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Usually C-a moves point to just after the prompt:

andreas@my-computer:~/some/folder
$ #here

but occasionally something happens and C-a starts to the beginning of line:

andreas@my-computer:~/some/folder
#here

I have no idea why this happens, and the only way I've been able to fix it is to restart Emacs. How can I revert C-a to the normal behavior of moving to the point after the prompt?

Andreas Jansson
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  • Check what function is bound to C-a both when it's working and when it isn't: you can do that with C-h c C-a RET. If they are different, that might provide a clue. Also, check that the mode is still shell-mode (e.g, with C-h v major-mode RET). – NickD Mar 16 '18 at 16:30
  • thanks @Nick, they're no different. another side effect is that C-c C-c doesn't work on long-running processes inside the shell, it fails with "Text is read only". – Andreas Jansson Mar 16 '18 at 16:43
  • Maybe that's what you are doing: C-x C-q will toggle the read-only option on the buffer, so you may be pressing that inadvertently. The status line should tell you whether the buffer is read-only: if it is, try C-x C-q again to restore it to read-write But I can't reproduce the C-a behavior with just setting the buffer read-only. – NickD Mar 16 '18 at 17:28
  • Have you tried M-x shell-mode RET when it's in the funky state? Maybe that will restore the proper C-a behavior. – NickD Mar 16 '18 at 17:32
  • BTW, is C-a bound to comint-bol? – NickD Mar 16 '18 at 17:33
  • thanks again @Nick! M-x shell-mode doesn't fix the funk. I can write when I'm positioned after the prompt, but it's read-only when I try to type on the $ in the prompt, or on running shell output. C-a is bound to move-beginning-of-line – Andreas Jansson Mar 16 '18 at 19:36
  • Ahhh I found the answer here https://emacs.stackexchange.com/a/33766/9062 – Andreas Jansson Mar 16 '18 at 19:39
  • (setq comint-use-prompt-regexp nil) fixed it! – Andreas Jansson Mar 16 '18 at 19:40
  • It was caused by ein:ipdb-buffer-initialize – Andreas Jansson Mar 16 '18 at 19:46

1 Answers1

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Fixed by invoking (setq comint-use-prompt-regexp nil).

It was caused by ein:ipdb-buffer-initialize

Andreas Jansson
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    That variable already defaults to nil, so please expand your answer to include some explanation of why it was set otherwise in the first place. – Stefan Nov 08 '18 at 20:54