Fingerprint reader unresponsive on 7490

Hi,

I see that you have a fingerprint issue on the system. 

Is the correct finger being used?

Was the same angle used to swipe?

Was the correct finger swipe speed used?

Did you find any oil or dust on the sensor?

Let us run the support assist scan, which will check for Driver/BIOS update, hardware issues, and optimize the system performance. Please check how to from here- https://dell.to/2PCsy39

-Vivek

Same problem here with my 5290 2 in 1. After trying to reinstall Windows 10, fingerprint drivers, upgrade TPM firmware, uncheck fastboot, I gave up. The fingerprint is not responsive after waking up from sleep, sometimes evern after rebooting.

Hi!

There is more than 60 comments on reporting fingerprint scanner doesn't recognize the user (or less than than 30-40% success). And there are lots of users described they tried evertything they coud: drivers update, windows reinstall, clean the sensor.

It took ALMOST TWO YEARS to someone from Dell take the fatigue to respond this thread, and no, the problem haven't solve itself. And you ask the same things we just tried.. please read back all the comments.

We know how to use a fingerprint scanner, other manufacturer's fingerprint scanners work flawlessly.

It is very clear that the issue is not on the user side, and not only one series affected (please read the comments), a lots of Latitude series, and they are not some low-cost notebooks. And still present on 4 new Latitude 5490 notebooks in our case (and many others, please read the comments)

So I feel, that Dell doesn't really care about the users and their experience. I think this kind of user care in 2018, oh sorry in 2020.. is unacceptable. Next time we buy something, we think twice..

What should Dell do? Admit that the issue is on their side, and really try to find a solution.

@decker12 

Yes I have given up on waiting for Dell to give a reasonable response to the plethora of similar complaints here. Face recognition on this 7490 works great.

I'm really just here to witness the embarassing attempt at customer service.  Probably not the best use of my time personally but I've just had enough with these corporations making all this money and then passing blame onto customers when something is clearly wrong.

Stop blaming the users. You have no evidence of it being a user error.

I have been using readers on my phones and other laptop for years without issue. This was broken out of the box, as reflected by over half of the posts in here.

You don't care. 

In the end it's a combination of a poorly designed fingerprint sensor in the older models, terrible and downright buggy software that manages the fingerprint software, and complete lack of documentation for the fingerprint sensor's software and the whole Dell Data Protection suite.

Any one of those three issues should sink the product. Dell's FP sensor has all three of them.

The newer laptops have better fingerprint sensors built into the power button, plus IR cameras that use Windows Hello and IMO work better than the fingerprint sensor anyway. On top of it all, the hardware in the newer Dell laptops work out of the box with Windows biometrics framework, so you don't need additional buggy software from Dell to make it all work like you need with the older laptops.

I feel the users pain with trying to get these FP sensors to work with older laptops but again I advise to just give up on it.

Dell isn't going to fix the physical hardware nor can they take your sensor out and put a new one in. New hardware won't fit in your laptop chassis. They're not going to refund you because the product does technically work, albeit in a very specific set of circumstances that nobody can replicate (god knows I tried). It's the same problem they've had for 5 years on various other laptop models - it's not just the 7490s. That's strike 1.

There's no 3rd party software that works with the sensors (we've tried them all back in the day). Windows Biometrics Framework on modern Windows 10 machines do not work with the sensors either. That's strike 2.

There's no documentation for getting any of this working with the Dell software. Heaven forbid you needed to get these sensors enrolled in a company-wide database - again no documentation for how to do that. No documentation on how to use the Dell Data Protection suite for any part of it, let alone just the finger print reader on a laptop you use at home as a consumer. That's strike 3.

Same issue here with two 7490s we´ve given up on using it. I had moved from a Lenovo T490S and I miss it big time.

I've got a whole batch of Latitude 7470's and a couple of 7370's, all of them have non-working fingerprint scanners. I get calls from users all the time complaining about it. Dell should really be ashamed for not providing a fix for this, every solution they recommend is a waste of time.

XPS 7390 same issue, where is dell support?

It is incredible that this device cost so much money and fingerprint work like .... it is so frustrating that i spent money for thisd

even that I scanned my finer 8 times its working total random... and in most of cases it is just not working

no dell support in the same time... that is ridicules

my mobile phone was cheaper and fingerprint reader work so much better then this 

Why i pay to dell for this? please remind me

I have a Dell Precision 7730 and the fingerprint scanner never worked but that was the least of my issues so I just let that go a long time ago. Tried again after a couple of years and it still does not work. 

Dell has put me in a bind so many times. I use my laptop as a tool, to work, get paid and do my job. I would think for someone paying $4000 - $6000 for a new laptop each year from them they would care, they don't. When I received this one the issues were more than I can list here. Lets just say when I removed the back (under) lid to replace the NVMe which stopped working I discovered the heatsinks that are supposed to be on them were not. They screws that were supposed to attach them to the machine were also not present. I then realized there were no screws holding anything in this machine after the plastic lid is slid off. That's when I realized that this computer had already been someone else nightmare. CPU issues, GPU issues and also extremely poor performance.  Since this was all reported the very first week of ownership and I was spending ALL OF MY TIME working with them to get this thing running, I was neglecting my job. I had to make the long transition back to another older machine so I could do my job and then deal with this later. They then agreed to replace it with a used one. NO, I did not want another nightmare of someone else. I felt I was owed the opportunity to buy a new one and at least give me SOME credit towards it with this one. Not what I paid a few days earlier no, just used market credit. I did not want a used one, which is apparently what I had received buying direct from Dell. 

It so happens that I am now in the position of a company's entire hardware upgrade/replacement which is going to be HUGE. I don't see myself looking at Dell. I didnt on the last two of these company wide hardware replacements either. I don't really see a few million in sales lost from my suggestions in the last 1.5 year really being a loss for them, but me X's many others like me should. The bottom line is a $5000 laptop sale or customer is nothing to them, its a lot of money. They really don't know who they are talking to either when they just want you and your problem to go away. 

firmly pressing your finger is the solution, wenn scanning the fingers and when unlocking the device, then it works 9 out of 10 times

Didn't work for me.

What's been working for me is sweeping the sensor with any finger , so as to "clean" the sensor followed by an immediate firm press of a registered finger.

Both during registration and sign in.

What works for me is to exhale/breathe on a finger and next firmly touch the fingerprint sensor.