Mouse Wheel Behavior on Linux Desktop: Seeking Solutions and Feature Suggestion

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edwinsaunders36

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Hello Linux Community!

I'm reaching out to the community regarding an issue I've been experiencing with mouse wheel behavior on Linux desktop environments. This problem has been discussed in various forum posts over the past several years, and I'm hoping to gather insights and suggestions to find a solution.

The Issue:​

When using the mouse wheel to scroll through windows, the scroll stops on drop-down menus and sliders, inadvertently changing settings in applications. This behavior has been persistent across different desktop environments, and I've come across numerous forum posts where users express similar concerns.

Existing Forum Posts:​

I've come across several forum posts discussing this issue going back as far as 12 years. These are just some of them:

Seeking Solutions:​

There doesn’t seem to be any window manger (or tweaks) setting that disables this for the many users who find it problematic. I’ve seen suggestions on modifying the code of GTK or QT, or apps created with them, but from what I understand, that would require building your own version of these toolkits/apps, which comes with its own headaches.

Feature Suggestion:​

Would it be possible to just have a setting in the same area where the mouse focus settings are that is something like “Use mouse wheel to cycle through widget values”, or something similar? If there were an option in desktop environment settings to choose whether or not the mouse wheel should be used to modify values on sliders and list boxes, I think it would please a great many people including myself and dramatically improve our user experience. This option would help prevent unintended changes to critical settings and potentially help prevent data loss.

How You Can Help:​

  1. Share Your Experience: If you've encountered a similar issue or have successfully resolved it, please share your experience and any solutions you've found.
  2. Suggest Workarounds: If you have specific workarounds that have worked for you, let's compile a list of effective methods.
  3. Support the Feature Suggestion: If you agree with the feature suggestion, please express your support. The more voices we have, the greater the chance of this suggestion being considered.

Conclusion:​

I just want to make clear that I’m not talking about doing away with using the mouse wheel to change widget settings, but I would like to make it optional via some sort of toggle. I think addressing this issue would contribute to creating a more user-friendly Linux desktop experience.

Thank you for your time and collaboration.

Best regards,

Edwin Saunders
 


That there is a well-written first post.

I will make you aware that we're linux.org, entirely unaffiliated with the kernel or any other major projects.

We're just a forum with a fortunate domain name.
 
Thank you for the compliment and the info. I'll admit that I used chatGPT to help me write the bulk and then modified it a bit.
I have been able to learn a lot of linux stuff in the span of a few months, but i'm not sure how solid that knowledge is. I really like using Linux over Windows, but this issue is driving me crazy because its such a seemingly small and simple thing thats ruining the experience. I can't believe this has been an issue for some people for at least 12 years. I know Linux is free, but how can there not be solution to this with so many people posting about it for such a long time? Would you happen to know where might be a better place to post this issue?
 
I don't have any problems here - which doesn't discount your experiences.

Have you simply tried a different mouse?
 
May I ask what distro and desktop environment are you using? Also, are you sure you able to scroll windows with the mouse wheel without changing settings in drop down menus or sliders when the mouse is over them?
 
I use a variety of distros. I'm on the Lubuntu team, so that's my primary distro. I also use Mint.

I have a couple other devices around here that don't really get any use.

I can scroll with my expectations met. I can scroll windows, even tabs, and on scroll lines, etc... My mouse works as expected and I've never had that not happen. Which is why I can't say anything about the problem. I've never had those problems.

I'd try another mouse. I pretty much use cheap wired mice with adjustable DPI settings. It's nothing fancy.
 
