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New tabs do not open with middle mouse in Windows, but not Linux

  • 4 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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I've seen this bug reported a few times already, but none of them seem to have resolved the issue (at least for me).

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T510 currently running two operating systems on separate partitions (Windows 7 and Fedora 20). Firefox is my default browser in both operating systems and both are up to date. Both browsers are using the same plugins and extensions as well (which is essentially nothing because I just performed a clean install of both OS's).

Now, I should be clear that I'm using the laptop's built-in touch-pad/track-point for mouse navigation and not an external mouse.

Interestingly, when I click the middle mouse trackpad button on a link to open a new tab, it works under Fedora, but not under Windows. I've checked the about:config already and ensured that they too are identical in regards to middle mouse button settings.

I've seen this bug reported a few times already, but none of them seem to have resolved the issue (at least for me). I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T510 currently running two operating systems on separate partitions (Windows 7 and Fedora 20). Firefox is my default browser in both operating systems and both are up to date. Both browsers are using the same plugins and extensions as well (which is essentially nothing because I just performed a clean install of both OS's). Now, I should be clear that I'm using the laptop's built-in touch-pad/track-point for mouse navigation and not an external mouse. Interestingly, when I click the middle mouse trackpad button on a link to open a new tab, it works under Fedora, but not under Windows. I've checked the about:config already and ensured that they too are identical in regards to middle mouse button settings.

All Replies (4)

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Hi, I understand that you say that the middle click does nothing in Firefox for Windows or Linux. However on a track pad it works in fedora but not windows.

I don't know whether you have a fancier mouse with its own custom driver software. If so, it would be worth a try updating the drivers.

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No, the oher way around. The trackpad works in both Windows and Linux versions of Firefox. However, the middle button does not work in the Windows version of Firefox (but it works fine in the Linux version).

I should note that the middle click DOES work in other Windows programs, just not Firefox. It did work very briefly when I reinstalled Windows a few days ago, but it has since stopped after performing a system update (so perhaps the driver update broke it).

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Hi audifanatic518 I think I found something. In the about:config page, if you search for middlemouse, there are three features in version 33.

  • middlemouse.paste
  • middlemouse.scrollbarPosition
  • middlemouse.contentloadURl

They are all false. If you toggle these, is there a change?

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Does it work with an actual mouse?

On Linux those prefs are true by default.