# Telnet Woes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2001, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telnet-woes/96397 "2001-12-02T01:57:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hegel)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telnet-woes/96397/1 "2001-12-02T01:57:31Z")
I connect to my e-mail program using Telnet. The send command is as follows: ^S However, I type ^S and the message is not sent. What gives? How do I send the message? ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telnet-woes/96397/2 "2001-12-02T02:00:06Z")
the send command for telnet is ^x, not “s”. MM ---
**Author:** ![ChordedZither](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9c0ed/32.png) [@ChordedZither](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChordedZither)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telnet-woes/96397/3 "2001-12-02T02:08:32Z")
It’s very common for terminal programs to use the characters ^S and ^Q for “flow control”. A ^S is taken as a signal to freeze the screen (e.g., to give you time to read lines before they scroll off the top of the screen) and ^Q as a signal to resume the flow of characters. If your email program really uses ^S as a command, you neeed to check and see if you can turn off flow control. The first question is whether the flow control is being imposed by your telnet program or by the “shell” you are communicating with on the remore machine. Check you telnet programs options or settings menus to see if there’s a flow-control setting that you can turn off. If not, you’ll need to look into the appropriate documentation for the system you are connecting with. ---
**Author:** ![hegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hegel)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telnet-woes/96397/4 "2001-12-02T02:26:37Z")
Yes, MozMan, I stand corrected. Still, the message is not sent. ---
**Author:** ![hegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hegel)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telnet-woes/96397/5 "2001-12-02T02:28:38Z")
You see, I type ^X And, lo and behold, ^X appears on the screen. But the message is not sent. ---
**Author:** ![typo\_mna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eb8c5e/32.png) [@typo\_mna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typo_mna)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telnet-woes/96397/6 "2001-12-02T03:04:08Z")
Are you aware that the ^ represents holding down the ctrl key? That is, to send, you should be pressing ctrl-x, if I understand the problem correctly. Give it a try. Are you using pine, by chance? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2001, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telnet-woes/96397/7 "2001-12-02T03:14:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hegel \* > \*\*You see, I type ^X > > And, lo and behold, ^X appears on the screen. But the message is not sent. \*\* Are you typing ^X (karet X) literally? “^X” usually means “control-X.” It sounds like you’re using Pine, in which case you want to press control-X.