Unable to add new fingerprints via GNOME Settings after replacing sensor

Ask Fedora
, , ,
1

Hello all,

I recently had to replace the input cover of my laptop (specifications below), and as a result I need to add my fingerprints back due to having a new sensor. lsusb identifies the sensor as follows:

Bus 003 Device 004: ID 27c6:609c Shenzhen Goodix Technology Co.,Ltd. Goodix Fingerprint USB Device

Under Settings > System > Users > Fingerprint login, each time I click on the “+” button to add a fingerprint, nothing appears to happen. I have taken the following troubleshooting steps:

  1. Rebooting
  2. Disabling the fingerprint sensor in the EFI setup utility, rebooting, then enabling it again
  3. Adding fingerprints using the command fprintd-enroll

Of these, only fprintd-enroll had any effect, but after enrolling right-index-finger & confirming that I could use it to log in, any attempts to add more fingerprints throw the following error:

Using device /net/reactivated/Fprint/Device/0
failed to claim device: GDBus.Error:net.reactivated.Fprint.Error.AlreadyInUse: Device was already claimed

System Details Report

Report details

  • Date generated: 2025-03-26 16:54:34

Hardware Information:

  • Hardware Model: Framework Laptop 13th Gen Intel Core
  • Memory: 32.0 GiB
  • Processor: 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1340P × 16
  • Graphics: Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics (RPL-P)
  • Disk Capacity: (null)

Software Information:

  • Firmware Version: 03.07
  • OS Name: Fedora Linux 42 (Workstation Edition Prerelease)
  • OS Build: (null)
  • OS Type: 64-bit
  • GNOME Version: 48
  • Windowing System: Wayland
  • Kernel Version: Linux 6.14.0-0.rc7.56.fc42.x86_64
2

Have you checked to see if the fingerprint sensor firmware has been updated?

Another thing to try would be to run the fingerprint checker script to see if you can remove all of the fingerprints and re-enroll them:

3

Fingerprint sensor firmware version is already 01000334:

├─Fingerprint Sensor:
│     Device ID:          22393fc023ab027cc856e804c7ad83af5bb1a8ca
│     Summary:            Match-On-Chip fingerprint sensor
│     Current version:    01000334
│     Vendor:             Goodix (USB:0x27C6)
│     Install Duration:   10 seconds
│     Serial Number:      UID1F4E171A_XXXX_MOC_B0
│     GUID:               1e8c8470-a49c-571a-82fd-19c9fa32b8c3 ← USB\VID_27C6&PID_609C
│     Device Flags:       • Updatable

Using the Framework fingerprint checker script, I was able to delete all fingerprints, but when I tried to enroll a new fingerprint, I got the following output:

Desktop Environment: GNOME
====================================
  Fingerprint Management Script
====================================
1. Enroll Left Thumb
2. Enroll Left Index Finger
3. Enroll Left Middle Finger
4. Enroll Left Ring Finger
5. Enroll Left Little Finger
6. Enroll Right Thumb
7. Enroll Right Index Finger
8. Enroll Right Middle Finger
9. Enroll Right Ring Finger
10. Enroll Right Little Finger
11. Delete All Fingerprints for Standard Users
12. List Registered Fingerprints for Standard Users
13. Exit
====================================
Choose an option: 7
Enrolling right-index-finger for user flavonol...
Using device /net/reactivated/Fprint/Device/0
failed to claim device: GDBus.Error:net.reactivated.Fprint.Error.PermissionDenied: Not Authorized: net.reactivated.fprint.device.enroll
Failed to enroll fingerprint for right-index-finger.
Press [Enter] key to continue...

Using fprintd-enroll, I was able to add just one finger back, returning me to square one.

My guess is that the GNOME fingerprint authentication feature is what’s “claiming” the fingerprint device on subsequent uses of fprintd-enroll. I don’t know how to temporarily disable that feature without removing existing fingerprints, though. Here is my attempt to do so:

$ gsettings set org.gnome.login-screen enable-fingerprint-authentication false
The key is not writable