Suddenly my power button light / finger print reader stopped working. I was using my laptop normally and after it went to sleep I tried opening it with my fingerprint but it didn’t work. It also wasn’t lighting up. However, the power button functionality still works.
Could this be a software problem? I have seen some other posts talking about the fingerprint reader being broken due to some finickiness with windows, but I don’t think any of those posts also had the light disabled. It doesn’t show up in devices at all.
If it is a broken wire or something, what could have possibly happened? My laptop didn’t even move between the button working and it not. It is almost 4 years old now, but it seems a bit ridiculous that a button you use everyday it breaking for apparently no reason.
Thoughts?
Other Information:
Windows 10
framework 13 11th gen intel core
You might try powering the machine off, unplugging it, letting it sit for two minutes, then plugging it back in and powering it on. Hopefully it was just some electronic gremlin and not broken hardware. Best of luck.
Thanks for the response, tried your solution and it did not work unfortunately. The light hasn’t come on at all since yesterday, and I would have assumed it would make occasional contact if it was wires that spontaneously broke.
Thanks for the follow-up, and I am sorry to hear that. Other things that you could try before buying a new power button/fingerprint reader would be: disconnecting and reconnecting the cable from the power button (edit to add - on both sides if there are connections at each end - I don’t recall offhand if there are), and from the input deck to the mainboard, resetting the bios, and resetting the mainboard. I don’t know if any of those will make a difference but they might be worth a try. Sorry that you are dealing with the hassle, and I hope that you are able to get it resolved soon, via whatever means.
omg! The little connector underneath the mouse pad had popped open a small amount somehow. I was able to open it the rest of the way, reinsert the connector, and voila, it’s working again!
It must have just loosed over the years, thanks for the advice!