iPAQ 5455 Owners: Fingerprint reader problems?

[hakubak]

I'm researching the fingerprint reader on the 5455. It seems a bit flaky. What are your experiences?

It seems to stop working when it gets too warm or very cold. The reader is thermal, so this is to be expected, but what are the boundaries? I've found it's more likely to fail from being too warm than too cold.

False negatives are common, but has anyone had a false positive?

The password utility is odd. I set mine for "Fingerprint or Password", but if I let it time out while in its cradle, it will prompt me for a PIN. :| I have to do a soft reset to get the right prompt.

Is anyone else having similar problems?
Is it so bad that you've disabled the fingerprint reader feature?

[FredMurphy]

I was getting really annoyed with the fingerprint reader and considering giving up using it. Then I perservered and experimented a bit to see if I could get it working better.

I found that using my right thumb was easiest for me. I also found that placing my thumb so that it rested neatly and centrally on the d-pad then waiting a fraction of a second before swiping worked best. Obviously once you've got the nack of it (took me quite a few weeks) it's best to re-register your fingers.

Also heard it suggested that you should enroll the finger you use most twice (as if two seperate ones) so it's more likely to match.

Driver issues with the 5450 can stop the reader, WLAN or Bluetooth drivers loading sometimes. No idea what happens if your device is set to require "fingerprint only".

Fred

[razor]

I've found I got better after developing a technique. Try angles and pressures to improve yours. I enrolled my middle finger because it's more consistant (square) compared to index finger's taper. I use it 90% of the time.

good luck...it does get better as you learn how to improve your input.

[hakubak]

I appreciate the input, but swiping is not the issue. I got the hang of that in the first few days.

When the scanner works, it works. I get it in the first swipe or two.

I can tell when it isn't going to work. The scanned image shows less contrast.

Interesting thought on scanning the same finger into multiple "slots" to expand the window for good reads.

[prototype]

I've noticed that if my CPU is busy, or my machine has a hung process it is incredibly difficult to get a good read off the unit.

For example if I soft reset and IMMEDIATELY try to scan my print it is very problematic. I assume this is because the CPU is busy doing startup things. :?:

Other than that I find it very easy to use, and I am surprised by how much flack :evil: the feature took in many of the reviews I read prior to purchasing the unit.

-Drew

[Dave Beauvais]

I have experienced a false positive four times. Each time, a friend of mine was able to unlock my h5455 with his thumb if he tried enough times. It wasn't one of those "repeat-at-will" things, but he could get in within about ten swipes each time he tried. Mildly annoying. It makes me wonder how many other people would be able to get access given enough time and luck. I also have numerous failed scans per day. I may try enrolling the same fingers multiple times as was suggested.

I've also noticed that the scanner often doesn't work at all in direct sunlight. I was trying to unlock in the car with sun shining on the scanner through a side window and it didn't even register that I'd swiped. Moving into a shadow worked fine.

Currently, I've enrolled the index finger and thumb of both hands, but I have found that it takes longer to process the fingerprint than it does to tap a four-digit PIN. I'm considering just turning off the scanner entirely for that reason.

--Dave

[Looxer]

I don’t experience a problem here I swipe my fingers and never had a problem, there was in the beginning initially when I started using this feature until I got familiar with it. I think you just need to press harder. Now my problem is with the fingerprint driver, I was using it until one day suddenly when I switched ON my iPAQ it gave me an error about the fingerprinting software, then I had to hardreset my device. Sometimes when I use PIN with fingerprint, it will only ask for PIN or it will give the same error to hardreset. It’s abnormal behavior forced me to disable this feature.
:(

[Server]

I'm researching the fingerprint reader on the 5455. It seems a bit flaky. What are your experiences?

It seems to stop working when it gets too warm or very cold. The reader is thermal, so this is to be expected, but what are the boundaries? I've found it's more likely to fail from being too warm than too cold.

False negatives are common, but has anyone had a false positive?

The password utility is odd. I set mine for "Fingerprint or Password", but if I let it time out while in its cradle, it will prompt me for a PIN. :| I have to do a soft reset to get the right prompt.

Is anyone else having similar problems?
Is it so bad that you've disabled the fingerprint reader feature?

*REPOST*

In the security settings you will notice there is
an OPTION to set the security to REGULAR, HIGH,
EXTRA HIGH Make sure your setting is set to REGULAR
as this will instruct the thermal scanner to lower image
sensitivity. As mentioned before, make DUPLICATE
scans of the same finger on one hand so that the
Bioswipe data file will have more chances finding a match.
Remember, this is a consumer grade bioscanner, so it will
take some patience.


http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/ipaq/5400/screens/iPAQ5000-064.gif


hope that helps...[/img]

[hakubak]

I appreciate all the pointers on getting the fingerprint reader to work.

Now, moving off the scanning subject, has anyone else experienced the PIN prompt bug mentioned in the original post?

--- The password utility is odd. I set mine for "Fingerprint or Password", but if I let it time out while in its cradle, it will prompt me for a PIN. :| I have to do a soft reset to get the right prompt. --- from original

Gremlins? Known issue?

[Server]

I have not been able to reproduce your problem specifically,
however, I can reproduce it if I run/use RESCO FILE EXPLORER.
As stated before (at brighthand) there seems to be a driver/file
conflict with Resco and the Bioswipe. If I don't run/use Resco,
I will not experience the Fingerprint scanner failure. If I run it,
the next time I turn the device on, the PIN will default as the
only input option, even though I have PIN/Fingerprint registered
on the password options.

My hunch is that your problem is caused by a third party application
and you can test this by disabling everything in your start folder
(boot clean) and see if you still have the same problems.



hope that helps..