The fingerprint reader on my Dell laptop has been working very well
until fprintd update.
Currently I have the following (updated) rpms:
$ rpm -qa | grep -i fprint
fprintd-1.90.9-1.fc33.x86_64
fprintd-pam-1.90.9-1.fc33.x86_64
libfprint-1.90.7-1.fc33.x86_64
After this update the fingerprint reader does not seem to work at all.
And I cannot enroll new fingerprints.
In GNOME, it starts scanning, but aborts ‘Fingerprint device disconnected’
Same problem from command line:
$ sudo fprintd-enroll
Using device /net/reactivated/Fprint/Device/0
Enrolling right-index-finger finger.
Enroll result: enroll-stage-passed
Enroll result: enroll-disconnected
Looking through logs, I see frequent message:
$ journalctl -u fprintd
Mar 20 11:11:32 - fprintd[1519]: Device reported an error during identify:
The driver encountered a protocol error with the device.
Since these messages started appearing mid-January 2021
I had a look at the updates history:
$ dnf history list
ID | Command line | Date and time | Action(s) | Altered
184 | | 2021-01-19 15:15 | I, U | 151
$ dnf history info 184 | grep fprint
Upgrade fprintd-1.90.9-1.fc33.x86_64 @updates
Upgrade fprintd-pam-1.90.9-1.fc33.x86_64 @updates
Upgrade libfprint-1.90.7-1.fc33.x86_64 @updates
Upgraded fprintd-1.90.8-1.fc33.x86_64 @@System
Upgraded fprintd-pam-1.90.8-1.fc33.x86_64 @@System
Upgraded libfprint-1.90.6-1.fc33.x86_64 @@System
I have attempted to downgrade fprintd to earlier available version:
$ sudo dnf --showduplicates list *fprint*
fprintd.x86_64 1.90.1-2.fc33 fedora
fprintd-pam.x86_64 1.90.1-2.fc33 fedora
libfprint.x86_64 1.90.3-1.fc33 fedora
$ sudo yum downgrade *fprint*
Downgraded:
fprintd-1.90.1-2.fc33.x86_64
fprintd-pam-1.90.1-2.fc33.x86_64
libfprint-1.90.3-1.fc33.x86_64
However this downgrade did not make any difference, it still does not work?
Some details of my system:
Dell Inspiron 7380 Laptop UEFI/GPT triple boot:
— Windows 10 Version 20H2 build 19042.804
— Fedora 33 Kernel: 5.11.7-200.fc33.x86_64 GNOME 3.38.4
— CentOS 8 Kernel: 4.18.0-240.15.1.el8_3.x86_64 GNOME 3.32.2
The details of my fingerprint device are as follows:
$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f3:0c01 Elan Microelectronics Corp.
Looking at lifprint — Supported Devices
— USB_ID: 04f3:0c01
— Driver: ElanTech Fingerprint Sensor
I would appreciate any advice on how to diagnose this problem further.