CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vimsshtmux
nafis
nafis

Reputation: 199

vim scrolling slow on tmux over ssh

I have recently been trying out tmux on my server as a replacement for byobu (screen). When I started editing some code on vim, I found it very laggy when I held on to j and k to scroll up and down.

I thought it might be because there was something wrong with my connection but I tried editing the same file on vim without tmux and I found it much more responsive with almost no lag.

So, is there anything I can do to make vim on tmux not lag?

Upvotes: 6

Views: 4730

Answers (2)

fede1024
fede1024

Reputation: 3098

I often work on a remote machine, and I have the same vim scrolling problem. When you use vim inside tmux and you have multiple panes open at the same time, tmux can't just redraw the part of the screen where vim is running, but it has to redraw a much bigger portion (potentially the entire screen). This increases the number of escape characters that tmux is sending through your connection.

In my case, enabling ssh compression reduced this kind of slowness quite a lot. You can give it a try with:

ssh -C user@host

or put Compression yes into your ~/.ssh/config to make it permanent.

Upvotes: 7

K Z
K Z

Reputation: 30453

It sounds like you are using tmux over ssh. If so, you may want to give mosh a try. It is built on top of ssh but with many advantages over ssh. One of them is:

Get rid of network lag.

SSH waits for the server's reply before showing you your own typing. That can make for a lousy user interface. Mosh is different: it gives an instant response to typing, deleting, and line editing. It does this adaptively and works even in full-screen programs like emacs and vim. On a bad connection, outstanding predictions are underlined so you won't be misled.

It worked much better than over ssh in my experience.

Upvotes: 8

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