Dell New Fingerprint Reader Owner's Must Read. Broadcom USH Issue effecting Preciosn M4400, M6400, Latitude E6400 and others

Well, if that Dell rep told you which lines to comment out, then we would have something to work with...

 

Definitely ask the Dell rep which lines must be commented out! That's the closest we've been to a solution...

 

Answer from UPEK:

Dear Norberto!

On Dell E-series laptops the fingerprint sensor is connected via proprietary interface from Broadcom and UPEK/Authentec driver cannot communicate with the device at all. The driver cannot see the sensor - it is "hidden" behind the Broadcom chip :-(

If you check the VID (VendorID) of the "Broadcom USH w/swipe fingerprint sensor" device you will find out that it is not a product of UPEK, nor Authentec.

Dell/Broadcom have not release an SDK so nobody can integrate it.

As far as I know, Embassy Trust Suite from Wave can control this Broadcom chip. This software is also usually preloaded on Dell notebooks with this solution.

Best Regards,

Miroslav Buran
Technical Support Manager
UPEK

 

Yeah, I got a similar answer as well. It's expected, too -- this is in no way UPEK's fault.

 

Fatboydude, you forgot to say which are the lines of code to REM!

 

Another answer from UPEK:

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Hello Norberto!

> ...I could REM out a line of code or two in INF file of the fingerprint sensor device
Well, I would love to have a complete information about that ;-) But frankly speaking I don't see any logical reason why to do this. Even if you modify the VID and PID list in the Broadcom driver INF file, it simply cannot start working with the fingerprint reader. It's like if you want modify your video drivers to control your printer ;-) Broadcom coprocessor and our fingerprint sensor are completely different devices, each of them requires a different driver. Furthermore, as far as I know, the fingerprint reader is not enumerated by the system at all.

I went through the whole forum thread and the only guy who was close to some solution was the one who disassembled the fingerprint reader device. If this would be connected directly to the USB (to bypass the Broadcom controller) then the fingerprint reader will be normally enumerated by the operating system and it may work correctly. I deliberately use may, as the firmware of TCEFA1FH is designed for use with Broadcom only - it does not support some of the more advanced USB features (my understanding is that these are primarily related to error recovery). Furthermore the TCEFA1FH requires 3.3V, while standard USB provides 5V, so you will need to use some adapter to change the voltage. For "real" USB applicatons we recommend the TCEFB1. Anyway, I do not recommend you to do such hardware modifications!

Best Regards,

Miroslav Buran
Technical Support Manager
UPEK
---

 

Update for this old thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...8-latitude-e-series-upek-protector-suite.html

 

I was just checking for driver updates and can confirm it is now possible to use the fingerprint reader without the embassy software and is recognized as a biometric device in the control panel!

I installed:
DELL_CONTROLVAULT-WINDOWS-BI_A00_R308326
DELL_CONTROLVAULT_A23_R309311

I then ran the app it installed under the startmenu:
Broadcom > USH Tools > Control Vault WBF

checked 'enable' and was then able to enroll fingerprints through the control panel and use the native biometric logon.

 

Awesomeness! I had suspicion that things were better from the other thread, but haven't had the time to try it.

 

I have a m6600 and followed the steps in post #58 and my fingerprinter read does work and I enrolled my fingers.

The problem is 50% of the time when I wake from sleep the scanner doesn't work.

I'm forced to login with my password.

A reboot always fixes this but that really sucks.

does anyone know of a fix for this?