# Unable to run commands over terminal locally (with monitor and keyboard setup) **URL:** \ **Category:** Product support\ **Tags:** raspberrypi3\ **Created:** [December 16, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768 "2020-12-16T21:12:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![provo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@provo](https://forums.balena.io/u/provo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/1 "2020-12-16T21:12:06Z")
I am using an RPi3 with one of my Balena application images. When I plug my Pi into a monitor and keyboard I am unable to run commands on the host OS shell. I can see the command line prompt but when I type, no characters are output to the command line. If I try to run a simple command such as `nmcli c show`, the terminal will complain that I’m typing the command incorrectly. I have confirmed that I am not. Clearly some keystrokes are not being recorded to the command prompt. Has anyone else seen this? This behavior is repeatable. ---
**Author:** ![jakogut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9f8e36/32.png) [@jakogut](https://forums.balena.io/u/jakogut)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/5 "2020-12-16T23:32:04Z")
Hi Brett, Are you running a development image on your device? Have you tried sshing into your device using `balena ssh`? > **[Balena CLI Masterclass - Balena Documentation](https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/more/masterclasses/cli-masterclass/#4-sshing-into-a-device)** ---
**Author:** ![provo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@provo](https://forums.balena.io/u/provo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 11:40pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/6 "2020-12-16T23:40:27Z")
Hello, yes I am running a development image. I can’t use ssh because of the nature of this project. I’m trying to setup up a device that acts as an access point. This requires I mess with network manager configuration bringing up and down connections. Once I bring the connection down I no longer have ssh access. ---
**Author:** ![jakogut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9f8e36/32.png) [@jakogut](https://forums.balena.io/u/jakogut)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/9 "2020-12-17T00:12:53Z")
I see. Do you have another keyboard you can try? What’s the exact output after you enter the command? Do you have a USB serial adapter you can use to get a shell? ---
**Author:** ![provo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@provo](https://forums.balena.io/u/provo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/10 "2020-12-17T00:19:04Z")
I’ve tried 2 different keyboards and 2 different Raspberry Pi’s. I do not have a USB serial adapter. When I enter commands nothing is output to the screen. If I type something like `nmcli c show` it will complain that nmci isn’t a command or something similar to that effect. It’s as if some keystrokes are not being recorded. I’ve never had an issue working locally like this although it’s been roughly 6 months since I last tried it. ---
**Author:** ![karaxuna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@karaxuna](https://forums.balena.io/u/karaxuna)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 7:08am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/11 "2020-12-17T07:08:00Z")
Hi @provo, as this [post](https://forums.balena.io/t/rpi4-balena-multicontainer-read-keyboard-input-missing-characters/65345/9) suggests, `plymouthd` process can cause missing keys, can you kill it and try again? > First look up the process id with `ps | grep 'plymouth'`, then kill that process id with kill and the process id as first parameter. ---
**Author:** ![provo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@provo](https://forums.balena.io/u/provo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/13 "2020-12-17T17:12:28Z")
Hi @karaxuna, killing plymouthd seems to have done the trick thank you! Today I’m able to see my key presses on the command line. Not sure what changed, I left the device sit powered off over night and now I can see the command prompt is working correctly. Before killing plymouthd I could see that my keystrokes were not being recorded correctly. After killing plymouthd the keystrokes are being registered as expected. Thank you for your help. ---
**Author:** ![provo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@provo](https://forums.balena.io/u/provo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/15 "2020-12-28T18:09:30Z")
Having the same issue today and killing plymouth didn’t fix it. The terminal won’t show any keystrokes and the keyboard output is not being read by the shell correctly. ---
**Author:** ![alexgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ab992/32.png) [@alexgg](https://forums.balena.io/u/alexgg)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/16 "2020-12-28T18:29:59Z")
Hi Brett, it’s very likely that if you just issue a `kill` command as stated above the plymouth service will be restarted by the OS. I suggest you try to stop the service instead. ```auto systemctl start plymouth-quit ``` If you need a production-ready solution you can then disable it from your application on each boot as explained in [https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/more/masterclasses/host-os-masterclass/#13-advanced-dbus-examples](https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/more/masterclasses/host-os-masterclass/#13-advanced-dbus-examples). ---
**Author:** ![provo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@provo](https://forums.balena.io/u/provo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/18 "2020-12-28T18:42:40Z")
Thanks for the tip! To be clear, I meant that I was killing plymouth on each boot and that no longer worked. I ran the above systemctl command and rebooted and now have a working command line again. ---
**Author:** ![provo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@provo](https://forums.balena.io/u/provo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/19 "2020-12-28T18:52:27Z")
Nevermind that did not solve the problem. I rebooted again and am having the same issues as before. ---
**Author:** ![anujdeshpande](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/anujdeshpande/32/3155_2.png) [@anujdeshpande](https://forums.balena.io/u/anujdeshpande)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 6:31am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/20 "2020-12-30T06:31:32Z")
Hi Brett As suggested by Alex, is it acceptable for you to disable that from your application every time it boots? Based on your last comment I think you are facing issues every time your boot. ---
**Author:** ![provo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@provo](https://forums.balena.io/u/provo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/22 "2020-12-30T20:48:45Z")
Hello, thank you for the followup. Sorry about that I misunderstood what Alex was saying. I’m disabling plymouth through the dbus interface on boot and things are running MUCH smoother. Thank you so much for your help I really appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Ereski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Ereski](https://forums.balena.io/u/Ereski)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2020, 8:51pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/unable-to-run-commands-over-terminal-locally-with-monitor-and-keyboard-setup/223768/23 "2020-12-30T20:51:38Z")
Glad it’s working now 🙂