Some programs like synaptic scrollbar doesn't scroll right

thriftee · posted: 2016-09-25 19:28

Since its just some programs, I'm guessing it must be that program has the problem?

For example, Firefox has scroll arrows and scrolls a screen at a time like you'd expect it to if you click on the bar above or below the current position. The scroll arrows work for very slow scrolling if that's desired.

But synaptic also has scroll bars, but without arrows at the ends, and if you click someplace on the scroll bar you might find yourself having gone 20 screens worth. You can click it and hold it to scroll very very slowly, but the best thing to do is click onto the page itself and use the page keys.

Is it something I have configured wrong, or is that just the way synaptic is?

rokytnji · posted: 2016-09-25 20:05

Change the GTK theme being used in whatever window manager or desktop environment you are using and see if behaviour improves.

thriftee · posted: 2016-09-25 20:57

I am running Spacefm-Icewm.

I changed the GTK theme to Crux which has a purple scrollbar, but the scrollbar in Synaptic is not affected y it.

rokytnji · posted: 2016-09-25 21:32

I'm stumped then. Can you throw out a inxi -F and a screenshot of synaptic on the desktop maybe?

thriftee · posted: 2016-09-25 23:12

Here you go... I'm stumped too, other than to say my guess is that synaptic isn't using the GTK theme...

Code: Select all

root@antix1:/home/demo# inxi -F
System:    Host: antix1 Kernel: 4.4.10-antix.1-486-smp i686 (32 bit) Desktop: IceWM 1.3.8
           Distro: antiX-16_386-full Berta Cáceres 26 June 2016
Machine:   System: Dell (portable) product: Latitude D620 serial: 6WFNXC1
           Mobo: Dell model: 0FT292 serial: .6WFNXC1.CN1296174M3993. Bios: Dell v: A08 date: 04/03/2007
Battery    BAT0: charge: 51.0 Wh 128.1% condition: 39.8/51.0 Wh (78%)
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core2 T5500 (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB 
           clock speeds: max: 1667 MHz 1: 1667 MHz 2: 1667 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Mobile 945GM/GMS 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller
           Display Server: X.org 1.16.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           tty size: 158x46 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Audio:     Card Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.10-antix.1-486-smp
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5752 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express driver: tg3
           IF: eth1 state: down mac: 00:18:8b:ce:11:71
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4311 802.11a/b/g driver: b43-pci-bridge
           IF: wlan1 state: up mac: 00:19:7e:4b:73:bf
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 175.4GB (4.1% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: SAMSUNG_HM160HI size: 160.0GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: Ultra_USB_3.0 size: 15.4GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 1.6G used: 123M (8%) fs: overlay dev: N/A
           ID-2: /home size: 477M used: 48M (11%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/loop1
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 4.24GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 61.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 142 Uptime: 2:13 Memory: 260.4/2008.0MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.3.0 
root@antix1:/home/demo#

rokytnji · posted: 2016-09-26 03:33

Ok. I opened my synaptic manager . But. Mine has no arrows either.

So at least. You are not the only one.

I am on

Code: Select all

harry@biker:~
$ inxi -S
System:    Host: biker Kernel: 4.6.2-antix.1-686-smp-pae i686 (32 bit)
           Desktop: IceWM 1.3.8
           Distro: antiX-15-V_386-full Killah P 30 June 2015

So this does not seem just isolated to AntiX 16. I don't think you have anything mis-configured but maybe.

GTK themeing seems at fault for both of us. I am going to try something.

I have lots and lots of gtk themes installed soooo first I will Menu>settings>themes and change mine from (damn it is not showing me with a dot on the menu selection so poke and hope blindly to something else.)

OK. Using my"shiny metal" icewm theme. Makes my toolbar smaller.

Now change to antixcc>change gtk2 and icon themes>widget>Aidwata Elements>apply

Now I'll restart Icewm with
menu>logout>restart icewm
Now let's open synaptic and see if I got arrows now. And the answer issss
No. It is late bro and past my bed time so another member can take over from here.
Good luck with it.

Edit: for info to other members. I noticed thriftee is running a live session AntiX 16 vs my installed session of AntiX 15

Edit2: I made a quick video. Mute the sound on youtube since it picked up my mic and the TV.

thriftee · posted: 2016-09-26 04:32

Thanks for trying, Rocky. I don't think its a bug, I think maybe its designed for a different interface. I see it has gtk3-0-0 as a dependency, but maybe it was created before the themes.

boombaby · posted: 2016-09-26 05:58

Hello, Each...

I thought this was a"design feature" in Synaptic. For me, it only happens in Synaptic (that I have noticed).

If I click anywhere inside the scrollbar (ie not the arrowheads) the window snaps immediately to that position (down or up). That's a pretty good feature (I thought). Very handy, at times.

However if using click-the-scroller-and-drag it begins to move but then becomes"stodgy" - it hardly moves at all.

So I just use the"click-n-go-quick" "feature". [Stupid, I know - but I like it.]

However, I guess I'd have to be in on any"fix" now.

Antix-16
xfce
WM theme Piranha;
DT"Crux" desktop; Icons Tango;

Regards,

skidoo

I changed the GTK theme to Crux which has a purple scrollbar, but the scrollbar in Synaptic is not affected y it.

Yeah, synaptic is one of the few programs preinstalled in antix which uses GTK3 (only GTK3) themes.
A few of the preinstalled antiX16 themes do include GTK3 variants.
Clearlooks-Phenix
Albatross
but changes to GTK3, across the various (now at 3.22) 3.xx versions have REPEATEDLY introduced breakage.
It's a chore hunting down a"themeX which displays perfectly in version xx of GTK3".

AFAIK, none of the preinstalled GTK3 theme variants sport arrows on their scrollbars.

AFAIK, no configurable setting (nor tweak) exists to alter the"jump-a-mile-at-a-time" behavior within synaptic.

reverseDog · posted: 2016-09-26 09:45

As Synaptic is usually run with sudo privileges, you must change your GTK3 theme for root:

Code: Select all

gksudo lxappearance

Choose a theme that supports scrollbar arrows for GTK3. I successfully made Synaptic show arrows with Clearlooks-Phenix, but Albatros or Bluebird should work as well.

Log out and in again, start Synaptic and (hopefully) enjoy a scrollbar with arrow buttons. __{{emoticon}}__

masinick · posted: 2016-09-26 16:16

I don't remember for certain whether or not synaptic has, or has used arrows on the end of the scrollbars, but I can tell you that for a long time, synaptic has had one feature, where if you click 3/4 of the way down the scrollbar, you'll fairly quickly go to 3/4 of the way through the list - as much as it has been loaded into place. If you have a very large repository selected, it can take a while before that entire list gets loaded. As boombaby indicates, that can be very handy at times - to jump somewhere into a really long list- like a massive libxyz list!

If you click on the very top of the scrollbar (with or without arrows), it'll move up, at most, a few lines, maybe even a single line. That can also be useful if you are in the middle of a long list of library pages, and you're looking for something specific, such as libdvdcss or your favorite library package. It'll move down very slightly if you click on whatever is at or near the bottom of the scrollbar.

The presence or absence of the arrow is probably indicative of a mismatch between the display theme built into the current version and the versions of the theme currently installed.

For what it's worth, my current browser window definitely has arrows on both ends of the scrollbar (as usual), but I'm not currently using a Linux platform, so that's not the most definitive test that can be made.

Synaptic has had recent changes, so this may explain why it's one package where you can see differences like this.