XPS M1330 Issue: Fingerprint reader disconnected?

I was trying to use the reader to authenticate at a web site, and nothing was happening. So I pulled up the fingerprint reader control panel from its tray icon, and could not get a recognized swipe. Sometimes, it would say "too short", indicating that I did not swipe enough of my finger over the scanner. I had never gotten this error before, even during initial training. I tried pushing harder, then softer, etc.: nothing happened - the prompt remained on screen to swipe my finger over it, and nothing changed on screen when I did so.

So I figured a reboot might help. After Vista came back up, I got a pop-up from the UPEK tray icon stating that the reader was disconnected from its (internal, of course) USB port, and to please plug it back in. BTW, my battery was fairly low, but well above the 10% mark, possibly around 30%, even.

I checked Device Manager and there was no entry nor category for Biometric. Since I was a little freaked out by now, I yanked out my USB Hub (left port) and trackball (right port) from the 2 external ports on the M1330.

I restarted again, and lo and behold, the fingerprint reader came back and worked, and appeared in Device Manager, as it always did..

First, does anybody know why this could happen (loose plug, overloaded USB on another port)? Any other ideas?

Second, has anyone else experienced this? What worked and what didn't?

I really don't want to have to send it back; so far, it's just the left hinge which has a bot more space than the right one does. But that is forgivable. However, a fingerprint reader must always work, unless you want to resort to passwords, in which case you can avoid whole fingerprint thing to begin with.

I don't know if anyone has the answer to this, but I really resent paying north of $2,000 to beta test a supposedly HIGH-END laptop. I know all about the delays, but you gotta have some QC also. The reader has to have a good cable connection to the MB, that can withstand users' swipes and not physically disconnect, if that's what happened.

 

sounds like a software issue to me...

 

It happened to me this morning. I restarted and it came back. My only guess is that it didn't hibernate properly (since it was the login, not a website where it didn't work.)

 

I believe you need to reconnect it every now and then so that the device will be refreshed and be redetected by the system.

 

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. So you think it was software and not another defect that it's not connected securely under the palm rest?

ScanR: This is a built-in reader that is located just below the keyboard that plugs into an internal USB port, and nothing other than the reader itself is exposed, so there is no way to physically reconnect it, though you could uninstall it from Device Manager and restart.


If it's indeed a software issue, I may just wipe it and start it fresh with the latest drivers and hope it doesn't happen again.

BTW, how do I get it to log in with the fingerprint reader? I never gave it my login password. Do I just swipe when the system gets to the login screen, or do I have to set an option in the UPEK control panel? I looked there, but the UI confuses me a little.

 

I agree it is probably a software problem.

I posted reports of the problem at:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2307702#post2307702
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2315995&postcount=911
Then started a new thread to discuss it at:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2413628#post2413628

I have been trying to figure out the common factor but so far haven't noticed a clear pattern (e.g. theories that are probably wrong - USB device removal, parental controls cutting in, fast user switching.)

It seems to me to be due to some process somehow locking the reader for it's exclusive use. When I switch to another user account the process is suspended and the device appears disconnected.

Did we all install the Firefox plugin?

I noticed the driver or UPEK software did appear on the Dell download site but I didn't install it because I seem to have that version number already installed... but perhaps it is worth trying - either because of some subtle undocumented update or because the act of installing it again may fix a problem.

--
For logging in - I presume you mean to Windows and not BIOS. I would love a single swipe to do BIOS, hard disk, and Windows passwords but I don't think the BIOS supports it. For Windows it is working well - that is how I have the whole family switching between accounts.

 

I have a similar weird error. I resume the laptop from sleep and the fingerprint reader won't work on the log in screen. If I try several times, I get a blue screen of death stating "USB BugCode" then a memory dump. I think the fingerprint reader is buggy, definetly needs some work.

 

The only thing that might have contributed to my issue was that I overloaded an external USB hub, which is why I disconnected it after unplugging the offending device.

But the fingerprint reader has its own USB connection and should not have been affected, right?

Nalada, I was referring to Windows login, not the BIOS, as you mentioned, and thanks for your helpful input. So, do I need to specifically enable this function, and how do I do so, if I do need to specifically enable it?

BTW, I seem to have gotten much better than I first was, at correctly swiping. If anyone out there has any trouble, I would advise doing at least 2 fingers, as UPEK advises, and, in addition, re-"training" the reader. I no longer need to keep re-swiping over and over till it finally lets me in.

 

I'm having a fingerprint reader issue too, but a different one. Every now and then it won't recognize my finger at all; it is always either "too short" or "too fast". Five, ten, twenty times (I have set it to allow that many attempts). It's not my fault, I have the correct motion down pat---at other times it works on the first try.

I am not sure if this is consistent, but today the problem appeared when I rebooted an unplugged m1330 (ie operating on battery). When I plugged the power back in, the reader worked fine, and when I unplugged it again, it still worked fine. Maybe it was coincidence, i don't know yet.

 

I have this issue too. Sometimes, it'll tell me "too short" over and over again. Even when the motion is very good, I can try 10-20 times and still get "too short". I think there were a bad batch of fingerprint readers.

 

You know, this just happened to me when I tried logging in. I then tried a different registered finger and it worked on the first try. I wonder if the "reading" of your finger is "off". Try reprogramming that finger's print into the reader. I bet you'll get more accuracy. It's still bizarre, though.

