Error opening terminal: xterm-256color

SSH to host to turn off a SCSI alarm that is being addressed. Error presents as "Error opening terminal: xterm-256color". What in the name of all that is good?! I do not need this?!

Elderly box ferreted away behind no connection and has a real song and dance to get through to enable a "console" - and even at that point the console is not a shell, it is a console with menu options... gotta love embedded stuff.

So - the solution was as follows:

$ export TERM=xterm

Repeat the previously failing login to much success and fanfare. Huzzah!

Not a shabby start to a Monday morning... although we can always do without a drive failure.