Animesh Kumar {itsAnimesh}

Animesh Kumar {itsAnimesh}

I'm an IT professional/FOSS Geek living and working in New Delhi, India. Currently for the most part I work as a Technical Consultant developing Open Source ICT solutions for social and societal inclusion. I am a a FOSS enthusiast, I want to create an awareness about FOSS through the work I do. Below are the latest updates from a some social networks I subscribe to.

Dell XPS M1530 fingerprint reader on Ubuntu 9.04!!!

Ubuntu 9.04 has got to be the best Ubuntu version so far for the Dell XPS M1530 as all the hardware works out of the box. Here are the steps for getting the fingerprint reader to work :


Installation


 

Add the key by typing in the terminal:
$ sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com F2A12FABE936A7BBDC4EA33351DB180D1323E149
Now add the PPA repositories to your source.list (/etc/apt/source.list):
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/jon-oberheide/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/jon-oberheide/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
Update installer:
$ sudo apt-get update
install thinkfinger:
$ sudo apt-get install thinkfinger-tools libpam-thinkfinger

 


Test the Driver


 

Now the driver is installed and should be working.

 

To acquire your fingerprint use:
$ tf-tool --acquire
To verify your fingerprint use:
$ tf-tool --verify
Try it as root if it doesn’t work.

 


Configuring PAM to use ThinkFinger


 

You don’t need to edit anything on Ubuntu 9.04, just type in the terminal:
$ sudo /usr/lib/pam-thinkfinger/pam-thinkfinger-enable
Now we are ready to add users to thinkfinger. You can add a fingerprint for a user with:
$ tf-tool --acquire $USERNAME
If you would like to use thinkfinger for su, you have to enroll the fingerprint for root user with:
$ tf-tool --acquire root

 

 

I haven’t got my fingerprint reader to work for unlock of screen when it is locked by screensaver. I’ll update this post when i get it to work. :)

Thanks for Reading... Please Post Your Comments Below

  1. cdahmedeh says:

    There is a section about enabling gnome-screensaver unlock on this website : http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_enable_the_fingerprint_reader_with_ThinkFinger#xscreensaver.2Fgnome-screensaver

    Works well with my m1530 !

  2. wyrless2002 says:

    Thank You both. I appreciate your time and commitment to sharing your knowledge. I attempted to follow the ubuntuforums posts and other directions to get this to work, starting in February, and was not successful until now. Finally everything is as it should be. ;^)

  3. Tomek says:

    Unfortunetely, in the end fingerprint does not work on ubuntu 10.10 on dell x1530, or i cannot enable it properly.
    All comends work except last one with root rule.

  4. T-Bone says:

    I use Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and was able to follow the above directions to get this to work after a reboot.

    The only step I didn’t use on this page was the last root command.

    $ tf-tool –acquire root

    I also used all of the steps under xscreensaver/gnome-screensaver at this website.

    http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_enable_the_fingerprint_reader_with_ThinkFinger#xscreensaver.2Fgnome-screensaver

    Be sure not to use the Intrepid part.

    I use sudo and gedit for editing the individual files.