Well, thank you for your time and the quick replies. Just tried another mouse, but it still happens. Maybe I'll try Lubuntu, although I'm on Debian and I believe Lubuntu is based on Debian. If I could get one more piece of information from you about your system: your desktop environment and window manager. This is where I think the problem lies. There's Cinnamon, GNOME, KDE, and Xfce. Presumably you're running one of these. Would you be able to run neofetch to get your system specs as I've done in the screenshot below? (It's the DE and WM section I'm looking for):
Screenshot_2024-01-23_17-23-06.png
 
edwinsaunders36 said:
Maybe I'll try Lubuntu, although I'm on Debian and I believe Lubuntu is based on Debian.
Click to expand...

Lubuntu is Ubuntu with a different outfit on. Ubuntu is based on Debian, so yes you're correct.

Neofetch output on Mint:

Code: 
  neofetch
             ...-:::::-...                 kgiii@kgiii
          .-MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-.              -----------
      .-MMMM`..-:::::::-..`MMMM-.          OS: Linux Mint 21.3 x86_64
    .:MMMM.:MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:.MMMM:.        Host: OptiPlex 7040
   -MMM-M---MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.MMM-       Kernel: 5.15.0-91-generic
 `:MMM:MM`  :MMMM:....::-...-MMMM:MMM:`    Uptime: 9 days, 20 hours, 42 mins
 :MMM:MMM`  :MM:`  ``    ``  `:MMM:MMM:    Packages: 2560 (dpkg)
.MMM.MMMM`  :MM.  -MM.  .MM-  `MMMM.MMM.   Shell: bash 5.1.16
:MMM:MMMM`  :MM.  -MM-  .MM:  `MMMM-MMM:   Resolution: 1920x1080
:MMM:MMMM`  :MM.  -MM-  .MM:  `MMMM:MMM:   DE: Cinnamon 6.0.4
:MMM:MMMM`  :MM.  -MM-  .MM:  `MMMM-MMM:   WM: Mutter (Muffin)
.MMM.MMMM`  :MM:--:MM:--:MM:  `MMMM.MMM.   WM Theme: CBlack (Mint-Y)
 :MMM:MMM-  `-MMMMMMMMMMMM-`  -MMM-MMM:    Theme: Adwaita-dark [GTK2/3]
  :MMM:MMM:`                `:MMM:MMM:     Icons: Mint-X [GTK2/3]
   .MMM.MMMM:--------------:MMMM.MMM.      Terminal: xfce4-terminal
     '-MMMM.-MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-.MMMM-'       Terminal Font: Monospace 12
       '.-MMMM``--:::::--``MMMM-.'         CPU: Intel i5-6500 (4) @ 3.600GHz
            '-MMMMMMMMMMMMM-'              GPU: Intel HD Graphics 530
               ``-:::::-``                 Memory: 12340MiB / 15873MiB

We'll see if that posts okay.

It could be that I'm misunderstanding you, but I don't think I am. Scroll works just fine here, even on menu items (when appropriate). It works over scrollbars and all that jazz.

If the problem was widespread, someone would have done something about it by now.
 
I gotta confess, this looks - from the list of links - to be primarily a Gnome issue. And frankly, with the way that every major new release of Gnome seems written to deliberately break compatibility with previous builds, it's going to be a continuous, on-going issue. You might get one set of issues fixed with a new build, only to find yourself confronted with a new set.....

Running the Rox-filer/JWM combo as I do, this is fortunately one whole round of problems that the Puppy community neatly bypasses.

@KGIII :-

If the problem was widespread, someone would have done something about it by now.
Click to expand...

Are ya sure about that? 'Cos from what I can understand of it, the Gnome leadership seem pretty entrenched in their 'vision' for the Linux desktop. I get the distinct impression it's a case of "my way, or the highway..." :p

.....and if you don't like what they're doing with it, that's YOUR problem. It definitely doesn't seem to be theirs..!


Mike. ;)
 
Last edited:
KGIII said:
Lubuntu is Ubuntu with a different outfit on. Ubuntu is based on Debian, so yes you're correct.

