Fingerprint reader "disappeared" on new Z21

One week into its life, the fingerprint reader on my Z21 suddenly disappeared - no longer recognized as present by software, no longer any entry or drivers in the registry (no biometric devices at all). Reinstalling the fingerprint driver package from the Sony site has no effect. The Sony Store technical expert is stumped and I'm trying to avoid having to do a clean reinstall just to see if it is a hardware or software problem. Any ideas anyone? Thanks in advance.

 

Does it show up under device manager? If no how about in safe mode? I would assume if it shows under device manager it is not a hardware issue.

 

Does not show in Device Manger in either normal or safe mode. Would have thought, however, that a hardware error would still show the device in the Manager, but as "not working properly"...?

 

Hi there,

I recently bought the Z2 model sold in Brazil and got the same problem. I was able to exchange it for a new unit but the problem showed up again. Today, after I started Windows, I got a message that the Authentec device could not be installed/recognized. I immediately opened the Device Manager and there it was, with the distinctive yellow exclamation mark. My hopes were high but - and I should not have done it - I later turned the notebook off, and when I powered it up again there was no Authentec device listed on the Device Manager. I didn't have the chance to try to update the "missing" driver from Device Manager. Very frustrating!

 

This happened to my Z21 as well yesterday. The Device does no longer appear in DeviceManager.

Did anyone of you find out something new?

 

I had the same problem with my z21 a few month ago - the solution was the driver update, downloadable in the Authentec Website:

Download Manager

Look for the WBF package, as far as i know this is the right one

 

Since Yesterday it works again (no software changes) ... very strange indeed. Will try the driver if the problem occurs again, thanks

 

Same thing here, started working again about a week ago. No new software, no driver or OS updates whatsoever. Came out of the blue.

 

Problem (apparently) solved without my intervention, but thanks anyway!

 

No problem, i think updating the driver is not bad at all - since a few days on the website there is also a patch for firefox 12 support

 

...and there it goes again. Just disappeared this morning from my device list. Coincidently, it was after I sprayed some cleaning solution ( link) to clean the mousepad and palm rests. Maybe the solution somehow penetrated the closing, causing the sensor to malfunction.

I'll try the driver now, but it doesn't work I'll bet it is hardware related.

 

You directly sprayed onto your laptop, or you sprayed onto a cloth and used the cloth to wipe the mousepad/palmrests?

 

I can only recommend you the driver update, mentioned in my other post - this fixed the problem on my machine

 

I sprayed directly over the palmrests/mousepad, and it was a very small quantity. I guess it was a mistake then. But I do it with all my other gadgets and never had any problem. Let's just hope the sensor comes back again after a while.

 

Thanks, SirRobin. I don't know if the problem was in the driver or the cleaning solution that I used on the sensor, but it is working again!