gmail.com on 16 Sep 2010 at 8:00

[GoogleCodeExporter]

asampau (and anyone else out there); follow below...

1. create a ~/.screenrc file containing the following:
     # screenrc by livnah
     # this maps your backspace key, which you're going to want ;)
     bindkey -d ^? stuff ^H
     # this maps F10 to F5; you want it for main menu nav (use Ctrl 5 now)
     bindkey -d ^[[15~ stuff ^[[21~
     # this maps F11 to F6; you want it for widget menu nav (use Ctrl 6 now)
     bindkey -d ^[[17~ stuff ^[[23~
     # this increases the delay between ESC and letter to 1sec.
     maptimeout 1000

2. save and exit editor.
3. from now on, instead of running "finch", run "screen finch"
3. backspace should now work if it wasn't before, and now you should have one 
full second between ESC (alt) and the letter-press, which should be sufficient 
for most users.  Note that if what you want to send to finch is just a 
plain-old-escape key, it'll take a full second of waiting for it to notice that 
and process the escape accordingly.
4. you should now be able to use Ctrl-5 for the main menu (up across the top of 
the screen)
5. you should now be able to use Ctrl-6 for the widget menus (not all widgets 
have these, do not despair!)

One last useful key combo: Ctrl-u will backspace to the beginning of the line!  
Very handy!

Original comment by liv...@gmail.com on 9 Jan 2011 at 11:42