This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

This thread was archived. Please ask a new question if you need help.

Will scrolling ever be fixed?

  • 2 replies
  • 7 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

Galane
Galane
more options

When Firefox 4.0 was released, no scrolling devices worked, not even mouse wheels. An update or two later mouse wheel scrolling was fixed.

But no other scroll input device has worked with Firefox since! Scroll zones on laptop touchpads don't work nor does the 4-way scroll button on my Acer laptop.

What's the solution? Firefox should use the exact same HID input support provided by Windows that all other apps use.

Microsoft provides such things so program authors don't have to do things like write printer and input device support for every program, yet here we have Firefox going its own way with scrolling devices when there's no need.

When Firefox 4.0 was released, no scrolling devices worked, not even mouse wheels. An update or two later mouse wheel scrolling was fixed. But no other scroll input device has worked with Firefox since! Scroll zones on laptop touchpads don't work nor does the 4-way scroll button on my Acer laptop. What's the solution? Firefox should use the exact same HID input support provided by Windows that all other apps use. Microsoft provides such things so program authors don't have to do things like write printer and input device support for every program, yet here we have Firefox going its own way with scrolling devices when there's no need.

All Replies (2)

John99
John99
more options

;-) Works-for-me !

Hi Galane,
Sorry you are having problems, but they may not be a fault with Firefox that is affecting everyone.

Not sure what your problem is, but I have used recent Firefox versions on Windows XP, and more recently Win7 with a scroll wheel. I am currently using Fx 15.0a2 on a Ubuntu distro the scroll pad works and again it has with other recent versions as has a wireless mouse with a scroll wheel.

I suspect the problem may relate to your setup. Have you tried using Firefox in safe mode and with a clean profile. See

    1. initially try safe mode without making changes, just click on continue
    2. if you are going to need to change some of the settings, as explained in that article they may be hard to undo, it could be easier to skip straight to the next step and experiment in a new profile.
    • the reset controls, and maybe reset preferences could be the fix
  2. Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems_8-make-a-new-profile
    • note firefox 13 has a quick reset feature, but I worry at least with future implementations that data such as whitelists could be lost using that feature but it is a quick fix method you may consider. (Even as a first choice)

Modified by John99

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

Try to modify the ui.trackpoint_hack.enabled pref on the about:config page from the default value -1 to 0 or 1 to see if that makes the scroll pad work.

Close and restart Firefox after changing the ui.trackpoint_hack.enabled pref.