Fingerprint reader doesn't wake up when resuming from hibernate: power management won't allow it to remain on

Hi everyone,

I have a Lenovo C930 laptop.
This problem has persisted through all updates of Windows 10 and Windows 11.
The fingerprint reader works normally on starting and on resuming from sleep.
But on resuming from hibernate the fingerprint reader doesn't work.
No settings within the power plans I can find makes a difference.

In Device Manager / Biometric Devices / Synaptics WBDI - SGX / Properties / Power Management: "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" is checked. And if I uncheck it and restart it will reset it back to turning it off to save power.

Does anyone know what services or otherwise might be resetting this value so I can use the fingerprint reader when resuming?

Thanks!

Try the suggestion listed in this post Redirecting

You could disable it temporarily from Device Manager and enable it again. This might wake it up.

Thanks both.

That solution hasn't worked for me. They mention a service to modify but I don't have a similar service. I don't know which service or whether it's the driver changing that setting in device manager back, then allowing the fingerprint reader to get powered off.

The reader is always powered on once I've logged in. The problem seems to be that it's powered off when the PC hibernates and on waking not powered back on until I've logged in.

It seems Windows Update has replaced the original fingerprint drivers and malfunction. Download the official driver from manufacturer support site and install it.

spapakons said:

It seems Windows Update has replaced the original fingerprint drivers and malfunction. Download the official driver from manufacturer support site and install it.

Click to expand...

Yes I did that this morning (uninstalled so I had no fingerprint reader then downloaded and installed the file from Lenovo).
Unfortunately no change.

There must be a service or application that runs at startup relevant to the fingerprint sensor. This service or application initializes the sensor and it works flawlessly when you first switch on the computer or when you restart. However when you start from hibernation all saved data are loaded in RAM and there is no new execution of the service or application. The sensor is not initialized in this case and hence it doesn't work properly. You must find out the relevant service and restart it or the relevant application and launch it to initialize the sensor again after starting the computer from hibernation. I hope this helps.

spapakons said:

There must be a service or application that runs at startup relevant to the fingerprint sensor.

Click to expand...

Yes I just can't find it. I assumed it would be the same service that resets the value allowing the sensor to turn off for power saving. So I've been restarting every service I think it could be, then checking if that checkbox is set again.

What should I change for the service if I find it?

Change nothing. All you have to do is restart this service when switching on the computer from hibernation. It might be an application instead of a service.

spapakons said:

Change nothing. All you have to do is restart this service when switching on the computer from hibernation. It might be an application instead of a service.

Click to expand...

Ah - but it's working again once I log in. And there's no way to check it before I have..

This suggests it is not a service, it would run before you login. Startup applications need you to login first. Pretty useless since its purpose is to avoid typing passwords. Could Windows need some configuration in Security settings or Account settings to login by fingerprint? Check carefully all relevant sections in Settings.

I've run through settings again. Although I found one more place I could set it to be balanced rather than for power savings it hasn't made any difference. I've also checked the bios again.
Does it mean that in the process of hibernating some process - or the BIOS - overrides the setting I've cleared, allowing it to be turned off to save power - and then turns the fingerprint reader off. It's infuriating, more so that it sems to be impossible to change.

It's not the BIOS, it is Windows. Every normal startup or restart it initializes the sensor. But waking from hibernation is different. There is no initialization, it just loads saved data from disk to RAM to resume as if you hadn't closed your computer. A common issue with hibernation is that you lose connection to WiFi, much like you lose access to the fingerprint sensor.

So I'm out of options?

deepskydiver said:

Hi everyone,

I have a Lenovo C930 laptop.
This problem has persisted through all updates of Windows 10 and Windows 11.
The fingerprint reader works normally on starting and on resuming from sleep.
But on resuming from hibernate the fingerprint reader doesn't work.
No settings within the power plans I can find makes a difference.

In Device Manager / Biometric Devices / Synaptics WBDI - SGX / Properties / Power Management: "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" is checked. And if I uncheck it and restart it will reset it back to turning it off to save power.

