Fingerprint Scanners on Laptops
Introduction
If you want to use the Fingerprint Scanner on your laptop for logins, unlocking the screensaver or locked display etc., you will need to install the “fingerprint-gui” utility first. Depending on the hardware of your laptop, you may need different setups to get it working, and it may not work with all Fingerprint scanners either, so be sure to follow the instructions here to get it installed. The installation will only work on the Debian based MakuluLinux versions, not on the Ubuntu based one (MakuluLinux-14-LinDoz). Only install this on Notebooks that actually have a Fingerprint scanner, otherwise it can cause problems when logging in, and should it not work with your scanner, uninstall the tool again.
Installation on 64-bit OS’s
To run the installation on a 64 bit MakuluLinux OS, open a terminal and enter:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install fingerprint-gui:amd64
Testing after installation
Once installed, you can open the utility via your menu System. It will be under “Preferences” or “Settings”, depending on which OS you have installed it on. It is named Fingerprint GUI.
You should then see some info on your hardware, and you can click on next. Then you can select the finger you want to use. Now again click on Next. Now you will get to acquire your fingerprint. Scan your finger you selected. If read properly, it should say OK, and ask for a 2nd scan, and so on. Make sure you don’t wait too long between scans, or the tool could hang. After the 5th successful scan you will need to enter your password, and then you can go on to the next screen.
You will get to the “Settings” screen. Here you can test whether things will work with sudo and lightdm (the login window). If it does you should be fine.
If you get stuck on “Try again…”, it didn’t work and you should go to the next section, “Fixing Problems”
After that you can close the tool, reboot and test whether you can login with your fingerprint etc.
Fixing Problems
If the above has failed, open a terminal and enter:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install –reinstall libfprint0=1:0.7.0-1~bpo9+1
After that repeat the above test again, and if it works, enter the following within a terminal:
sudo apt-mark hold libfprint0
If also that doesn’t work, in a terminal enter:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install –reinstall libfprint0=1:0.5.1-1
Repeat the test above again, and if it works, enter the following within a terminal:
sudo apt-mark hold libfprint0
If that also fails, your hardware is probably incompatible, and you should remove the software. For that, again within a terminal,enter:
sudo apt remove fingerprint-gui:amd64
Installation on 32 Bit MakuluLinux OS’s
The procedure here is pretty much the same as for the 64 bit version, but you can leave out the “:amd64”