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Linux trackpoint scrolling

  • 1 reply
  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by phil5

phil5
phil5
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I am trying to get Firefox to scroll like it does in Windows with TPmiddle, which is ironic since it is supposed to emulate how the middle button works natively in Linux.

Chromium scrolls very smoothly, even with low trackpoint actuation.

Firefox, on the other hand, jumps (I am guessing 5 lines or 400 ms, from mousewheel.min_line_scroll_amount or general.smoothScroll.mouseWheel.durationMaxMS, respectively) when the trackpoint is lightly actuated. It scrolls relatively smoothly with higher actuation.

Firefox seems to interpret middle button scrolling as a mousewheel. Hence the jumps. So I can increase general.smoothScroll.mouseWheel.durationMaxMS to 1000 ms or a higher value to get the behavior I want (Chrome-like, where it crawls instead of jump). However, unsurprisingly, the page drifts for that amount of time after letting go of the middle button...

Autoscrolling works fine. But I would like to hold the middle button while scrolling, for better control.

In summary, the trackpoint does not scroll smoothly in Linux; it jumps when lightly actuated, instead of crawling.

Edit: typos

I am trying to get Firefox to scroll like it does in Windows with TPmiddle, which is ironic since it is supposed to emulate how the middle button works natively in Linux. Chromium scrolls very smoothly, even with low trackpoint actuation. Firefox, on the other hand, jumps (I am guessing 5 lines or 400 ms, from mousewheel.min_line_scroll_amount or general.smoothScroll.mouseWheel.durationMaxMS, respectively) when the trackpoint is lightly actuated. It scrolls relatively smoothly with higher actuation. Firefox seems to interpret middle button scrolling as a mousewheel. Hence the jumps. So I can increase general.smoothScroll.mouseWheel.durationMaxMS to 1000 ms or a higher value to get the behavior I want (Chrome-like, where it crawls instead of jump). However, unsurprisingly, the page drifts for that amount of time after letting go of the middle button... Autoscrolling works fine. But I would like to hold the middle button while scrolling, for better control. In summary, the trackpoint does not scroll smoothly in Linux; it jumps when lightly actuated, instead of crawling. Edit: typos

Modified by phil5

All Replies (1)

phil5
phil5 Question owner
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For now, I have turned off smooth scrolling altogether and the behavior is like any other program... which is better than half-way smooth.

The issue seems to be more related to the driver (libinput) sending pulses than with Firefox itself. That being said, I don't know how scrolling works so smoothly in Chromium.

Good luck