Does anyone know what services or otherwise might be resetting this value so I can use the fingerprint reader when resuming?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

The part I bolded, that you noted, indicates some other software that is setting that device to always save power - it could be an App (from Lenovo), or it could also be a group policy setting (if you're not running the Home Edition of Windows).

But something somewhere is forcing that value off (well, on, technically) - you should probably do a deep dive into all of the Lenovo software on there, particularly the power settings, and see if you can make a new generic power profile for your laptop (just to test) to see if it may be hard coded into their power profiles / software or not.

Basically, by making your *own* power profile, you'll see if it is something in their (Lenovo's) power profile (because that setting no longer resets) or possibly something on one of their apps (because hat setting *still* resets.

I know you've been fighting with this for a while, and this may not get you any closer to a resolution, but weird, obscure issues like this take some time to figure out, especially if no one has ever reported the issue before. But we should be able to figure it out, eventually.

Thank you all for your help.

I can confirm that it was solved using johngalt's suggestion: Creating a new power plan from scratch allowed me to use my fingerprint reader when waking from hibernate.

On a related note, I can't find a way of getting it to hibernate after sleep. So I have it set to hibernate when I press the power button. I believe there should be a setting in the power plan's advanced settings under sleep, but there isn't. Minor problem though - thanks again!

You'll need to verify that you have the following enabled:

Sleep
Hibernate

And set each one's time out features. However, there may be more to it.

For example, for desktops, another feature, Hybrid Sleep, is usually enabled, but for laptops it is usually disabled. this article explains what it is and why it is set that way for each type of system:


The idea here is that:

1) Laptops have batteries, so they typically have a lesser chance of abrupt power failure, and thus sleep is usually sufficient.

2) Added to that is the fact that most laptops have an emergency hibernation setting that will kick in somewhere usually when the battery hits single digit charge percentages (I've seen typically values around 7% on new installs, but pre-built power plans from the manufacturer may have it as high as 20%).

So, unless you really need a reason to force hibernation on your laptop all the time, as long as it has battery power, sleep should be fine. Just make sure that you have the emergency hibernation settings set in that power plan.

However, if you have a potentially faulty battery, or just an old one that is not accurately presenting it's charge capacity, then not only do you want the emergency hibernation, you may try the hybrid sleep, which basically amounts to a 'hibernation when sleeping' to help protect your data.

Do note that this will make both sleep activation times and wake times longer, as this occurs all the time, so all that data in memory has to be copied to the HD, and when you wake it up it will copy it back to memory, but if you have a fast enough laptop this may only be an increase in seconds. On slower laptop,s and particularly those with mechanical drives this may add minutes to both sleep and wake-up times.

Just wanted to second this as another Lenovo C930 user. This is definitely on the OS end. Creating a custom plan does work. Running scripts, changing biometric settings in the device manager, and pretty much every other solution didn't work. Weirdly enough, W11 wouldn't turn the fp sensor off during hibernation; only sleep, which seems like an OS bug since I've seen similar issues reported on other devices. The C930 hadn't had a BIOS update since Jan 2021 so it's unlikely to be the culprit.

The fact that your device has not seen a BIOS update since before Windows 11 existed is suspect in and of itself. And by suspect, I don't mea neither of you, but Lenovo.

They really should have issued an update if they were interested in Windows 11 compatibility.

johnlgalt said:

The fact that your device has not seen a BIOS update since before Windows 11 existed is suspect in and of itself. And by suspect, I don't mea neither of you, but Lenovo.

They really should have issued an update if they were interested in Windows 11 compatibility.

Click to expand...

They definitely should have, but they don't (most laptop manufacturers don't update past the warranty period). Plus, as the OP stated and I can confirm, this problem has existed off and on prior to W11. Just like with the OP, the device manager re-checks the "turn off this device for power savings" whenever you turn it off every time the computer reboots and sleeps. the fact that the issue ceases after creating your own power preset rather than one of the Windows defaults suggests that it is something connected to the OS power management.