HP Printers now Block Compatible Cartridges since firmware update this month. (WORKAROUND!)

waterss100

My inkjet printer stopped working this week with a message saying that cartridge had a non HP chip in it. My printer now appears as a 'Smart printer' when you go to print which is new. This is not a warning but a withdrawal of service. I don't see how this is legal from a monopolies point of view, and apparently printer companies have repeatedly lost legal challenges to try to block compatibles. There is a workaround which my cartridge supplier Smart Ink helpfully gave me.

( I'm not allowed to post the link as  a new user, but try searching Reddit for DaveJhonson20, or ask Smart Ink on Chat)

It basically downgrades the firmware, and also tells you to disable future updates. Worked for me, thank goodness.

Jenni_D

You can post a broken link ... drop the https and www bits, and maybe add a space before .com  

shiraz99

As this is a legal grey area I wouldn't post the link and it's likely the thread will be removed.

GDB2222

shiraz99 said:

As this is a legal grey area I wouldn't post the link and it's likely the thread will be removed.

If your device has stopped working immediately after a firmware update, try rolling back the firmware to an earlier version. 

That doesn't seem 'grey' legally?

flaneurs_lobster

@waterss100 Could you tell us the model of HP printer please, in case I need to "Grey Area" my printer too.

GDB2222

Incidentally, when I set up my own firm in the 1980s, laser printers cost £2000, and my first inkjet printer was £800. Despite 40 years of inflation, printers are a fraction of the price. I expect that they are being sold at, or below, the cost of manufacturing them, with the hope of making some money from selling the ink cartridges. 

Neil_Jones

GDB2222 said:

Incidentally, when I set up my own firm in the 1980s, laser printers cost £2000, and my first inkjet printer was £800. Despite 40 years of inflation, printers are a fraction of the price. I expect that they are being sold at, or below, the cost of manufacturing them, with the hope of making some money from selling the ink cartridges. 

Economies of scale for one thing, improvements in technology and functionality for another, and all printer companies sell the printers at not much above cost price and make the bulk of their income from the ink.

Printer ink is relatively expensive (particularly "genuine" ink) because its sold in small quantities, literally ml.  When you scale this up it ultimately works out to costing more than pricey champagne.

GDB2222

I used to refill the ink cartridges, using a hypodermic syringe, but they eventually cottoned onto that and changed the design to stop it.

Robin9

Same seems to apply to Epson.    Standard message re non standard cartridges but printer doesn't work

millie

I have never up dated the software on my Epsom and the compatables still work. Not much good if you have already done it but maybe helpful to others.

Whenever I have installed the printer on a different computer I always use the disk that came with it.

zagubov

I update most software when it seems sensible, but software for printers, never.
What possible improvements could it include?
Can it turn black and white into colour or translate text into other languages or produce banknotes that would fool all inspections? nope - it's just to keep you away from its competitors products.
Just don't do it.