Neofetch output on Mint:

Code: 
  neofetch
             ...-:::::-...                 kgiii@kgiii
          .-MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-.              -----------
      .-MMMM`..-:::::::-..`MMMM-.          OS: Linux Mint 21.3 x86_64
    .:MMMM.:MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:.MMMM:.        Host: OptiPlex 7040
   -MMM-M---MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.MMM-       Kernel: 5.15.0-91-generic
 `:MMM:MM`  :MMMM:....::-...-MMMM:MMM:`    Uptime: 9 days, 20 hours, 42 mins
 :MMM:MMM`  :MM:`  ``    ``  `:MMM:MMM:    Packages: 2560 (dpkg)
.MMM.MMMM`  :MM.  -MM.  .MM-  `MMMM.MMM.   Shell: bash 5.1.16
:MMM:MMMM`  :MM.  -MM-  .MM:  `MMMM-MMM:   Resolution: 1920x1080
:MMM:MMMM`  :MM.  -MM-  .MM:  `MMMM:MMM:   DE: Cinnamon 6.0.4
:MMM:MMMM`  :MM.  -MM-  .MM:  `MMMM-MMM:   WM: Mutter (Muffin)
.MMM.MMMM`  :MM:--:MM:--:MM:  `MMMM.MMM.   WM Theme: CBlack (Mint-Y)
 :MMM:MMM-  `-MMMMMMMMMMMM-`  -MMM-MMM:    Theme: Adwaita-dark [GTK2/3]
  :MMM:MMM:`                `:MMM:MMM:     Icons: Mint-X [GTK2/3]
   .MMM.MMMM:--------------:MMMM.MMM.      Terminal: xfce4-terminal
     '-MMMM.-MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-.MMMM-'       Terminal Font: Monospace 12
       '.-MMMM``--:::::--``MMMM-.'         CPU: Intel i5-6500 (4) @ 3.600GHz
            '-MMMMMMMMMMMMM-'              GPU: Intel HD Graphics 530
               ``-:::::-``                 Memory: 12340MiB / 15873MiB

We'll see if that posts okay.

It could be that I'm misunderstanding you, but I don't think I am. Scroll works just fine here, even on menu items (when appropriate). It works over scrollbars and all that jazz.

If the problem was widespread, someone would have done something about it by now.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much. That window manager is new to me. I may give that a try. And regarding your statement "If the problem was widespread, someone would have done something about it by now.", that is exactly why I'm so frustrated. When I first had the problem, I thought for sure this was something with a quick fix I could find online. Thanks again anyway for your time.
 
MikeWalsh said:
I gotta confess, this looks - from the list of links - to be primarily a Gnome issue. And frankly, with the way that every major new release of Gnome seems written to deliberately break compatibility with previous builds, it's going to be a continuous, on-going issue. You might get one set of issues fixed with a new build, only to find yourself confronted with a new set.....

Running the Rox-filer/JWM combo as I do, this is fortunately one whole round of problems that the Puppy community neatly bypasses.

@KGIII :-



Are ya sure about that? 'Cos from what I can understand of it, the Gnome leadership seem pretty entrenched in their 'vision' for the Linux desktop. I get the distinct impression it's a case of "my way, or the highway..." :p


Mike. ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. Puppy Linux and Rox-filer/JWM are new to me. I'm going to look into that.
 
MikeWalsh said:
Are ya sure about that? 'Cos from what I can understand of it, the Gnome leadership seem pretty entrenched in their 'vision' for the Linux desktop. I get the distinct impression it's a case of "my way, or the highway..." :p
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure, as this reads like a bug and decidedly not a feature. They're pretty set in their ways (though many of us use a DE derived from GNOME) but they're pretty good about fixing bugs.

edwinsaunders36 said:
Thank you very much. That window manager is new to me. I may give that a try. And regarding your statement "If the problem was widespread, someone would have done something about it by now.", that is exactly why I'm so frustrated. When I first had the problem, I thought for sure this was something with a quick fix I could find online. Thanks again anyway for your time.
Click to expand...

