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posted by cmn32480 on Monday September 19 2016, @11:07AM   Printer-friendly
from the time-bomb dept.

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.

  1. Select Settings on the prompt.
  2. 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"?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @05:32PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @05:32PM (#403859)

    I hate it when they artificially disable the scanner. I've had multiple printers from different brands where they disabled the scanner when the ink levels got too low. The only reason I can think of to do that is they are trying to force you to buy a new all-in-one printer, rather use that one just as a scanner alongside a cheap laser.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @06:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @06:01PM (#403874)

    My Canon did this but there is an override. I had to Google it, but there is something where you tell it to keep going despite the state of the print cartridge. Canon says you can damage the print head if it keeps trying to print with an empty cartridge.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @10:34PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 19 2016, @10:34PM (#404018)

      You may have to reread that. I said they disable the SCANNER when the ink gets low. Whatever that has to do with the state of printer ink is beyond me. And it isn't just Canon, but an Epson and HP did the same thing to me.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @01:20AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @01:20AM (#404063)

        Nope, I think I misread yours, sorry for the misunderstanding. But either way, there is no business disabling the scanner due to low ink.