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Martin Brinkmann at gHacks reports
HP released a firmware update on March 12, 2016 for several of the company's Officejet printers that renders non-HP ink cartridges useless.
HP customers began to complain about the issue on September 13, 2016 on various online forums, the official HP forum, and on community sites like Reddit.
All reported that a HP Officejet printer blocked non-HP ink cartridges from working, and that the device displayed one of the following messages to the user:
Cartridge Problem.
The following ink cartridges appears to be missing or [damaged].
Replace the ink cartridges to resume printing.
[Continues...]
Cartridge Problem.
Until cartridges are replaced, make sure the printer is turned on to avoid damage to the printer.
One or more cartridges are missing or damaged.
The ink cartridge listed above is an older generation ink cartridge that does not work in your printer. It can still be used with some older printer models.
If you do not own an older printer model and your ink cartridge is a genuine HP cartridge, contract HP support for more information.
It appears that HP programmed the firmware update that it released in March to block non-HP ink cartridges from working starting September 13, 2016.
[...] HP customers affected by the issue cannot do much about it it appears. The printer won't accept non-HP ink cartridges anymore unless they are specifically designed for the new firmware.
[...] HP customers who don't want to experience an issue like this again in the future may want to disable firmware updates for their printer.
[...] The easiest option to do so is to wait for the next HP Update prompt to appear.
- Select Settings on the prompt.
- On the HP Update Settings page, switch to Never under "Check for software updates on the web".
Also, whenever a HP Update prompt is displayed, select Cancel to block the download and installation of the update.
So, what's the complement of "delayed gratification"?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @12:20PM
> and also supports ipv6
No. Do not want!
So tired of devices that know how to talk to the internet but have no fucking business talking to the internet.
(Score: 1) by t-3 on Monday September 19 2016, @01:12PM
To be fair, a printer is one thing that many people would actually want to be able to access over the internet. It's very convenient to be able to print without having to be in physical proximity to the printer, or even on the same local network.
(Score: 5, Funny) by driverless on Monday September 19 2016, @01:35PM
Oh, that's true, I love being able to access printers over the Internet. Now admittedly it does cause some awkward moments when I walk into the offices of some random company to pick up my 500-page printouts, but I blame them, if they didn't want their printers to be used as a public service they shouldn't have got Internet-enabled ones.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @05:32PM
For bonus points use the CEOs name somewhere.
(Score: 2) by Hyperturtle on Monday September 19 2016, @08:26PM
I have done neighbors a service by *accidentally* connecting to their open network when I inadvertantly had shut off my own wifi due to inherent stupidity I sometimes express when figuring out how something works, only to find a device connecting to a nearby open network because Windows was totally fine with connecting to foreign networks without asking first (this was on XP pre SP3 when the bulk of this occured)
To atone for that, I would connect to their printer and print out that they will want to set up a password.
It hasn't actually happened in a while (either I am less incapable or they are more savvy), but every SSID I connected to and found I was able to print... they set up a password after I dropped them a note about it.
Some people do not realize the problem until the friendly neighborhood spiderman (or network man or something) leaves a calling card explaining the reason for the visit.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aim on Monday September 19 2016, @01:18PM
Umm... does not compute. If you don't want it talking it outside your local network, keep the firewall (packet filter) shut, and that's it.
It's sure nice to be able to address such a device from several computers. If your network is IPv6 capable, or even already IPv6-only, that's a sure plus. I'm also quite sure you can disable it if you really don't want it at all.
If the device were trying to phone home to the manufacturer though, that'd be a (very) negative point [big high-volume printers that come with vendor support may be excepted - i hear those are moving back to ink rather than laser].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @10:28PM
> Umm... does not compute. If you don't want it talking it outside your local network, keep the firewall (packet filter) shut, and that's it.
Yes, you must be a network admin if you want to use your hardware without worry that it will either rat you out or be a target for remote exploits.
That computes!!!
(Score: 1) by aim on Tuesday September 20 2016, @06:56AM
Umm... AC, you seem to be knowledgeable enough to know about privacy violations and worry about remote exploits, but you can't be bothered to see after firewall settings using the web gui of your router? That again does not compute. If you're that willfully ignorant, just connect your printer via USB to your computer, and be done with it. Oh, and please don't connect to Internet, just to be safe.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Thursday September 22 2016, @02:18AM
What the hell brand of router are you buying that by default allows any and all inbound traffic??
Seriously...If such a company does exist I would like to know so I can avoid them at all costs...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @02:29PM
lrn2firewall, or stop using computers. i vote the latter.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday September 19 2016, @02:34PM
So you guys only buy parallel port (usb?) connected printers and then leave the print server accessible from the internet?
(I print from the internet, depending how you define "the internet" but notice there's an openvpn that tunnels the traffic for me, I have the usual stateful firewall everyone else has, I just don't have it do NAT on 6)