Firefox scrollbars are too narrow and difficult to use in Zesty

[Rocko]

Firefox 52.0.1 in Ubuntu 17.04 has very narrow scrollbars that are difficult to click on using a mouse - they are about one-third of the width of the 'old-style' scrollbars used throughout most of Ubuntu until a few weeks ago. (ubuntu-gnome has the same problem, fwiw.)

The expected behaviour is that the scrollbars should widen when you hover over them, the same as with other gnome 3.20+ apps.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.04
Package: firefox 52.0.1+build2-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.10.0-19.21-generic 4.10.8
Uname: Linux 4.10.0-19-generic x86_64
AddonCompatCheckDisabled: False
ApportVersion: 2.20.4-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: rocko 1598 F.... pulseaudio
BuildID: 20170321232041
Channel: Unavailable
Date: Wed Apr 19 11:51:57 2017
Extensions: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
ForcedLayersAccel: False
IfupdownConfig:
 # interfaces(5) file used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8)
 auto lo
 iface lo inet loopback
IncompatibleExtensions: Unavailable (corrupt or non-existant compatibility.ini or extensions.sqlite)
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-04-13 (5 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Beta amd64 (20170407)
IpRoute:
 default via 10.0.2.2 dev enp0s3 proto static metric 100
 10.0.2.0/24 dev enp0s3 proto kernel scope link src 10.0.2.15 metric 100
 169.254.0.0/16 dev enp0s3 scope link metric 1000
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 enp0s3 no wireless extensions.
Locales: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
Plugins: Shockwave Flash - /usr/lib/flashplugin-installer/libflashplayer.so
PrefSources: prefs.js
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_AU:en
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_AU.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
Profiles: Profile0 (Default) - LastVersion=52.0.1/20170321232041
PulseList:
 Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: Home directory not accessible: Permission denied
 No PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
RfKill:

RunningIncompatibleAddons: False
SourcePackage: firefox
Themes: extensions.sqlite corrupt or missing
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 12/01/2006
dmi.bios.vendor: innotek GmbH
dmi.bios.version: VirtualBox
dmi.board.name: VirtualBox
dmi.board.vendor: Oracle Corporation
dmi.board.version: 1.2
dmi.chassis.type: 1
dmi.chassis.vendor: Oracle Corporation
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvninnotekGmbH:bvrVirtualBox:bd12/01/2006:svninnotekGmbH:pnVirtualBox:pvr1.2:rvnOracleCorporation:rnVirtualBox:rvr1.2:cvnOracleCorporation:ct1:cvr:
dmi.product.name: VirtualBox
dmi.product.version: 1.2
dmi.sys.vendor: innotek GmbH

[Rocko (rockorequin)]

Attached is a screenshot showing the old-style and new-style scrollbars in Firefox, which measure about 15 pixels and 5 pixels wide respectively.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Rocko (rockorequin)]

This question is somewhat relevant to this bug: https://askubuntu.com/questions/892097/why-are-gtk-3-0-custom-settings-ignored

[Rocko (rockorequin)]

A workaround is to adjust the minimum width of the non-hovered scrollbar in the theme, eg for Ambiance, by changing /usr/share/themes/Ambiance/gtk-3.20/gtk-widgets.css so that the scrollbar min-width is 10px wide instead of 5px wide (you then need to restart Firefox or change the theme, eg with unity-tweak-tool):

  .scrollbar.vertical slider,
  scrollbar.vertical slider {
      min-height: 15px;
      min-width: 10px;
  }

Then the scrollbars are usable again in Firefox.

(I did try putting this in a config file ~/.config/gtk-3.20/gtk-widgets.css, but it didn't make any difference, perhaps because of https://askubuntu.com/questions/892097/why-are-gtk-3-0-custom-settings-ignored.)

[Rocko (rockorequin)]

You can also put this workaround into the Numix theme by adding the above at the end of the /usr/share/themes/Numix/gtk-3.20/gtk.css file.

[Iain Lane (laney)]

Those workarounds will affect scrollbars for everything.

Chris, any chance you could take a look and/or forward the bug please? It seems 52 is using more of the GTK theming but still not enough - now the hovering bits aren't working properly with our theme.

There might be a way to target a workaround like the above to Firefox only, then it'll be like the pre-52 state.

[Rocko (rockorequin)]

As an aside, oddly enough, it doesn't affect everything. Nautilus is ignoring the theme settings and still has an horizontally-expanding sidebar on hover with my workaround in place. But that's probably a bug in Nautilus.

[Brian K. White (bkw777)]

Me too. It's extremely difficult to get into the scrollbar using my laptops touch pad. Even though I go slow and creep forward, it always either stops before or shoots beyond. A good mouse might not be so bad, but it's impossible with most touch pads, *especially* on high dpi display. Both of which features apply to my brand new Lenovo X1 Carbon.

[Gottier (webdesignbrian)]

I see that the status here is "undecided". Somebody that is interested in having us continue to use Firefox should be very interested. This is annoying enough that I've been using Chrome more often, and I hate Chrome.

We shouldn't have to hunt for the scrollbar handle. On long pages the scrollbar handle is never visible. As programmers, we're all aware of usability issues, and it's hard to imagine that this one slipped through. Please fix!

[Andreas Vinsander (andreas-vinsander)]

This problem is also showing it self on Mozilla Thunderbird. It's nearly impossible to grab the scrollbar handle for the message list using a laptop touchpad.

[Brian K. White (bkw777)]

Yes! You are right it's Thunderbird too.