Public bug reported:
I had two windows open side by side (Nautilus AKA Files), both looking
at directories on the same external USB hard drive (EXT4 filesystem). I
was organizing files by click-selecting folders or drag-selecting
several files in the right-hand window, then dragging them over to the
left-hand window.
I would expect a move operation to result, as I am dragging between two
directories on the same filesystem. However, sometimes (not every time,
only occasionally) the drag and drop would result in copying files
instead of moving them. A few times I caught this (I saw the + symbol on
the target) and stopped the drag operation, then immediately repeated
the drag-and-drop and got different results: a move instead of a copy.
By repeatedly performing the same drag operation (without completing it)
I was able to reproduce the problem: occasionally the files would be
copied instead of moved. This was not simply a glitch where the wrong
cursor was displayed, there was actually a difference in behavior. I am
certain of this because after one such operation both the original and
the copy existed separately, and the copy operation took a significant
amount of time with visual feedback about copy progress (unlike a move
which is instantaneous).
Once when dragging 7 files, I saw that the cursor indicated an imminent
move instead of copy, suddenly there were 9 dotted file outlines instead
of 7. Repeating the operation resulted in a move, and there were only 7
dotted file outlines visible. That is to say, when an erroneous copy was
about to happen, the number of files to be copied appeared to increase
beyond the number I intended to move.
This problem was consistently accompanied by another possibly
independent problem: the dotted file outlines did not disappear after
the copy/move completed.
Another possibly irrelevant detail: in between the two Nautilus windows,
and behind them in the stacking order, was a terminal window. My mouse
was often passing over this terminal window as I dragged from the right
hand Nautilus window to the left hand one. The mouse cursor that is
displayed when dragging files across this window (to indicate the
potential action of copying the file path as text into the terminal
window) is similar to the one that indicates a move operation rather
than a copy. I can imagine the mouse cursor just being accidentally
stuck in the + state as it enters the target Nautilus window, but that
doesn't explain the actual copy operation happening. I would not expect
the cursor to represent any program state that could bleed between these
two applications.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.04
Package: nautilus 1:3.14.2-0ubuntu9
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.19.0-18.18-generic 3.19.6
Uname: Linux 3.19.0-18-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.17.2-0ubuntu1.1
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: GNOME-Classic:GNOME
Date: Mon Jun 1 09:24:26 2015
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/nautilus
GsettingsChanges: b'org.gnome.nautilus.list-view' b'default-column-order'
b"['name', 'size', 'type', 'date_modified', 'date_accessed', 'owner', 'group',
'permissions', 'mime_type', 'where']"
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-05-02 (29 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-GNOME 15.04 "Vivid Vervet" - Release amd64 (20150422)
SourcePackage: nautilus
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
** Affects: nautilus (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Tags: amd64 apport-bug vivid
** Description changed:
- I had two windows (Files == Nautilus) open side by side, both looking at
- directories on the same external USB hard drive (EXT4 filesystem). I was
- organizing files by click-selecting folders or drag-selecting several
- files in the right-hand window, then dragging them over to the left-hand
- window.
+ I had two windows open side by side (Nautilus AKA Files), both looking
+ at directories on the same external USB hard drive (EXT4 filesystem). I
+ was organizing files by click-selecting folders or drag-selecting
+ several files in the right-hand window, then dragging them over to the
+ left-hand window.
I would expect a move operation to result, as I am dragging between two
directories on the same filesystem. However, sometimes (not every time,
only occasionally) the drag and drop would result in copying files
instead of moving them. A few times I caught this (I saw the + symbol on
the target) and stopped the drag operation, then immediately repeated
the drag-and-drop and got different results: a move instead of a copy.
By repeatedly performing the same drag operation (without completing it)
I was able to reproduce the problem: occasionally the files would be
copied instead of moved. This was not simply a glitch where the wrong
cursor was displayed, there was actually a difference in behavior. I am
certain of this because after one such operation both the original and
the copy existed separately, and the copy operation took a significant
