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I'd like to fully disable the fingerprint sensor on my IBM X41 Thinkpad. The first place to look which comes to mind is BIOS (version 2.09, 74ET64WW): I just checked again: as far as I can tell there is no BIOS option to fully disable the fingerprint sensor: only to set fingerprint passwords etc, but not an option to "electronically disconnect" / pull-the-plug of the sensor itself.

Could there be some command line option to do just that?

The reason I'm asking: the sensor surface does get quite hot which is annoying (and a waste of energy, too).

~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0483:2016 SGS Thomson Microelectronics Fingerprint Reader

~$ usb-devices

T:  Bus=01 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=480 MxCh= 8
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=1d6b ProdID=0002 Rev=03.02
S:  Manufacturer=Linux 3.2.0-67-generic ehci_hcd
S:  Product=EHCI Host Controller
S:  SerialNumber=0000:00:1d.7
C:  #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=0mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub

T:  Bus=02 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=12  MxCh= 2
D:  Ver= 1.10 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=1d6b ProdID=0001 Rev=03.02
S:  Manufacturer=Linux 3.2.0-67-generic uhci_hcd
S:  Product=UHCI Host Controller
S:  SerialNumber=0000:00:1d.0
C:  #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=0mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub

T:  Bus=03 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=12  MxCh= 2
D:  Ver= 1.10 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=1d6b ProdID=0001 Rev=03.02
S:  Manufacturer=Linux 3.2.0-67-generic uhci_hcd
S:  Product=UHCI Host Controller
S:  SerialNumber=0000:00:1d.1
C:  #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=0mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub

T:  Bus=04 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=12  MxCh= 2
D:  Ver= 1.10 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=1d6b ProdID=0001 Rev=03.02
S:  Manufacturer=Linux 3.2.0-67-generic uhci_hcd
S:  Product=UHCI Host Controller
S:  SerialNumber=0000:00:1d.2
C:  #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=0mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub

T:  Bus=04 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=01 Cnt=01 Dev#=  2 Spd=12  MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 1.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 8 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=0483 ProdID=2016 Rev=00.01
S:  Manufacturer=STMicroelectronics
S:  Product=Biometric Coprocessor
C:  #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=a0 MxPwr=100mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 3 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=(none)

T:  Bus=05 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=12  MxCh= 2
D:  Ver= 1.10 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=1d6b ProdID=0001 Rev=03.02
S:  Manufacturer=Linux 3.2.0-67-generic uhci_hcd
S:  Product=UHCI Host Controller
S:  SerialNumber=0000:00:1d.3
C:  #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=0mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub

Edit (@Tim's comment)

~$ xinput
⎡ Virtual core pointer                      id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint                     id=12   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                     id=3    [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard               id=5    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=6    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus                                 id=7    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Sleep Button                              id=8    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard              id=11   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ ThinkPad Extra Buttons                    id=13   [slave  keyboard (3)]
nutty about natty
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  • http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_reduce_power_consumption might have some useful hints... – nutty about natty Jul 17 '14 at 09:19
  • Does it show up on `xinput`? Can you [edit] to include that? – Tim Aug 09 '14 at 09:30
  • @Tim No, at least not as far as I can tell. (see update, above) – nutty about natty Aug 09 '14 at 09:53
  • Related question with so far no accepted answer: http://askubuntu.com/questions/342061/power-on-off-usb-ports – nutty about natty Aug 09 '14 at 10:00
  • @Tim How do you think the `Trackpoint` is linked to the `Fingerprint Reader`? -- I don't think it is. – nutty about natty Aug 09 '14 at 13:26
  • Sorry, wrong question - lots at once here ;-) It would be 11 or 13 I guess for you... – Tim Aug 09 '14 at 13:27
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    Interesting: http://loginroot.com/power-off-and-on-usb-device-in-linux-ubuntu/ – nutty about natty Aug 11 '14 at 06:39
  • Cool! Good find! – Tim Aug 11 '14 at 06:42
  • Are you sure the scanner surface gets hot because of thwe scanner and not because something heats it from beneath? I have a mouse with the same reader and it is not heating at all. – Barafu Albino Aug 11 '14 at 06:48
  • Also relevant: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1163824/linux-usb-turning-the-power-on-and-off (in particular the two answers mentioning `unbind`). – nutty about natty Aug 11 '14 at 07:09
  • @BarafuAlbino Given that `lsusb` mentions the device, [there must be at least a tiny current flowing through it](http://stackoverflow.com/a/7037295/2153622). -- Plus, it *feels* "electrically charged". Whether the heat mainly stems from its surroundings or from the sensor itself: I don't know. Either way, it probably conducts the heat better than the black-plastic IBM laptop casing. – nutty about natty Aug 11 '14 at 07:41
  • I doubt that 1) Actions suggested here really unpower device, not only hide it and 2) Effects you observe come from the scanner working, not from other interference. – Barafu Albino Aug 11 '14 at 13:08
  • @BarafuAlbino Other than physically removing the fp-scanner (not sure how cleanly this can be done), do you have any other suggestions? – nutty about natty Aug 14 '14 at 09:26
  • If the sensor is connected via USB, you can just pull out the wire off it. Though this has nothing to do with ubuntu, I think this is what you want. I could also write an answer with photos for a T61p which also has a fingerprint reader via USB. – sebix Apr 19 '15 at 18:16

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