Vi insert mode not working on FreeBSD

I have vi insert mode problem. I cannot go into "insert mode." I messed around with environmental variables in terminal; I believe I messed something up big time.

When I push "i" or "a" it does not says on the bottom that, I am in insert mode. After using "i" I can write. However, it does not functions way it should be, it goes into replace more rather than insert. When i push "ESC" it leaves "insert" mode, but I cannot see colon on bottom indicating that I left insert mode.

Sorry I am giving little vague description of the problem but it is a strange problem.

I looked around in man pages and Google. I could not find anything useful.

Thank开发者_运维问答s for the help in advance.

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You might be experiencing a real vi with showmode disabled. The vim documentation mentions that the default for vi is noshowmode. You might want to give this page a read as well.

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After you leave insert mode (by typing ESC) you have to type : to go to ex mode.

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Its not that insert mode doesnt work. But the vi editor you are using is the older version and is different to use than our usual editors. Get updated version of vi editor by-

sudo apt-get install vim