ThinkPad T480 (06cb:009a) fails GetFlashInfo with status 057e on Ubuntu 26.04

[labwebdev]

I'm trying to get a Synaptics fingerprint reader working on a ThinkPad T480.

Hardware

• ThinkPad T480 (20KGS6J300)
• Fingerprint reader: 06cb:009a (Synaptics Metallica MIS)

Software

• Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
• Kernel: 7.0.0-27-generic
• Python: 3.14.4
• Latest python-validity from GitHub (0.15)

What I did

• Reset fingerprint data in BIOS.
• Removed old PPA/packages and started from a clean install.
• Installed python-validity from source.
• Ran validity-sensors-firmware successfully, which downloaded 6_07f_lenovo_mis_qm.xpfwext into /var/run/python-validity/.

The reader is detected correctly:

Bus 001 Device 006: ID 06cb:009a Synaptics, Inc. Metallica MIS Touch Fingerprint Reader

When starting the daemon:

sudo python3 dbus_service/dbus-service --debug

it consistently fails in get_flash_info():

Exception: Failed: 057e

I also temporarily logged the raw response before assert_status():

FlashInfo response: 7e05

The sensor is responding, but it rejects the GetFlashInfo request.

I also tried scripts/factory-reset.py, which instead times out waiting for a USB response.

Has anyone seen 057e from get_flash_info() on 06cb:009a? Is this a known issue with this firmware revision or Ubuntu 26.04/Python 3.14?

[labwebdev]

thanks @tuxarch, I took what you had in your patch and modified it a bit. Here is a PR I just submitted with the updated code that worked for me: #273