# IRB is dying on me **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [September 24, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/irb-is-dying-on-me/115378 "2007-09-24T18:27:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/irb-is-dying-on-me/115378/1 "2007-09-24T18:27:34Z")
Why is it that I can’t repeat lines and edit them in IRB? If I press my cursor up key, normally, that repeats the line I just entered. Then, I can backspace and modify any part of that line I want before executing it. But, it’s dying on me. After I backspace a few characters, the cursor goes nuts, and, I’ve lost my instruction string. Has anyone else seen this behavior? Thanks, Peter ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/irb-is-dying-on-me/115378/2 "2007-09-24T18:38:53Z")
On Tue, 25 Sep 2007, Peter B. wrote: > Why is it that I can’t repeat lines and edit them in IRB? If I press my > cursor up key, normally, that repeats the line I just entered. Then, I > can backspace and modify any part of that line I want before executing > it. But, it’s dying on me. After I backspace a few characters, the > cursor goes nuts, and, I’ve lost my instruction string. Has anyone else > seen this behavior? Sounds like your missing readline support. ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/irb-is-dying-on-me/115378/3 "2007-09-24T18:41:27Z")
Greg D. wrote: > On Tue, 25 Sep 2007, Peter B. wrote: > > > Why is it that I can’t repeat lines and edit them in IRB? If I press my > > cursor up key, normally, that repeats the line I just entered. Then, I > > can backspace and modify any part of that line I want before executing > > it. But, it’s dying on me. After I backspace a few characters, the > > cursor goes nuts, and, I’ve lost my instruction string. Has anyone else > > seen this behavior? > > Sounds like your missing readline support. Sorry, but, I don’t know what that is. Is that a gem I need to install? ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/irb-is-dying-on-me/115378/4 "2007-09-24T18:55:33Z")
Greg D. wrote: > On Tue, 25 Sep 2007, Peter B. wrote: > > > > Sounds like your missing readline support. > > > > Sorry, but, I don’t know what that is. Is that a gem I need to install? > > Readline is the library that makes your irb behave more like a modern > shell. I added readline support to my Ruby when I compiled it. > > –with-readline-dir=/usr/local OK. Well, I’m on Windows and I didn’t compile anything. Ruby’s been “out-of-the-box” for me for almost a year now and it’s worked beautifully. I’ll look into it further. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/irb-is-dying-on-me/115378/5 "2007-09-24T18:50:56Z")
On Tue, 25 Sep 2007, Peter B. wrote: > > Sounds like your missing readline support. > > Sorry, but, I don’t know what that is. Is that a gem I need to install? Readline is the library that makes your irb behave more like a modern shell. I added readline support to my Ruby when I compiled it. –with-readline-dir=/usr/local ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/irb-is-dying-on-me/115378/6 "2007-09-25T06:29:12Z")
On Sep 24, 2007, at 2:17 PM, Peter B. wrote: > > > shell. I added readline support to my Ruby when I compiled it. > > > – > > > Posted via [http://www.ruby-forum.com/](http://www.ruby-forum.com/). Ask yourself if you’ve installed anything recently (since you last remember it working) … Something could’ve clobbered something. Is your keyboard working in every app? Is it CygWin or something? ---
**Author:** ![bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@bodikp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bodikp)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/irb-is-dying-on-me/115378/7 "2007-09-24T21:17:21Z")
Peter B. wrote: > Greg D. wrote: > > > On Tue, 25 Sep 2007, Peter B. wrote: > > > > > > Sounds like your missing readline support. > > > > > > Sorry, but, I don’t know what that is. Is that a gem I need to install? > > > > Readline is the library that makes your irb behave more like a modern > > shell. I added readline support to my Ruby when I compiled it. > > > > –with-readline-dir=/usr/local > > OK. Well, I’m on Windows and I didn’t compile anything. Ruby’s been > “out-of-the-box” for me for almost a year now and it’s worked > beautifully. I’ll look into it further. Thanks. Well, I tried everything including uninstalling and re-installing Ruby. But, it still isn’t working. This is very weird.