Also, be patient. We're a world-wide forum and people will check in and see your post. They may have an easy fix for you. You never know. I'm the first to admit that I don't know everything.
 
That behaviour is the one you'd get if you had enabled "focus follows mouse" or "auto raise" as opposed to "click to focus" at a window manager level.

Make sure you have no leftover configuration from an old window manager or desktop environment that may have set that behaviour into X11 from one of your user directory hidden configuration files (google "dotfiles").

One thing you can try is to create a new user on your machine, with a fresh home directory, and see if the behaviour is still the same.
 
gvisoc said:
That behaviour is the one you'd get if you had enabled "focus follows mouse" or "auto raise" as opposed to "click to focus" at a window manager level.

Make sure you have no leftover configuration from an old window manager or desktop environment that may have set that behaviour into X11 from one of your user directory hidden configuration files (google "dotfiles").

One thing you can try is to create a new user on your machine, with a fresh home directory, and see if the behaviour is still the same.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately it didn't work. I created a new user called 'testuser', but the behavior was the same. I also checked to make sure the focus option was set to "click to focus".
 
Then the only thing I can think of is your mouse having an extra sensitive "mouse wheel click".

Many mouses (if not all of them) have a third button below the wheel. Perhaps yours is registering clicks while you scroll. If you scroll over text, does the text get selected and de-selected randomly? If so, your mouse wheel may be issuing clicks wrongly.

I add myself to @KGIII's question on whether you have tried with another mouse.
 
Gnome has been problematic for me for the last 6 months on my Debian 12 Gnome Stable installation.
The DE, windows, file manager and all functionality to programs and etc. becomes slow and over a few minutes grinds to a complete halt thus resulting in a lock up.

After installing the Cinnamon DE I haven't had any issue's with functionality of any kind.

What mouse are you using @edwinsaunders36?
 
Alexzee said:
Gnome has been problematic for me for the last 6 months on my Debian 12 Gnome Stable installation.
The DE, windows, file manager and all functionality to programs and etc. becomes slow and over a few minutes grinds to a complete halt thus resulting in a lock up.

After installing the Cinnamon DE I haven't had any issue's with functionality of any kind.

What mouse are you using @edwinsaunders36?
Click to expand...
I'm using a logitech g pro wired, but i've been using other wireless mice as well. Thhank you for sharing that info.
 
I must say with all the different distros [with their desktops] I have tried, This is not a problem I have come across in the last 10 years,[ this machine has an HP wireless mouse]
Screenshot from 2024-01-24 12-10-45.png
 
I've never had an issue with any mouse.....on any machine - regardless of the OS I'm running. Certainly not on the "current" hardware:-

Screenshot-364.png


@edwinsaunders36 :-

You'll notice there's no 'DE' showing. This is perfectly normal for us, since by default Puppy 'creates' its desktop environment 'on-the-fly' thru a combination of JWM itself, and ROX-filer's 'pinboard' function.....which provides the same basic framework as a mainstream DE. It is, however, rather more 'hands-on' than most; Puppy is very much a hobbyist's OS, and much configuration is achieved by tweaking text config files.......though a few of our members have created GUI front-ends to take care of all this, for beginners who are not comfortable with editing config files.


Mike. ;)
 
Last edited:
edwinsaunders36 said:
When using the mouse wheel to scroll through windows, the scroll stops on drop-down menus and sliders, inadvertently changing settings in applications. This behavior has been persistent across different desktop environments, and I've come across numerous forum posts where users express similar concerns.
Click to expand...
I think your problem might be how you move your mouse cursor.

If you move it to over sliders and UI components which respond to scroll wheel (all of them do and should do) then you don't scroll their parent window but rather invoke component scroll event.

This behavior is not specific to linux desktops, it works the same way in windows and every UI I had XP with.

When scrolling you need to pay attention not to move or stop mouse cursor over these components.
 
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