Closed Bug 308433 Opened 19 years ago Closed 14 years ago

Control keys (Home, Backspace, etc.) don't work

Categories

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Product:
Firefox
Component:
General
Version:
1.0 Branch
Platform:
x86
Windows XP
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
normal

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

People

(Reporter: chrisjan, Unassigned)

Details

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8b4) Gecko/20050908 Firefox/1.4
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8b4) Gecko/20050908 Firefox/1.4

I have my homepage set to http://www.google.com/ig. Sometimes when I start
Firefox the Home, Backspace, etc. keys don't work in edit boxes (this includes
the search box in the top right corner and any edit boxes on the page itself).
Unfortunately the problem is intermittent and I haven't been able to pin down
exactly what triggers it yet.


Reproducible: Sometimes

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Set your homepage to http://www.google.com/ig (probably any page works)
2. Close the browser and re-start it.
3. Type some text in an edit box (e.g. the search box on the page)
4. Press Home, Backspace or another control key.

Actual Results:  
Nothing happens when I press the key.

Expected Results:  
The key should have the usual effect.
Just to add, this bug is not present in Firefox 1.0.6 but I did notice it in
Deer Park 2.
It would appear that controls are not getting keyboard focus when they are first
shown.

The problem appears to occur on freshly loaded pages. If I click within the
control the keys work. This also applies to the page itself. For example if I
load a page and press Page Down the page does not scroll but if I switch from
Firefox to another application and then switch back the key works.


After installing FireFox Beta 1, the HOME key does not scroll the display to the
top as it did in previous version of FireFox (like 1.0.6, 1.0.5 etc).  The Home
and End key only position the cursor around the current string.

PGUP and PGDN work fine, so does the Backspace.

Sam Bass
bugzilla@kmbass.com
(In reply to comment #3)
> After installing FireFox Beta 1, the HOME key does not scroll the display to the
> top as it did in previous version of FireFox (like 1.0.6, 1.0.5 etc). 

Do you by chance have the gmail-delete-button extension installed ?? When it's
loaded, my FF 1.5 beta acts like yours: The HOME and END keys do not scroll the
page to the top or bottom of the webpage. I uninstall the extension, close FF
and restart it, the keys DO work properly.

I have also now noticed that in text boxes, home and end no longer go to the
beginning or end of sentences. The arrow keys do not work. Finally, crtl-a
(select all), crtl-c (copy text), and so on do not work either. Again, in my
case, I am not seeing this behavior unless the gmail-delete-button extension is
loaded. This is to the point now that I have to uninstall this particular extension.
I believe I've wrongly blamed the gmail-delete-button extension for this. It's
uninstalled now and the behavior I describe is still occuring. It is
inconsistent though and seems that maybe opening a new tab (or window) helps
trigger it. If I have two tabs open, I cannot copy and paste between them, for
example. I have to copy text, paste it into notepad or something, then paste it
back into the other tab in FF.

Previously, I would install or uninstall the extension and when I checked for
the problem, I did so right away after launching FF -- only a single window or
tab open.

Hmmmm, no wonder it's so hard to track things down to solve...
> I believe I've wrongly blamed the gmail-delete-button extension for this.

I agree - I've never had this extension installed. I have FF 1.5 Beta 1 and get
this problem intermittently.
with me the "home" and "end" key work either the same way as the "page up" and "page down" keys - menas up and down - or they do not work anyway, but in webpages that are horizontally wide I would like to scroll horizontally, hope i explained correctly
have same problem - cursor control keys don't work.
i just opened new window (before i had few working with) and felt that keys don't work. i tried to change focus of UI elements by mouse/keyboard - nothing. then i brought them to work just by deactivate-activate this window and set focus either by pressing <tab> or by mouse.
i have no home page. so even i set something like google.com i saw the same in edit box.
that time when i had switched to some previously opened window i didn't see cursor at all. the last feature ;) was seen once.

i have never seen such behaviour before.

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.9) Gecko/20061206 Firefox/1.5.0.9

just for confirmation...
I've got the same problem.  It's intermittent.  I haven't figured out how to reproduce it reliably.

