resin login issue in Git Bash on Windows 10

[imrehg]

In Git Bash (recommended in the ReadMe) from Git for Windows v2.13.3, node 8.2.1 64 bit, on Windows 10, resin login behaves strangely. The options are not colorized, and pressing up-down buttons don't show any change, but it still selects the given option. Meaning: resin login starts on "Web authorization", if pressing the down button, the screen does not change, but hitting enter would bring up the correct "Credentials" steps.

The same thing when running in cmd.exe on the same machine works fine.

[imrehg]

@pimterry any update on this one? just been working in windows for a bit, and run into this again.

[pimterry]

@imrehg No, sorry. I don't really have any time to look at it for at least a few weeks either, as we run up to the billing release. After that though I'll hopefully have a bunch more time for CLI improvements.

I have done a load of workshops in the last few months, with hundreds of Windows users, and I haven't ever seen this in the flesh myself, so I don't think it's a widespread issue. It'd be really interesting to know if you can reproduce it on other machines, or perhaps in a fresh VM, to help narrow down the root cause.

[pdcastro]

I hadn't seen this issue before, but I believe it matches what I saw in a user's laptop in the 2018 Barcelona Hackaton when trying to help them get started with balena.

[pdcastro]

Potentially related to #348

[pdcastro]

Short story:
You can get around this issue by selecting Use Windows' default console window during a Git Bash installation, as shown in this screenshot:

Long story:
From what I have gathered and with "an informed small jump to conclusions", Git Bash is derived from MSYS2 and suffers the same limitations, including this bug: msys2/MINGW-packages#1633

When I install MSYS2 directly, I get the same broken interactive menu as when installing Git Bash and selecting the "Use MinTTY" option during the Git Bash installation. I can get around the issue in a MSYS2 installation by following the procedure described in this comment: msys2/MINGW-packages#1633 (comment), but I could not find the mentioned file (msys2_shell.cmd) in a Git Bash installation. But by selecting "Use Windows' default console window", the MSYS2 bug is avoided.

[pdcastro]

Closed via PR #1521, which adds a Git for Windows installation note to the CLI's README file (section Choosing a shell) advising how to get around this issue (screenshot in my previous comment), with the understanding that it is ultimately a MSYS2 bug.