How do I install a fingerprint reader on Lenovo ThinkPad?

Question

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad with a fingerprint reader:

How to make Ubuntu recognise it and use it for login?

I already tried:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:fingerprint/fingerprint-gui
sudo apt-get update

... but this GUI did not recognizes my device. Does anyone knows any other option?

Solution 1

I tried both Fingerprint Gui and FPrint in my Thinkpad W550S. Fingerprint Gui (Dead link, project is gone???) had a nice interface, but was pretty unstable on the login page and sudo and constantly crashed.

FPrint seems more simple, but works very well:

For Ubuntu 20.04 or greater:

sudo apt install libpam-fprintd

For Ubuntu 16.04 or greater:

sudo apt install libpam-fprintd fprint-demo

For Ubuntu 15.04 or less

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:fingerprint/fprint
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libfprint0 fprint-demo libpam-fprintd gksu-polkit

After that, you can test it by running fprint_demo and save the fingerprint with fprintd-enroll. This will automatically make your login screen require a finger swipe instead of a password.

[Update] In some cases you also may need to run:

sudo pam-auth-update

to activate fingerprint reader for elevated privileges for example with sudo

Solution 2

Fprint worked perfectly on a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon under Ubuntu 14.04. I strictly followed the instructions :

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:fingerprint/fprint
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libfprint0 fprint-demo libpam-fprintd

and finally saved my fingerprint with fprintd-enroll. I can now login and validate my sudo access with a finger swipe !!

Solution 3

On my Thinkpad X220, I had to enable the fingerprint reader in BIOS (tap F1 repeatedly after starting the computer).

After that, fprint_demo works in the sense that it runs, but it fails to read any fingerprint data ("Bad scan. Please remove your finger before trying again.").

Comments

[Nicolas Raoul]

gksu-polkit does not exist in 2015.10 but seems to be installable: askubuntu.com/questions/653459/…

[Nicolas Raoul]

Actually no need to install gksu-polkit it seems.

[Kostanos]

the question was for 14.04. I didn't tested it in latest versions. But thank you anyway.

[Samuli Pahaoja]

For 16.04, apt-get install libpam-fprintd was sufficient to get fprintd-enroll and functioning login page.

[Kasun Siyambalapitiya]

after setting this how to get back to entering the password

[Yosved Villar]

I just want to use like i was using it on windows.

[Kasun Siyambalapitiya]

@Kostanos How to uninstall Fprint I installed it using sudo apt install libpam-fprintd

[v1h5]

on firing fprintd-enroll, it asks Enrolling right-index-finger finger. On scrolling my finger on the fingerprint-scanner, the terminal shows Enroll result: enroll-completed. But when I try using my fingerprint, it always shows 'Failed to match fingerprint'. What am I doing wrong ?

[Kostanos]

what is the difference in your answer from the previous one?

[Kostanos]

@v1h5 occasionally my sensor also gives me no match. but after few retries it works almost all the time. I guess it is also may depends on quality of the sensor and cleanest of it, also the fingers should not be wet.

[Kostanos]

@KasunSiyambalapitiya it exactly what I expressed on this topic. Apart of libpam-fprintd you may need some other dependent libraries. Check above for the full instruction.

[Kasun Siyambalapitiya]

@AlbinFreycenon will this works on x1 carbon 5th gen?

[CTodea]

Worked as a charm w/ ThinkPad L450 & Ubuntu 18.04

[Premek Brada]

For 18.04 at least, it seems the answer is missing an important part -- the fingerprint registration needs to be run also as root and needs username of the normal user (to get access via the fingerprint) as parameter: sudo fingerd-enroll $USERNAME.

[user17254]

OK, so this does get the fingerprint thingy working but.. it's pretty useless on Ubuntu if you still have to enter a password for the key chain after paswordless fingerprint login :(

[Akhil Surapuram]

I am getting no devices available. in ThinkPad l480

[Kostanos]

unfortunately some models. including mine - ideapad 720s, has different brand fingerprint reader, which is not supported by ubuntu yet :(

[Akhil Surapuram]

fprint_demo says no devices found in status

[Dibish]

no device found

[Dibish]

no device found in ubuntu 16

[Ikbel]

list_devices failed: No devices available on Thinkpad P43s , Ubuntu 18.04

[le hien]

No device found, too.

[Marcello Romani]

zecheru.com/thinkpad-fingerprint-ubuntu-14-04/?v=7516fd43ada‌​a is a dead link