This is the best I've got so far, but it doesn't happen every time:
1.  Use Firefox to visit a web site
2.  Switch focus to another application (to read email with Thunderbird, for example)
3.  Go back to Firefox
4.  Now, for all text boxes (including the address bar and search bar, and also any embedded in a web page) the home, end, arrow, backspace, copy, paste, etc. keys and functions don't work.

Strangely, I have found the following to repair the issue temporarily:
* Go to Tools->Options->Advanced Tab->General Subtab and check or uncheck the "Use smooth scrolling" option.

When I switch back to the browser from another application, sometimes the problem manifests itself again, even with "Use smooth scrolling" disabled.  Checking this checkbox restores the home, end, arrow, backspace, copy, paste, etc. functionality.

Unfortunately, after having found this, I have to keep checking/unchecking "Use smooth scrolling" in order to restore my "direction key" functionality.

It's really annoying, and I'm unsure as to why checking/unchecking "Use smooth scrolling" fixes it.  This appears somehow to be related to Bug 311376, because checking/unchecking that textbox fixes that problem too.

I've seen this on two Windows XP systems of differing hardware.  This happens many times throughout the browsing session if I switch to other applications.
Based on feedback from a similar report in Bug 311376, I opened and closed the Options dialog (with Cancel).  That set the keyboard behavior straight again.

It does not appear to be connected to "Use smooth scrolling" at all.

The Options dialog itself is what is resetting the browser to the correct behavior.
Resizing the browser window also sets the behavior straight again.
This is happening for me in Firefox 2.0.0.3.

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.3) Gecko/20070309 Firefox/2.0.0.3
For everyone but Shawn, it sounds like you have caret browsing turned on.  Hit f7.  If that fixes it, please report here, if not please seek support, either via IRC on irc.mozilla.org in #firefox or on the MZ help forums, http://forums.mozillazine.org
I noticed the bug today when I was trying to use the arrow keys in the search bar.  They stopped working in the search bar and HTML textboxes, but still worked in the address bar and textareas.

I hit F7 just for the heck of it.  I got a dialog box asking me if I wanted to turn caret browsing on.  I clicked "No".

Everything went back to normal.

If that's the problem, what am I doing during this switching that turns on the caret browsing?

I've also gotten it to stop working in the address bar, HTML textareas, and the HTML textboxes, but still work in the search bar.  This is really strange.

Caret browsing does not appear to be on because the cursor stays in the textbox I click on.

Did you still want me to file a new bug?
I am currently using Firefox 2.0.0.4 and I seem to be able to reliably duplicate this issue.

First off, I am using a system with 2 displays.  I use Realtime Soft's Ultramon for some added functionality: notably, this program adds a button to my window title bars that allows me to instantly move a window from one display to the other.

1.  Go to www.google.ca
2.  Perform a search.
3.  Use the monitor switch button to move Firefox to the other display.
4.  Perform another search.
5.  The cursor-related keys (such as Home, End, Left, Right) now no longer work in the search box (or any other edit boxes).

After reproducing the bug, I can easily clear the problem (as was mentioned earlier in the thread) by hitting F7 to get the Caret Browsing prompt and then just closing the prompt.

Also, I have experienced similar problems in Thunderbird, though I have not yet taken time to try to determine steps to reproduce it.

Hope that is of some help.  This problem is REALLY annoying ;)
Sean - since no one else has mentioned dual display you should file your own bug. The bugs can be marked as related later if it turns out it's the same cause.
I have collected all of the bugs that display these symptoms under Bug 389768 which is at: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=389768
I disagree with comment 4 on how HOME and END ought to behave, see bug 405346.
This bug was reported on Firefox 2.x or older, which is no longer supported and will not be receiving any more updates. I strongly suggest that you update to Firefox 3.6.3 or later, update your plugins (flash, adobe, etc.), and retest in a new profile. If you still see the issue with the updated Firefox, please post here. Otherwise, please close as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
http://www.mozilla.com
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+mode
Version: unspecified → 1.0 Branch
No reply, INCOMPLETE. Please retest with Firefox 3.6.3 or later and a new profile (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles). If you continue to see this issue with the newest firefox and a new profile, then please comment on this bug.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 14 years ago
Resolution: --- → INCOMPLETE
No reply, INCOMPLETE. Please retest with Firefox 3.6.3 or later and a new profile (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles). If you continue to see this issue with the newest firefox and a new profile, then please comment on this bug.
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