Finger Print reader never works...

I have a 1530 that came with the finger print reader. From day one, I can not get more than 1 good reading to be taken. It wants 3 consecutive in order to validate the print for a password. Admittedly, this is my first FP reader of any kind, but it does not seem to be rocket science. I have watched the tutorial many times (it ends the same every dang time), so I think I am doing it per their instructions. Any ideas or similar problems?

Randy / Painthouse

 

Not sure if you have tried this but...press firmly and slowly ..thats how it works best for me...otherwise it won't register properly..cheers!

 

gently glide the finger over slowly and do not press 'firmly' as it says because you will just get a squished scan which counts as a fail.

You might have a fingerprint reader option in the control panel which you can open up and actually 'see' what it scans when you swipe, that way you can work out how much pressure you are applying.

 

Thanks guys, I will go try again.

Randy/Painthouse

 

yes...I meant just firmly enough to capture the full print..you don't want to just brush it over ..once you get the hang of it ...it will work 1st time every time and it also works in Firefox and IE to log into sites such as this one etc...Cheers!..also I would not save the prints to the HDD as it will be wiped on a a reformat...the other way retains them so on an reinstall they are still there...

 

I have tried several more times, to no avail. Light pressure, fast, slow, whatever I can think of to get it to register. Most times I don't even get a denial "x", just nothing. Once in a while I can get it to officially reject me, but most times it is as if it isn't reading at all. I think the best I did in the practice is 2/4. I work with my hands all day in the custom paint industry, so maybe my fingerprints are not "good enough" to register? Maybe I should become a bank robber or something?

Randy / Painthouse

 

Also don't just scan the finger tip. Start from the first crease at the tip.

 

I am going from the first bend in the finger (closest to the tip) to the tip.

Randy/Painthouse

 

There's a definite nack to it. Like gunned said, it got a lot more cooperative when I started using a firmer pressure. The whole gesture I use takes around 0.5 - 1sec.

 

maybe you have your prints too covered with paint residue that aren't completely cleaned off??? crazy thought but who knows....LOL...it may be the problem...

 

At least he's getting bad scans; mine doesn't work at all. Just one of the several flaws my lousy POS M1530 came with. Way to go Dell, you losers. Haven't I bought enough stuff from you over the years?

 

Mine seems to be working kind of. I set it up no problem. It works to logon to windows no problem. I tried to set it up for my windows email but it's not working. I think it's a software issue though. I registered the swipe for the email password screen and it seems to "replay" the login when I swipe my finger but then it just keeps jumping back to the logon box even though it gts a successful swipe.

 

I think the problem is most likely your fingers are too dry. It often helps if I breath on my fingertip first.
I have also had failures right after a shower when the skin has swollen and wrinkled.

As for technique - what seemed to work best for me is pressing moderately hard and rotating at the end to go round the corner towards the fingertip (I know they said not to do that).

 

Or maybe the problem is your finger itself or, to be more precise, the minutae on your finger. A biometrical scan works by detecting not the curves on your finger, but the endings and bifurcations of those lines. It might be that the finger you've tried has to few of those spots or they are to hard to detect. Just try an other finger and check if it works better for you.