My SF314-42-R6T7's Fingerprint Scanner is not working

I am creating a Question to make sure my comment on this post is seen.

The issue has been going on sporadically but has become consistent after Windows 11 update a couple weeks ago.

Here, a duplicate of the comment:
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I have a similar problem. I was following this guide, the most promising is uninstalling the device and then restarting, however it seems to one work for about a day or less, then the issue appears again.
How To Fix Code 31: This Device Is Not Working Properly (minitool.com)

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ld/o10w8mi4tw0w.png

Now, model is SF314-42-R6T7.
If I click to update driver (in Device Manager), it shows I am on the latest update:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/h9/v9byyjgwauim.png

I believe this message is accurate, I checked Acer's website for any newer drivers for the sensor:
Product Support | Acer Indonesia

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/pg/4yg0sji1lp7w.png

There is no Windows 11 operating system in the drop-down.

But I noticed that Product Support for model SF314-43 does have support for Windows 11.
Now, my question is:
1. Is there a driver in development for SF314-42? and if not..
2. Is it fine to download the newer EGISTEC fingerprint scanner driver from the SF314-43 page?
Product Support | Acer Indonesia

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/wi/cm0tspb20b54.png

Thank you for your help. It is much appreciated as I have been dealing with this issue for some time.

//Edited the content to add model name.

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billsey

The SF314-43 models can come with two different fingerprint sensors, but the Egistec version seems to be the same chip (ETU-811J). My guess is the driver would work as long as the installer isn't built to a specific model. I doubt that's the whole issue though, and you don't show the actual errors codes in your Properties image. Often in the last couple of years Microsoft has been tweaking USB low level drivers and one way in which the tweaks fail is corrupted data on the USB port. The fingerprint sensor is sitting on an internal USB port, so it acts just as if it were an external device. When the laptop drivers are initialized it reads the USB ports to see what is connected. If the fingerprint sensor returns good data the Egistec driver is loaded and everything works right, if the sensor returns bad data either the driver reports an error or the driver is never loaded and the system thinks there's just an unknown device connected, or no device at all.

kirmgrauza

Just uninstall old driver and install new one designed for Windows 10. It should work.

Most of Windows 10 drivers should work with Windows 11.

zamdoms

hi, so i am facing the same issue. i have an acer swift 3 laptop. sf314 I think. fingerprint scanner has not been working since I updated to windows 111. it randomly stops working and then starts working again. however since past 1 week, no matter what I do, the scanner is not working. sometimes, It works when i press my finger on the scanner for a long time or some similar random motion on the scanner. idk what to do. i am not so good with laptops as well so idk how to fix this.

kirmgrauza

zamdoms said:

hi, so i am facing the same issue. i have an acer swift 3 laptop. sf314 I think. fingerprint scanner has not been working since I updated to windows 111. it randomly stops working and then starts working again. however since past 1 week, no matter what I do, the scanner is not working. sometimes, It works when i press my finger on the scanner for a long time or some similar random motion on the scanner. idk what to do. i am not so good with laptops as well so idk how to fix this.

Have you tried reinstalling the driver?

SANAHM

I just completed the third or fourth event of the fingerprint scanner not working after installing Windows 11 on my Swift 3. The first times I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver, rebooted, and it worked. Though it was not as easy as I described. One time it refused to work, I gave up, and then it started working. This last stoppage was a mind binder. The fingerprint device completed disappeared from the biometric in device manager thus I could not go through the uninstall-re install process. I could not add it in settings as the fingerprint reader did not exist. After researching hopelessly, I took a different tack and currently it is working.

First, I knew I had the latest version of the fingerprint scanner and its name. Mine is ELANTECH...

Second. in Windows Explorer, within the C: drive, search on the name. In my case I searched on a partial name ELAN.

This lead me to Windows>System 32>DriverStore>FileRepository>wbfusbdriver.inf.......

I right clicked on the application ELANFPService. Under Show more options, I ran Troubleshoot compatibility. I accepted its recommendation to fix the issue. It worked. For how long, we shall see. Probably until the next Windows 11 update. But I think I now know the solution.

billsey

I believe it's an issue with the way Microsoft is handling the internal USB connections between the chipset and peripherals. Sometimes the data on those ports gets garbled, which causes the device to not function. If it's garbled enough the system doesn't even recognize what device it is, which gives the symptom of "it's not even there". Sometimes a driver update will fix it, sometimes it fixes itself, sometimes it doesn't get fixed for a while, then magically works again. :(

spkay31

My Acer Aspire A717 has the ELAN fingerprint scanner on the touchpad. It works for a while and then the driver encounters and error and shuts down. I usually just uninstall the driver and reboot when convenient and it works fine again…. for a while. Rinse and repeat. Would be nice if the manufacturer and Microsoft would actually try to make these drivers reliable. I suspect it could have to do with changes in the power management levels but without actually logging and debugging the problem it's just a guess. Since the recovery is easy I've been using it for years to get the fingerprint scanner working again but many years and now Windows 10 → 11 transition and the driver bug still persists.

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