S5 finger print scanner not working - AT ALL

[Jon Jackson]

I know it's flawed right off the bat...but....it just gives me an error message and says to restart phone. I have done this over a dozen times. I'd like to at least explore it and maybe down the road they can do a patch to improve security but I can't even get the part where it scans your finger print in.

 

[sirmaru]

Use a PIN number. It works every time and is flawless. Plus, some folks have published a technique on the internet where fingerprints can be lifted from iPhones and Galaxies from the phone covers and then used to access the phones.

PIN numbers are the most secure way to access the phone. If you forget your PIN, you can go to Android Device Manager on the internet and, using your google password, change to a new password for the phone.

 

[Jon Jackson]

Thank you for the reply. I just want to understand why it's not working at all. It just says error has occurred with the fingerprint sensor. If this message appears repeatedly, restart your device. I just want to give it a test run and play with it....and I can't, I have restarted over a dozen times...

 

[smooth4lyfe]

Maybe you have a defective device...you should trade in your phone

 

[Jaycemiskel]

Maybe you have a defective device...you should trade in your phone

This. Factory reset, and if it still doesn't work, have it exchanged.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Jon Jackson]

So use the backup and reset under User and Backup in settings?

 

[Jon Jackson]

Reset and the fingerprint sensor does not work

 

[sirmaru]

There may be some film over the sensor area. By the way, the sensor area is only on the bottom of the phone screen in the center. Amazon sells Wet and Dry Screen Wipes. You may want to clean the sensor area to remove any film. Just touch the Wet Wipe to the area and then clean well with the Dry Wipe.

I use them for all LCD devices: TV's, Monitors, Kindles, Car Dashboard Screen, etc.

You need that area clean, in any event, since, when the screen locks or times out, you still must swipe down on that area to open the device if it is just blank and not locked. When locked, you need to enter the PIN number in that area as well.

 

[Jon Jackson]

It won't open. I'll have to exchange the phone I'm afraid.

 

[Cobravision]

It sounds totally broken. I've never gotten an error message instructing me to restart the phone.

 

[3rdpig]

I've never had that happen either, the fingerprint scanner on mine works pretty good. I don't have an iPhone to compare it to, but it gets mine right at least 9 times out of 10 and I've never had an error message. I expect I'll get tired of it and go pack to a pin in a week or two. That being said, yours sounds broken and I'd get it replaced.

 

[kooritsuki]

Think you should bring it in before the 14 days expire. It's a defective one.

 

[Jon Jackson]

Hey guys, picked up a new S5 today and it works just fine. Thank you all for the advice. It was hard to swallow lol. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't making some noob mistake or over looking something...but yeah, new phone, fingerprint scanner works great, usually one swipe to make it work, sometimes two. Don't know if I will use this a lot but if something isn't working, then who knows what else could have been messed up. Bottom line is I feel a LOT better.

- - - Updated - - -

Yep, and...........I did just that.

 

[Jon Jackson]

And then last night, with my newly secured second S5, I plugged in my ear buds to see how it sounds, and the screen went black and the power key and physical button would only light themselves up when pressed, could not regain my screen and had to take battery out and install back in. That's 7 hours into my second S5. Hmmmmm

 

[sirmaru]

And then last night, with my newly secured second S5, I plugged in my ear buds to see how it sounds, and the screen went black and the power key and physical button would only light themselves up when pressed, could not regain my screen and had to take battery out and install back in. That's 7 hours into my second S5. Hmmmmm

That sounds like you triggered Ultra Power Saving. Swipe down from the top and turn it off.

 

[Huggie87]

I've had my s5 since release day and today I have started to have fingerprint scanner issues a pop up told me to restart my phone I did and still no luck so I tried to change my fingerprint by using my alternate password and it says wrong password which I know for a fact is correct so I will do a factory reset and hopefully that'll work

Sent from my SM-G900V using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Darryl Genther]

I wasn't able to fix my sensor by restarting alone...

I had to find "Fingerprint" under "Settings" -- "All Applications"

I cleared the cache, and restarted. That worked for me!

 

[Forward_Motion]

Same happened to me and I couldn't get the fingerprint scanner to come back up. It just showed the keyboard and alternative password. For future reference I agree with Daryll G.

More specifically though. the path is "Settings" --- "Applications" --- "Application Manager" --- Swipe three times left to "All" Heading and scroll down to "Fingerprints". Press "Clear Cache". If this doesnt work, delete your registered fingerprints ("Settings" --- "Fingerprint" (under Personal heading) "Fingerprint Manager" hold down to delete existing and register new one by selecting the "+" sign. Hope this helps.

 

[MajrTOM]

How are you able to reset your phone password online?

 

[arund10]

My fingerprint scanner on my S5 has stopped working this week. I updated to lollipop back in January and it worked fine after the update. However, a few days ago, my phone was not picking up my fingerprint and the animation with the triangle pointing towards the sensor wasn't moving. I used the backup password to get in and as I needed to use my phone for work, I switched to Pin code access. When I tried to switch back to fingerprint scanner I started getting the "An error has occurred with the fingerprint sensor. If this message appears repeatedly, please restart your device." message. I have tried clearing the cache for fingerprints, restarting the device, taking out the battery and sim card, but this does not seem to resolve anything.

I really do not want to do a factory reset, but I have contacted Samsung Support. Has anyone else has this issue recently? I haven't seen many posts on forums about this issue. I know my phone is under a 2 year warranty, so hopefully Samsung will just fix it for me?