Fast Access (face recognition) CPU usage

[svrep]

Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. I don't mind typing my password. I thought the facial recognition was neat, but not mandatory. If FA begins working with Firefox, I might reconsider.

I could take a picture of myself outside, walk inside, hold it up to the camera, and the computer would log-in.

In the few tests I did, it was actually faster to log-in with the picture than with my real face (probably because the picture was moving).

When I would do the "plug in password for first login" scenarios, FA logins DID get progressively faster to the point that the password box wouldn't even have time to pop up before I'd be logged in. It was usually the 7th or 8th login of the session that would get to that point. Holding up my cellphone at THAT point would take a little longer to log in, but almost invariably it WOULD log in.

Thank you for the extra details. I've actually just learned that Firefox is ready and is working its way through Dell's release processes. As soon as we are able to post the schedule release date, we will do so.

We take recognition accuracy very seriously. The behavior with the photo that you describe is quite out of the ordinary. As documented, photos taken with the webcam are more prone to acceptance, while other photos taken from different angles, backgrounds are lighting are far less likely. Of course a photo learned by the auto-update feature (hold the picture up and type your password) would provide quick recognition.

If you change your mind about working with us, our team would be very interested in working to further understand this unusual behavior and if possible further improving the product. Thanks!

[Zell]

SOLUTION TO HIGH CPU USAGE

Hey guys, I've been working with a tech support rep from SensibleVision and I've been given a solution that seems to work! Note that this works for face login mode ONLY.

It is basically a configuration file that disables FastAccess 45 seconds after logging in. It still continues to work when switching users or logging off, too. My CPU usage from FAService.exe is now at 0 because of this fix! I've attached the .zip which contains all of the information to do this.

SensibleVision has some VERY great tech support guys! Personal e-mail responses, very professional, and were very eager and willing to help out.

[svrep]

Hey guys, I've been working with a tech support rep from SensibleVision and I've been given a solution that seems to work! Note that this works for face login mode ONLY.

It is basically a configuration file that disables FastAccess 45 seconds after logging in. It still continues to work when switching users or logging off, too. My CPU usage from FAService.exe is now at 0 because of this fix! I've attached the .zip which contains all of the information to do this.

SensibleVision has some VERY great tech support guys! Personal e-mail responses, very professional, and were very eager and willing to help out.

Thanks for the compliments Zell. We've also really appreciated the information that you and others from the community have provided. We're eager to make the product better whenever possible.

A few words about what we provided.

• Just a slight clarification. This change doesn't actually disable FastAccess after login. It fully disconnects FA from the camera, but FastAccess itself is still enabled and running.
• This is really not a fix so much as it is a band-aid. It would appear that some other program is interfering with FastAccess or a Windows sub-system that we're using. We're getting closer to identifying the source of the interference, though I can't provide more details quite yet. As it happens, this interference only seems to occur when FA is attached to the camera which is why disconnecting from it fully after login drops the CPU usage.
• Note that this change is PERMANENT. Once done, it can not be reversed so it should only be used with caution.
• As noted, this change only affects Face Login mode. User Switching and Continuous Security modes will still need, by defition, to have a continuous attachment to the camera even after login and will as a result likely continue to exhibit any higher CPU usage that was already happening.
• There is a disadvantage to fully disconnecting from the camera after login - which is why we don't do it this way by default. Specifically, if you run any other video application FastAccess will not be able to connect to the integrated camera for the purposes of logging in, unlocking the desktop, or using the Web Login feature until the other video application has been terminated.

I'm very happy that this "solution" is helping many users, but caution that it may not be right for everyone. Please also note that because of it's temporary/diagnostic nature that this change is NOT supported by Dell.

We are continuing to work to identify the root cause of the issue. I will certainly post any additional updates as they are available.

Thanks.

[Ryaske]

svrep; you have certainly been helpful and your company has been cordial.

I also received this config change file, but with your cautions, decided not to apply it yet.

I use procmon on a virtual machine to try and discover what FAConfigRestore.exe Dell_Webcam_Off.faz was doing.. I saw it was something in the registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Sensible Vision\Fast Access but it was all encrypted before it was written.

I know that all a program can do to as far as permanent changes to a PC is write to the file system. This would mean a file on the hard drive or a hive database like the windows registry.

I know you have limits as far as divulging company secrets.... but I would love some more words from you about how this patch does what it does, and why the change is not reversible even after uninstall/reinstall of FA.

Further, at some point in the future, do you think this quick-fix feature could be added to the program as an option one can check or uncheck? It woudl certainly aid our workflow if this problem creeps up due to another interference in the future.

For now, I am holding out on this band-aid and just right-clicking "temporarily disable" after log in. I may make a macro that automatically does that for me. I just hope an update and real fix comes soon, and hopefully you can distribute it to us in the forum as soon as it is .... as we all know, Dell will take ages to get it distributed to us.

Thanks again for your attention to your customer base and this matter at hand. That goes a long way towards "Branding" your company. I know that I, for one, will be looking out for your retail products.

[svrep]

I know you have limits as far as divulging company secrets.... but I would love some more words from you about how this patch does what it does, and why the change is not reversible even after uninstall/reinstall of FA.

My understanding is that it's a registry change as you surmised.

Further, at some point in the future, do you think this quick-fix feature could be added to the program as an option one can check or uncheck? It woudl certainly aid our workflow if this problem creeps up due to another interference in the future.

We actually have discussed exactly this, yes. I don't know yet if or when it would be implemented, but it's certainly a possibility. Until that can be created and released, however, we continue to concente on finding the true source of this issue.

Thanks again for your attention to your customer base and this matter at hand. That goes a long way towards "Branding" your company. I know that I, for one, will be looking out for your retail products.

Thanks! It's been my pleasure. Believe me, I would not choose to work for a company that was anything less than genuinly interested in manking the best possible product and supporting it well.

[Mitchell2.24v]

Is there any way to get the software to run on a Windows Domain? I'm running my own domain as I own a small business, and FA will not install.

[svrep]

Is there any way to get the software to run on a Windows Domain? I'm running my own domain as I own a small business, and FA will not install.

My understanding is that this feature is being added for a future release. You are correct that 2.4.7 will neither install nor run on a domain attached machine.

[Mitchell2.24v]

My understanding is that this feature is being added for a future release. You are correct that 2.4.7 will neither install nor run on a domain attached machine.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Ryaske]

Hello Svrep,

I want to add a symptom of this problem on my machine.

I have noticed the computer will not dim, power-off the monitor, and go to sleep.

I used a freeware program called Idleclock to see how long my computer thinks it has been idle. I was able to narrow down which program was causing the computer to reset idle every 30 - 70 seconds... FAService.exe! Once I temporarily disabled it (I often forget to do it at log-in), with no other changes on the PC, the idle time stops resetting and my power options begin functioning normally again.

So whatever problem is causing the higher CPU usage is also causing the computer to stay awake constantly.

[svrep]

So whatever problem is causing the higher CPU usage is also causing the computer to stay awake constantly.

Thanks very much for the additional observation. I will certainly pass this along to the testing engineers. We appreciate the help.

Question - does this sypmtom go away if you set the "Security Level" to "Disabled"? If it does, this might be a more convenient way for you to go in the short term instead of temporarily disabling it after every reboot.