Left/right arrow and backspace translation confusion

[Alex Zbyslaw]

Doug Lee wrote:

>This one is making me feel dumb...I've been using FreeBSD for at least
>six years but I can't seem to figure this out...
>
>I have two FreeBSD systems running 4.10/4.11 (these problems have
>plagued me through several versions though).  On one system, arrows
>and backspace work as expected, but on the other, left/right arrows in
>vi cause havock (extra characters and a switch from command to insert
>mode), and backspace in Lynx, Mutt, etc., backs up but leaves
>characters intact instead of clearing them. 
>
One thing to check is that both keyboards are actually producing the 
same codes for your keys.  They probably are, but...

Just type "cat" and then press the arrow keys on each system.  Finish 
with Enter^D

Also, what does "echo $term" show?  Identical termcap files don't help 
if your terms are different :-)

Is there anything different about the .login or .cshrc between the machines?

--Alex