GNU bug report logs - #2501
22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - font's are unreadable

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Message #5 received at submit <at> emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com (full text, mbox):

From: Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net>
To: Emacs bug BTS <submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - font's are unreadable
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:25:54 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On a white mrxt black on white terminal[1], the font-lock colors are
unreadable. See attached picture.

    $ tput colors
    8

Please improve font-lock-keywords.

[term-mrxvt-white-emacs-nw.png (image/png, attachment)]

[Message part 3 (text/plain, inline)]

[1] Debian; mrxvt 0.5.3-2 terminal
http://packages.debian.org/mrxvt

In GNU Emacs 22.2.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, X toolkit, Xaw3d scroll bars)
 of 2008-11-10 on excelsior, modified by Debian
Windowing system distributor `The X.Org Foundation', version 11.0.10402000
configured using `configure  '--build=x86_64-linux-gnu' '--host=x86_64-linux-gnu' '--prefix=/usr' '--sharedstatedir=/var/lib' '--libexecdir=/usr/lib' '--localstatedir=/var/lib' '--infodir=/usr/share/info' '--mandir=/usr/share/man' '--with-pop=yes' '--enable-locallisppath=/etc/emacs22:/etc/emacs:/usr/local/share/emacs/22.2/site-lisp:/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp:/usr/share/emacs/22.2/site-lisp:/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp:/usr/share/emacs/22.2/leim' '--with-x=yes' '--with-x-toolkit=athena' '--with-toolkit-scroll-bars' 'build_alias=x86_64-linux-gnu' 'host_alias=x86_64-linux-gnu' 'CFLAGS=-DDEBIAN -g -O2' 'LDFLAGS=-g' 'CPPFLAGS=''

Important settings:
  value of $LC_ALL: nil
  value of $LC_COLLATE: nil
  value of $LC_CTYPE: nil
  value of $LC_MESSAGES: nil
  value of $LC_MONETARY: nil
  value of $LC_NUMERIC: nil
  value of $LC_TIME: nil
  value of $LANG: en_DK.UTF-8
  locale-coding-system: utf-8
  default-enable-multibyte-characters: t

Message #8 received at 2501 <at> emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com (full text, mbox):

From: Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu>
To: Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net>
Cc: 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#2501: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - font's are unreadable
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:22:11 -0800 (PST)

Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net> writes:

  > On a white mrxt black on white terminal[1], the font-lock colors are
  > unreadable. See attached picture.
  > 
  >     $ tput colors
  >     8
  > 
  > Please improve font-lock-keywords.
  > 
  > 
  > 
  > [1] Debian; mrxvt 0.5.3-2 terminal
  > http://packages.debian.org/mrxvt

It appears that emacs thinks that you have dark background.   What did
you set TERM to?
This looks like it is an rxvt derivative, so the value of the COLORFGBG
environment variable should help emacs realize what is the default
background. 

Message #13 received at 2501 <at> emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com (full text, mbox):

From: Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net>
To: Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu>
Cc: 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#2501: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - fonts are unreadable
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:01:26 +0200

Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu> writes:
>   > On a white mrxt black on white terminal[1], the font-lock colors are
>   > unreadable. See attached picture.
>   > 
>   >     $ tput colors
>   >     8
>   > 
>   > [1] Debian; mrxvt 0.5.3-2 terminal
>   > http://packages.debian.org/mrxvt
>
> It appears that emacs thinks that you have dark background.   What did
> you set TERM to?

I started mrxvt from xterm:

    $ xterm
    $ echo $TERM
    xterm
    $ mrxvt &

    mrxvt$ echo $TERM
    rxvt
    <terminal is open in black on white>

> This looks like it is an rxvt derivative, so the value of the COLORFGBG
> environment variable should help emacs realize what is the default
> background.

mrxvt$ COLORFGBG=1 emacs -Q -nw
=> Same color results as in previously attached picture

Jari

Message #18 received at submit <at> emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com (full text, mbox):

From: Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#2501: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - font's are unreadable
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:09:30 +0200

Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu> writes:

> This looks like it is an rxvt derivative, so the value of the COLORFGBG
> environment variable should help emacs realize what is the default
> background. 

