Cannot use F10 key in Midnight commander running in OS X's terminal

Don't know why the Fx keys don't work, but you can press Esc, then 0 to simulate F10. Also works with 1-9 for F1-F9.

Function keys are used to control both software and hardware functions as well as Dashboard and Expose in Mac OS X. If you have a Macbook Pro, F1 and F2 control screen lighting, F10 mutes the speakers, etc.

Check the Keyboard preference pane in System Preferences.app:

1. Is the checkbox "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" on the "Keyboard tab" checked? If it's not, you need to press Fn+F10 for Mac OS to register a F10 key press. Otherwise, you're just toggling mute speakers (or whatever you have on F10).

2. Check the second tab, "Keyboard Shortcuts", especially "Dashboard & Dock", and "Exposé & Spaces", if F10 is used for one of these functions. If it is, the key press is intercepted before Terminal receives it.

This answer was written for Mac OS X 10.6, I don't know if those dialogs were changed. If step 2 above does not work, check the Dashboard/Expose/Spaces preference pane in System Preferences, the same settings should be available there.

To send F1-F12 keys to an ncurses program running in Terminal.app press fn+command+F1…F12. This works for me on a MacBook Air with OS X 10.9.