Firefox mistakes clicks for drag operations

Hi!

You mention that it does not happen in KDE, but I use KDE (on dapper, both i386 and amd64), and I am also haunted by this effect.

I can reproduce it this way:
Click on a browser tab, and while clicking, move the mouse pointer a few pixels. In most of the cases, the opened document's URL will stick to the mouse pointer even after releasing the mouse button.

> You mention that it does not happen in KDE, but I use KDE
> (on dapper, both i386 and amd64), and I am also haunted by this effect.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't try this myself, but rather relied on people stating this in the Ubuntu forums. I had no reason to believe they were making it up. ;-)

That may mean it's a Firefox-on-Linux issue rather than a Gnome one then?

Another comment: I've recently gotten a wacom tablet and started using the pen instead of a mouse some of the time (mostly because I am already holding it, a little because I've heard it's better for the wrists) - and with a tablet pen this happens ALL the time.

I suppose it's because it's hard to avoid not dragging a little when clicking with the tip of a pen, but it's very annoying.

Just thought I'd mention it, as just as wacom support at all is important to several would-be switchers I know of, being able to use the pen for navigation is also important to those.

i think it safe to confirm this one.

i imagine the drag is triggered by the mouse moving while the button is down. could a threshhold be added, or increased, eg 5pixels before its a drag?

I already have a drag threshold of 8px on any drag operation (moves on the 9th px) in firefox and nautilus, etc. I also do not experience the problems you are refering to on my desktop computer. Are any of you using laptops with trackpads (synaptics, alps, etc)? The additional movement inherent in a trackpad coupled with the instability of a laptop on anything that is moving could be quickly eating up your 8px buffer. :) To rephrase are these standard ps2 mice we are refering to (besides the wacom which is another bug filed under its driver already)? -mf

i am getting on a laptop with a synaptics trackpad. but i still get it when using a usb logitech mx500. i will try disabling the trackpad in xorg.conf and see if it still occurs.

ok that was not as easy as i thought. i commented out the input device section for the synaptics trackpad, and the line in server layout.

then i logged out and ctrl+out+backspaced, and when gdm came back the trackpad was still enabled ?!? and the bug still happens.

any idea how to really disable the trackpad? (i am on a apple ti G4 powerbook)

Yeah, it's the same on desktops and laptops alike, as well as for pens, trackpads, wireless and wired mice, laser or optical. There is a difference in how much between the different media, but I guess the important part here is: it happens on a desktop with a common old wired MS intellimouse for instance (that's what I used when reporting it).

It also is Firefox+Linux specific as far as I can tell. If treshold was the only issue it would be a problem in more apps. If it was a Firefox only problem, it would occur on Windows. Adjusting treshold improves slightly on the situation, but at max some other apps may feel slightly unresponsive to drag.

my understanding of it is this:
The trackpad is really attached via ps2 and when you disabled the input device you made the trackpad be recognized as this plain device without the extra features that it has and is given by the driver. You might want to check this by looking at your /var/log/Xorg.0.log. Anyway i tested my synaptics based laptop and it also has the 8px buffer and it is difficult for me to "accidentally" drag something i meant to click unless i really try to. Is your trackpad really sensitive? are you also getting a 8px drag boundary when you drag slowly? -mf

KL: Sorry cant reproduce here then. Have 3 ubuntu dapper installs and none of them are showing such ills. But then again i dont have my wacom tablet setup yet so i havent tested that properly (graphire4). nor do i know of or see any settings in about:config that might have caused this issue. package versions (firefox, xserver-xorg-input-mouse and kernel for starters)?

> Sorry cant reproduce here

One single search for "firefox drag" in ubuntuforums found at least these, so it's not just me (although I did start one):

* http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=136193
* http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=117339
* http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=86581

> package versions (firefox, xserver-xorg-input-mouse and kernel for starters)?

As different as the equipment (which is at least three very different computers, all seeing it to some degree). I can't remember a time when it didn't happen - but you know, when it works you don't notice, right?

I'm pretty sure it's at least as old as Hoary and I've been running the desktop since Warty, keeping it updated. That one is still Breezy, two laptops are updated Dapper. One laptop has bluetooth laser mouse with evdev driver (and the wacom), the other touchpad and regular dell USB mouse. Desktop has MS intellimouse. Only the first laptop has ever had the wacom plugged in.

At no point has there not been a problem, but don't get me wrong - it's not every click, it just happens now and then. I hit ESC a lot (thankfully I'm used to vim so I know where its at ;-) but it's worse for friends/family or, I assume, new adopters.

If you want me to, I can post version numbers, but I tell you - from whatever version in Hoary to the most recent in Dapper, it's there.

that makes sense about the unconfigured trackpad still working. i think its apple desktop bus (adb) rather than ps2, it works through /dev/psaux.

when dragging slowly there is a resonable threshold. its just a quick click while the mouse is moving that causes the drag to stay dragged once the mouse has been released.

in terms of versions firefox and thunderbird in breezy do this also. in thunderbird if you try and click a mail box while the mouse is moving you can often end up moving the mailbox into another mail box which is quite a pain.

> when dragging slowly there is a resonable threshold. its just a
> quick click while the mouse is moving that causes the drag to
> stay dragged once the mouse has been released.

Yeah, agreed. I have no problems with drags at all, just normal clicks (and so has other people using my computers).

Also, I forgot to mention, the same effect is present for tabs in Firefox. When selecting tabs, the same thing sometimes happens, leaving me with a hanging drop target. I'd say about as often.

not a firefox bug

> not a firefox bug

Ummm.... what?? It only shows up in Firefox, it only affects Firefox, and it does so under both GNOME and KDE - if it is not a Firefox bug then what on earth is it?

At the very least explain why it is not, don't just unmark it with a cryptic comment like that!

Kristoffer, look to the duplicates, that happens with other applications too to some people and looks rather an xorg bug, the events are not generated by firefox anyway

I'm not so sure those are actual duplicates, to me and many others that has posted in forums (see those links), it is impossible to duplicate this behaviour in anything but Firefox, not even other Geckobased applications like Epiphany.

Menus, desktop, programs - you name it, they behave like they should, but not Firefox. On three very different computers with wildly different peripherials just for me! That means *something* has to do with that application, yes? Maybe it only happens together with Xorg, I don't know. I don't see how any info in those change anything about this bug, and especially not how they make it "not a firefox bug".

And if it's a Xorg issue, why isn't assigned there instead of silently dropped into general limbo?

that "general limbo" is what we use when we are not sure about what package is to blame, what does it make such a difference to you, your bug is listed the same way with the same people subscribed to it it was before ...

Last comment on this bug was over a year ago im gonna close it and you can reopen it if the problem still exists but please add more info to bug if it is still a problem.