Goodix 27c6:650c Fingerprint Sensor on Ubuntu 24.04

Had a lot of trouble getting the fingerprint sensor to work on my Lenovo Yoga 9 with Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS. This guide shows how to get the Goodix 27c6:650c fingerprint sensor working on Ubuntu 24.04 (or derivatives) by compiling libfprint v1.94.9 and fprintd from source.

Note: This sensor is officially unsupported in Ubuntu’s repositories, so a compiled version of libfprint with Goodix support is required.

Prerequisites§

Install the necessary development packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install \
    git \
    build-essential \
    meson \
    ninja-build \
    libglib2.0-dev \
    libgusb-dev \
    libnss3-dev \
    libpam0g-dev \
    libpolkit-gobject-1-dev \
    libsystemd-dev \
    libusb-1.0-0-dev \
    libjson-glib-dev \
    libpixman-1-dev \
    pkg-config

These are required to compile libfprint and fprintd, including Goodix driver support.

Step 1: Remove conflicting system libraries§

Remove old Ubuntu libfprint packages to avoid conflicts:

sudo apt remove libfprint-2-2 libfprint-2-tod1-goodix libfprint-2-tod1:amd64
sudo ldconfig

Step 2: Build and install libfprint v1.94.9§

1. Clone the libfprint repository:

cd ~
git clone https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/libfprint/libfprint.git
cd libfprint
git checkout v1.94.9

2. Clean any old build directory:

rm -rf builddir

3. Configure Meson with Goodix driver:

meson setup builddir --prefix=/usr/local -Ddrivers=goodixmoc

4. Compile and install:

ninja -C builddir
sudo ninja -C builddir install
sudo ldconfig

5. Verify installation:

pkg-config --modversion libfprint-2
# Should output 1.94.9

The goodixmoc driver enables partial support for Goodix sensors like 27c6:650c.
Installing to /usr/local ensures the new library does not conflict with system libraries.

Optional: Create a pkg-config file (if missing)§

If libfprint-2.pc does not exist:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig
sudo tee /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/libfprint-2.pc <<EOF
prefix=/usr/local
exec_prefix=\${prefix}
libdir=\${exec_prefix}/lib
includedir=\${prefix}/include

Name: libfprint-2
Description: Fingerprint library
Version: 1.94.9
Libs: -L\${libdir} -lfprint-2
Cflags: -I\${includedir}/libfprint-2
EOF

Verify:

pkg-config --modversion libfprint-2
# Should now correctly return 1.94.9

Step 3: Build and install fprintd§

1. Clone fprintd:

cd ~
git clone https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freedesktop/fprint/fprintd.git
cd fprintd

2. Clean previous build:

rm -rf builddir

3. Configure and compile:

meson setup builddir --prefix=/usr
ninja -C builddir
sudo ninja -C builddir install

4. Reload systemd and start the daemon:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart fprintd
systemctl status fprintd

Step 4: Enroll and test fingerprints§

fprintd-enroll $USER

• Follow the prompts to enroll one or more fingerprints.
• Test verification:

fprintd-verify $USER

Notes§

• System integration: Once enrolled, fingerprints can be used for login, sudo, and screen unlock (if PAM is configured).
• Unsupported device: Even with this build, some features may not work perfectly because 27c6:650c is 'officially' unsupported.
• Future updates: Recompiling libfprint/fprintd is required when upgrading or replacing these libraries.