MX Linux Forum

Dolphin has developed an annoying habit: When single-clicking a folder to open it, this message highlighted in a pink background sometimes (but not always) appears at the bottom of the Dolphin window:

"A folder cannot be dropped into itself"

There's a red "X" button to the right of the message that clears it; also after a time delay the pink background disappears. I can always open the folder by single-clicking on it again, but it's still annoying to have to do this more than once. This message doesn't appear when single-clicking on files -- just folders -- and it does this more or less intermittently. Some folders seem to be more prone to this than others.

I chalked it up to a mouse issue because my wireless mouse seemed to be wearing out (it was sending out multiple left-clicks), so I purchased a brand-new mouse. The new mouse corrected all the other issues, but Dolphin displays the error message.

Has anyone seen this behavior or can explain it?

I've had Dolphin not open a Folder/File unless I click on the name. I have no idea why a click on the Icon will not open them. But I've never had your issue joany.

Single click is a pain. First thing I change...

Just thinking out loud... I'd look in Input Devices> Mouse. Mess with click speed or response time or pointer sensitivity or whatever looks like it might make a difference.

I sometimes get a similar error when I hurriedly click on something, the mouse pointer must move a fraction, & I think it gives a 'click & drag' situation. Remedy - click on items more slowly, works for me.

lucky9 wrote:I've had Dolphin not open a Folder/File unless I click on the name. I have no idea why a click on the Icon will not open them. But I've never had your issue joany.

That's kind of similar to what happens to me, and it gave me an idea. I don't seem to get the error message if I carefully align the mouse cursor with the folder's name instead of the icon. Maybe I'll just have to get into the habit of doing it that way, although I don't see why clicking on the folder's name is any different than clicking on the icon since floating the cursor over either one highlights both.

It almost seems that Dolphin sometimes interprets a single left-click on a folder icon as a drag 'n drop operation.

@MX-tester

Thanks for that tip. I could be moving the mouse a hair when clicking it.

@Uncle Mark

Thanks for that tip. I'll check the mouse settings and see what's what.

EDIT:

Under System Settings > Input Devices > Mouse there is an Icons panel. There are two selections: "Double-click to open files and folders (select icons on first click)" and "Single-click to open files and folders." I use the single-click option, which I think is the KDE default, but the "Delay" setting was at zero. I changed that to 200ms and closed and opened Dolphin. The problem seems to have gone away, knock on wood.

I'm marking this thread as "Solved." I don't know if this permanently fixed the problem, but at least I think I know what could be going on. Thanks to all for your inputs.

There's a setting somewhere that causes the clicking on the folder behavior to take a few milliseconds longer than clicking on the text. If I hold down the left click for a fraction longer the Folder will open. Weird.

joany wrote:@MX-tester

Thanks for that tip. I could be moving the mouse a hair when clicking it.

EDIT:

Under System Settings > Input Devices > Mouse there is an Icons panel. There are two selections: "Double-click to open files and folders (select icons on first click)" and "Single-click to open files and folders." I use the single-click option, which I think is the KDE default, but the "Delay" setting was at zero. I changed that to 200ms and closed and opened Dolphin. The problem seems to have gone away, knock on wood.

I had a vague recollection of running into something similar ages ago. I think MX-tester identified the cause, and you found the solution. In single click, hovering selects the folder, then clicking opens it. If you move the pointer/mouse in the process of clicking while the folder is selected it's interpreted as a drag.

In fact, now that I think of it, I think I last ran into this on a stock install of MX, where Thunar defaults to single click. My solution was to change it to double click.

Glad you got it sorted.