How can I change the "timeout" duration for Nautilus "find the filename as you type" feature?

I often get stalled by the long timeout while typing the first few letters of a file name in Nautilus...

The current timeout seems to be 5 seconds. I'd prefer 1 second ...(as per item 2 on this page about Response Times)

I don't use the mouse much, which means I either wait, or press Escape, when I don't find the file...

I realize that this is a feature to some, but I'd rather not wait.

Is there any way to change this timeout behaviour?

Solution 1:

Unfortunately, the five second delay is hard-coded into Nautilus. Here's how to hack it:

• First, set up your build environment:

  sudo apt-get install build-essential
  sudo apt-get install devscripts
  sudo apt-get build-dep nautilus
  

  devscripts might ask you to configure Postfix, select anything you want ("No configuration" should be fine, if you don't use Postscript, it shouldn't ask otherwise)

• Get the source code of Nautilus:

  apt-get source nautilus
  

  (Notice no sudo here)

• Now to change Nautilus. Open nautilus-2.32.0/libnautilus-private/nautilus-icon-container.c in your favourite text editor. The line we're concerned with is about line 149. It should say:

  #define NAUTILUS_ICON_CONTAINER_SEARCH_DIALOG_TIMEOUT 5
  

  Replace the 5 with any amount of time you like. This must be an integer, and ≥ 1. I've change it to one second, as the article recommends. ;-)

• Now to build the package:

  cd nautilus-2.32.0/
  sudo debuild
  

  This will take a while. It should, at least. If it finishes with an error like "patch does not remove cleanly", run sudo debuild -nc instead). Note also that this may complain about it not being able to sign the package. You don't need a signed package in this case, they're only required if you want to upload them somewhere.

• You should now have some .deb packages in the parent directory. Install them all:

  cd ..
  sudo dpkg -i *.deb
  

Afterwards, restart your computer (logging out may be sufficient, I'm not sure), and test the changes. As you know, your changes will be undone with every update of Nautilus.