I think what's really happening here is that there is not enough power and/or data going to the reader, and so it's not getting the whole print. Alternatively, the driver is somehow, some why, not sending the entire "print" over to the reader, and so the reader will keep saying "too-short", because it's missing half the print even though you already swiped it.

 

I have seen something similar but only once - repeated too short swipes. I thought maybe the machine is very busy doing something else.

Looking in the Device Manager for USB. I was surprised to see what looks like 7 USB hubs. In addition to the expected mouse, game controller (my joystick), Bluetooth, and fingerprint coprocessor they include keyboard, probably touchpad masquerading as a HID mouse. Probably others are free for WLAN card or turbo memory. I suppose wireless may be there as well. Anyway, fingerprint coprocessor looks to have it's own two port hub at to be using only 1% of bandwidth and 100ma of power of 500ma available.

 

I didn't mean to convey the impression that it was possible to do BIOS password and hard disk password and Windows login with a single swipe. I think it is possible on some other laptops (Sony?) which have a TPM module. This Dell doesn't seem able to use the fingerprint reader for BIOS and hard disk passwords at all but I am hoping it remains technically possible and somewhere down the line it will be enabled via a BIOS upgrade.

 

Here are some things that I hoped would fix this issue with the fingerprint reader but didn't:
o Upgraded to BIOS A06
o Uninstalled McAfee

However, I did get a clue tonight - a blue screen "Bugcode USB driver" shortly after the fingerprint reader seemed to get disconnected.

What happened is this:
1. Logged in at home (mains power)
2. Shut the lid, disconnected power and mouse, carried it off
3. On re-opening I had the normal screen prompting me to log back in - it indicated that I could do it with the fingerprint reader.
4. At just about the same moment as I swiped my finger Dell Quickset (?) dimmed the screen. The fingerprint swipe wasn't registered. Nor were two more swipes I made.
5. I clicked "Switch user" and now the fingerprint login icon had the message asking me to connect the fingerprint reader.
6. I may have swiped my finger (without effect) - but after a short pause I got the blue screen.

So I guess what is implicated is at least one of: USB driver, Dell Quickset, and the Fingerprint drivers.

 

Reading all above, would just recommend a new clean install.
If you can generate a BSOD, it seems that hardwarewise everything is connected

 

No way - I am not a clean installer. ;-)
Anyway, a number of people are having problems with the fingerprint reader disconnecting - I don't think a clean install will fix it. I suspect by a chance of timing I got some additional information hinting at the cause of the problem. I very much doubt the BSOD will be a regular occurrence.

(I meant to add in the last message as another thing that didn't cure the problem - that I also re-installed the fingerprint reader software again because Dell put a download on their website that was dated after my computer was shipped - but it has the same version number as I had before and I haven't noticed any difference)

 

I see this in one particular situation - when the machine (disk?) is very busy. It seems the fingerprint scanner doesn't get enough bandwidth to capture the full fingerprint. An example is (I think) if I start Windows after an improper shutdown. The machine presents the login screen but seems still to be busy checking disk integrity and at that time I have trouble getting the fingerprint swipe recognized. I usually wait for disk activity to lessen before logging in.

 

I haven't had the problem with the fingerprint reader getting disconnected for some time so I am hoping it is fixed.

One think I wonder is what happens if you plug in a USB 1.1 device. Does it bring one of the internal USB controllers down to 1.1 speed? Could that be a cause of slow and difficult fingerprint recognition?

 

Just a heads up, every time I had my palm rest replaced (by tech or depot) they completely broke my finger print reader. It should not be wiggling around. It should be hard and not able to be pressed down and feel lose. Each time someone has worked with my laptop they've never been able to put it back how it should be. When this happens its very very hard to swipe your finger.

 

I have a M1330 and ordered it with out the Fingerprint Reader. Does anyone have the part number for it and can one order it after the fact?

Thanks
Danny

 

I don't see many other people complaining about the fingerprint reader getting 'disconnected'. This is the problem where when trying to 'Edit fingerprints' you get the message:
"Cannot enroll user.
Fingerprint sensor device is exclusively used by another application.
Code 0xe7210000"

After a graphics failure I had the motherboard replaced but the problem is still there. I was wondering if anyone who has the same problem can state the revision of motherboard they have (it is on a sticker under the second stick of RAM). In my case I think my very early machine started with a A00 or A01 motherboard and after it was replaced it is a rev A01 motherboard.

Another thought is that the problem may be limited to people doing a lot of fast user switching (I have the whole family using this machine). Perhaps people experiencing the problem could also mention whether they are a single user or are using fast user switching.

And the final thought - maybe it is related to the Firefox plugin. Do other people experiencing this problem use Firefox?

 

Well, to those of you who is having problem with Dell XPS Fingerprint Reader, welcome to the club. Here is a little trick I have learned after sooo many errors. Their Fingerprint reader is SUCKS! big time. Most of the time, it just doesn't work. However, if you lick your finger first to wet it (I know it sound discusting), then swipe it, it will work 99.9% of the time. It will work for 2 reason: 1. Your finger is cleaner now. 2. The wet finger will stick more to the scanner glass and it will give a better reading. Try it and hopefully this will resolve 99.9% of your problem with it.

 

I don't think it is that bad but it is true that if your finger is too dry it won't recognize it - but doesn't it work by sensing the capacitance (not optically)?
I think having a moist finger means it conducts electricity better.