I'm not sure what the COLORFGBG is, so I tried:

    <mrxvt terminal: black text on white background>
    COLORFGBG="dark;light"       emacs -Q -q -nw ~/tmp/test.el
    COLORFGBG="light;dark"       emacs -Q -q -nw ~/tmp/test.el
    COLORFGBG="default;default"  emacs -Q -q -nw ~/tmp/test.el

with same results as in previously attached picture. No change.

Jari

Message #21 received at 2501 <at> emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com (full text, mbox):

From: Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu>
To: Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net>
Cc: 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#2501: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - fonts are unreadable
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:14:18 -0800 (PST)

Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net> writes:

  > Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu> writes:
  > >   > On a white mrxt black on white terminal[1], the font-lock colors are
  > >   > unreadable. See attached picture.
  > >   > 
  > >   >     $ tput colors
  > >   >     8
  > >   > 
  > >   > [1] Debian; mrxvt 0.5.3-2 terminal
  > >   > http://packages.debian.org/mrxvt
  > >
  > > It appears that emacs thinks that you have dark background.   What did
  > > you set TERM to?
  > 
  > I started mrxvt from xterm:
  > 
  >     $ xterm
  >     $ echo $TERM
  >     xterm
  >     $ mrxvt &
  > 
  >     mrxvt$ echo $TERM
  >     rxvt
  >     <terminal is open in black on white>

It works just fine for me on Fedora 10, with emacs CVS HEAD, emacs-22.3
on either rxvt and mrxvt.

  > > This looks like it is an rxvt derivative, so the value of the COLORFGBG
  > > environment variable should help emacs realize what is the default
  > > background.
  > 
  > mrxvt$ COLORFGBG=1 emacs -Q -nw
  > => Same color results as in previously attached picture

Try setting COLORFGBG to: 0;default

Message #26 received at 2501 <at> emacsbugs.donarmstrong.com (full text, mbox):

From: Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net>
To: Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu>
Cc: 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#2501: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - fonts are unreadable
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:03:56 +0200

Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu> writes:
>   > I started mrxvt from xterm:
>   > 
>   >     $ xterm
>   >     $ echo $TERM
>   >     xterm
>   >     $ mrxvt &
>   > 
>   >     mrxvt$ echo $TERM
>   >     rxvt
>   >     <terminal is open in black on white>
>
> It works just fine for me on Fedora 10, with emacs CVS HEAD, emacs-22.3
> on either rxvt and mrxvt.

Same results as in sent picture under Debian/rxvt. colors are unreadble.
Built 2009-02-28 00:00 UTC+2

$ /usr/local/bin/emacs -Q -q --batch --eval '(princ emacs-version)'
23.0.91.2

> Try setting COLORFGBG to: 0;default

$  COLORFGBG="0;default" /usr/local/bin/emacs -Q -q -nw ~/tmp/test.el
No change. Same results as before. Environemt attached.

Jari

$ env | grep -i color
LS_COLORS=no=00:fi=00:di=01;34:ln=01;36:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:su=37;41:sg=30;43:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.svgz=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:
COLORTERM=rxvt-xpm

$  env | grep -i term
MRXVT_TABTITLE=Terminal
TERM=rxvt
XTERM_SHELL=/bin/bash
XTERM_VERSION=XTerm(241)
XTERM_LOCALE=en_DK.UTF-8
TERMINFO=/usr/share/terminfo
COLORTERM=rxvt-xpm

Message #31 received at 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Andrew Hyatt <ahyatt <at> gmail.com>
To: Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net>
Cc: Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu>, 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#2501: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - fonts are unreadable
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2016 23:58:06 -0500

I can reproduce this on an xterm brought up on OS X in Emacs 25, so I'm
removing the unreproducible tag.

IMHO, Emacs should have a way to configure all faces to be legible. We
already have shr-color-check thanks to Julien Danjou, it should be an
interesting project for someone to use that to correct all faces. I
think trying to squash each instance of an illegible font without that
sort of solution would be a never-ending task, considering all the
themes out there.

Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net> writes:

> Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu> writes:
>>   > I started mrxvt from xterm:
>>   > 
>>   >     $ xterm
>>   >     $ echo $TERM
>>   >     xterm
>>   >     $ mrxvt &
>>   > 
>>   >     mrxvt$ echo $TERM
>>   >     rxvt
>>   >     <terminal is open in black on white>
>>
>> It works just fine for me on Fedora 10, with emacs CVS HEAD, emacs-22.3
>> on either rxvt and mrxvt.
>
> Same results as in sent picture under Debian/rxvt. colors are unreadble.
> Built 2009-02-28 00:00 UTC+2
>
> $ /usr/local/bin/emacs -Q -q --batch --eval '(princ emacs-version)'
> 23.0.91.2
>
>> Try setting COLORFGBG to: 0;default
>
> $  COLORFGBG="0;default" /usr/local/bin/emacs -Q -q -nw ~/tmp/test.el
> No change. Same results as before. Environemt attached.
>
> Jari
>
> $ env | grep -i color
> LS_COLORS=no=00:fi=00:di=01;34:ln=01;36:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:su=37;41:sg=30;43:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.svgz=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.Z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:
> COLORTERM=rxvt-xpm
>
> $  env | grep -i term
> MRXVT_TABTITLE=Terminal
> TERM=rxvt
> XTERM_SHELL=/bin/bash
> XTERM_VERSION=XTerm(241)
> XTERM_LOCALE=en_DK.UTF-8
> TERMINFO=/usr/share/terminfo
> COLORTERM=rxvt-xpm

Message #36 received at 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
To: Andrew Hyatt <ahyatt <at> gmail.com>
Cc: dann <at> ics.uci.edu, 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, jari.aalto <at> cante.net
Subject: Re: bug#2501: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - fonts are unreadable
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2016 18:02:22 +0200

> From: Andrew Hyatt <ahyatt <at> gmail.com>
> Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2016 23:58:06 -0500
> Cc: Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu>, 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> 
> I can reproduce this on an xterm brought up on OS X in Emacs 25, so I'm
> removing the unreproducible tag.
> 
> IMHO, Emacs should have a way to configure all faces to be legible. We
> already have shr-color-check thanks to Julien Danjou, it should be an
> interesting project for someone to use that to correct all faces. I
> think trying to squash each instance of an illegible font without that
> sort of solution would be a never-ending task, considering all the
> themes out there.

That sounds like an enhancement to me, so I think we should tag this
bug report "wishlist".  WDYT?

Message #39 received at 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Andrew Hyatt <ahyatt <at> gmail.com>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: dann <at> ics.uci.edu, 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, jari.aalto <at> cante.net
Subject: Re: bug#2501: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - fonts are unreadable
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2016 23:17:25 -0500

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Andrew Hyatt <ahyatt <at> gmail.com>
>> Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2016 23:58:06 -0500
>> Cc: Dan Nicolaescu <dann <at> ics.uci.edu>, 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
>> 
>> 
>> I can reproduce this on an xterm brought up on OS X in Emacs 25, so I'm
>> removing the unreproducible tag.
>> 
>> IMHO, Emacs should have a way to configure all faces to be legible. We
>> already have shr-color-check thanks to Julien Danjou, it should be an
>> interesting project for someone to use that to correct all faces. I
>> think trying to squash each instance of an illegible font without that
>> sort of solution would be a never-ending task, considering all the
>> themes out there.
>
> That sounds like an enhancement to me, so I think we should tag this
> bug report "wishlist".  WDYT?

Sure, let's consider this a wishlist for the general feature of not
having these kinds of unreadable colors.  I'll tag this as you suggest.

Message #44 received at 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>
To: Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net>
Cc: 2501 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#2501: 22.2.1: terminal mrxvt white - font's are unreadable
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2022 11:09:27 +0100

Jari Aalto <jari.aalto <at> cante.net> writes:

> On a white mrxt black on white terminal[1], the font-lock colors are
> unreadable. See attached picture.
>
>     $ tput colors
>     8
>
> Please improve font-lock-keywords.

(I'm going through old bug reports that unfortunately weren't resolved
at the time.)

The problem here was that Emacs often didn't manage to determine the
correct background colours on terminals.  I believe that his has been
fixed now, so I'm closing this bug report.  If there are still problems
here, please respond to the debbugs address and we'll reopen.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no

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