530148 - Keyboard input doesn't work after switching virtual desktops

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Firefox :: Keyboard Navigation, defect)

Description

[Wyatt Draggoo]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2b3) Gecko/20091115 Firefox/3.6b3
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2b3) Gecko/20091115 Firefox/3.6b3

With both this and the 3.6 Beta 2 release, if I switch to a different virtual desktop and switch back, keyboard input doesn't work.

I am running the DeskMan PowerToy for XP from this site: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx

Firefox is the only application I have running on this desktop. If I switch to a different desktop and switch back Firefox has the focus (as indicated by the darker title bar and the selection on the task bar) but the keyboard shortcuts I have tried don't work unless I click somewhere on the page that doesn't currently show it has the keyboard focus. I'll give examples below.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. My cursor is currently in this entry box.
2. Switch to a different desktop and switch back (Win-2 and then Win-3 keys for me).
3. Blinking vertical cursor still shows active, but no keyboard input is received (including both normal typing to continue text entry in the box as well as keyboard shortcuts such as Ctrl-k, Ctrl-l and Ctrl-t).
4. After clicking in this box again, keyboard input is still not received.
5. Clicking in another input box on this page (or another tab, the URL bar or the search box) restores keyboard input.
Actual Results:  
Must click on a different input box or another tab/input area to re-enable keyboard entry.

Expected Results:  
Keyboard entry should resume as normal without any additional clicking.

This behavior started with the 2.6 betas. I didn't have this problem when I was running 3.5.

Comment 1

[John Hardin]

I can confirm this is happening for me in FF 3.6 final on WinXP SP3 using Virtual
Dimension with 2 screens and 10 desktops.

This problem has actually been around since 1.x and focus refactoring changes have not yet corrected it. See Bug 357215.

Comment 2

[Jeff Rivett]

I can confirm this is happening for me in FF 3.6.3 on WinXP SP3 using Microsoft Virtual Desktop Manager.  All other browsers and applications behave normally with respect to the keyboard when switching between desktops.  Switching to a different tab then back again, or clicking in different areas of the page seem to fix the immediate problem.

I feel that the fixes for earlier keyboard/focus bugs (e.g. Bug 249136) didn't dig deep enough and that there's something way down in FF's innards that's not being done quite right in handling focus changes and the keyboard.  I've been happy with the fixes for the earlier bugs until I started using MSVDM recently.

MSVDM: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx

Comment 3

[daylin.trenton]

Firefox has no key to copy link since 88. It was removed and not replaced. This is completely unreasonable.

A replacement key that is unusable by human hands is not a replacement. It's not unlike telling people they can vote, if they stand in line for 8 hours without water. That is telling people that they can't vote.

Telling people that there is a new key, but it's across the room where NO ONE, NO HUMAN HAND can reach, is telling them that there is no key.

Firefox has NO KEY to copy link currently.

There was no reason to break this, and I want you to know that I am never going to stop reporting it.

You broke a browser that millions of people depended on for NO REASON. NO REASON. There was NO REASON TO REMOVE THE HOTKEY TO COPY LINKS FROM FIREFOX.