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How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

kevin.deldycke.com

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Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#71

Post by adingus »

dusted wrote: post #70

Disgusting HP, I've actually liked them for their nice Linux support.. Does not matter though, I got a Ricoh MP C2500 for "picking" it up, the 4 toners ( CMYK ) cost around $320, then here's toner for the rest of my life, and I get to print and scan a4 and a3 in duplex. Really nice machine, has network support and trays for multiple paper sizes.. amazing what people throw out these days. I'd never go back, this machi…

Brother has good Linux support from my experience. The drivers installed easily on my fedora machines and printed perfectly. When I installed the printer in windows it spit out 20 sheets of gibberish. Never thought I'd see the day when a printer worked better on Linux.

Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#72

Post by mattkevan »

breakingcups wrote: post #24

Besides all the obvious stuff, what also bugs me about this tactic is that it makes people weary of performing (or allowing automatic) firmware upgrades for printers, historically one of the least secure devices on a network.

My Epson has been bugging about a firmware update for ages. Not a chance I’m going to upgrade as it kicks up enough of a fuss about third-party ink as it is.

Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#73

Post by jasode »

jug wrote: post #33

I thought this was illegal and why the third party cartridge market is so big. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend inkjet printers for normal home users: for plain text, I'd use a B&W laserjet printer and if I had to print in color (like broschures or food recipes with photos), I'd use a color laserjet. For quality photos, I'd send them in to a professional service: it's still pretty cheap compared to inkjet printing... I'v…

>I thought this was illegal and why the third party cartridge market is so big.

Are you talking about the Lexmark case? That was the Supreme Court ruling against Lexmark's claim of patent infringement by a 3rd-party ink refiller.[1]

That ruling doesn't apply to 1st-party manufacturers using electronics/software/DRM to make 3rd-party accessories incompatible. That's why it's currently legal for Apple's T2 chip to not validate 3rd-party repairs and Keurig coffee maker to check for approved K-Cups.

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=impression+vs+lexmark

Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#74

Post by bonoboTP »

Mine doesn't have the allow downgrades option I think. But this worked for me:

> "Unplug printer’s power cord from the back of the printer

Press and HOLD the power button

Plug power cord back in (keep holding power button)

The HP logo will appear then the screen will go blank

Hold power button for 10 seconds and then release it

Press HOME BUTTON ONCE (top left)

Press RETURN/BACK ARROW ONCE (bottom left)

Press HOME BUTTON TWICE

That should bring up the control screen

NOTE: On my printer I couldn’t see the home or back buttons lit up but if you press to the left of the display area the buttons still work.

Press MFG (Top Left)

Press NEXT (Top Right)

The screen idled with some weird looking grid design and status bar so I pressed the Power button and it went to the main printer screen on the display."

Source: https://borncity.com/win/2018/09/19/blocks-hp-firmware-updat...

And for the love of God don't let your printer out to the Internet any more, they may push a malicious update and disable this workaround in the future (or might have done it already in newer firmware?).

Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#75

Post by alkonaut »

Why would you buy an HP printer and try 3rd party ink, when you know the whole business model is subsidizing the printer and selling you expensive ink, and you also know that the whole printer cartrige space is full of DRM roadblock?

Do this: look at what a printer + as many 1st party refills as you'll need for several years will cost you. Compare that number across multiple manufacturers. If the number seems high - yes, you discovered why inkjets are impopular. If the number seems OK: buy that one and use 1st party ink. Alternatively: buy a printer from a manufacturer that says they accept, and always will accept, 3rd party ink. Expect to pay more for that printer, or not find one.

Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#76

Post by nelaboras »

a012 wrote: post #10

Most of printer drivers are BS. I also bought a printer after lockdown, and had to spent hours to do research on the printer model that's interested me: Mac & linux compatible. The result is Brother is the most reliable and less BS than the rest printers. In the end, I bought a wireless Brother printer, and you can throw whatever cartridge in to it.

I've gone for an OKI office machine (MC532) for around 220€. Its a color laser printer and also exists with a scanner version. I have some issues with Linux printing via USB but via network all works great. When i, a humble mortal consumer, had issues with the driver I shot them an email and within 2 days had a call with tier 2 support which tpol > 1h with me on the phone to try different scenarios. Really impressed by that service quality.

My lesson: avoid consumer companies.

Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#77

Post by nelaboras »

gonzo41 wrote: post #4

How is this not something akin to an anti-trust issue? Fun story. I had a printer for a while, and then I just didn't after university. I don't print anything anymore. To no loss at all. It's either on my phone or I write things with a pen.

Try distance learning with your kids... Thanks to corona my printing has gone from 5pages/month to >30/day ;)

Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#78

Post by mattkevan »

Nextgrid wrote: post #31
LeonM wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have run a paperless business (and life, mostly) for the past 10 years. For some old-fashoned customers I always carried a Brother DS-mobile 600 portable document scanner in my bag. The scanner was expensive, but really nice. And it worked perfectly with MacOS 'capture' application that existed on Snowleapard (10.6). However, Apple removed TWAIN support in MacOs Lion (10.7), and Brother refused to release updated d…

A solution (if you still need the scanner) is to use VueScan: https://www.hamrick.com It's an application that has its own (reverse-engineered) drivers for many USB scanners that doesn't depend on the system having support for it. I've used it and it works perfectly, though the UI is quite complex at first glance due to the amount of various configuration options it offers.

Haven’t used VueScan for ages, but it was essential in the early days of MacOS X.

Most scanner makers wouldn’t release new drivers, so VueScan was the only way to get often quite expensive hardware working again.

Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#79

Post by koolba »

elmo2you wrote: post #29
gonzo41 wrote: post #4

How is this not something akin to an anti-trust issue? Fun story. I had a printer for a while, and then I just didn't after university. I don't print anything anymore. To no loss at all. It's either on my phone or I write things with a pen.

> How is this not something akin to an anti-trust issue? It probably (if not certainly) is .. but with authorities systematically failing their duties on that subject, and for a long time too, don't expect much (if anything) to come from that. The sad (and in my personal opinion: criminal) reality is that the (official) meaning/interpretation of anti-trust has been systemically eroded over the years. No doubt as a co…

> It probably (if not certainly) is .. but with authorities systematically failing their duties on that subject, and for a long time too, don't expect much (if anything) to come from that.

It's likely not an anti-trust issue. No single manufacturer has anything close to a monopoly and there's no legal duty to make it the printers compatible with third party modules. At best, some consumer might argue a case that there was an expectation of third party compatibility when they purchased their printers. Even that would be difficult to prove though.

Vote with your wallet and buy something that will work with third party ink. Go a step further and avoid all HP products. That's the only way this will be solved.

Re: How to revert HP printer’s ban on 3rd-party ink cartridges

#80

Post by bonoboTP »

simias wrote: post #41
bArray wrote: post #30

I can understand HP wanting to prevent their customers from being conned into buying false cartridges, or wanting to ensure the best possible experience for customers. But. Is it not enough to bring up a dialogue or warning telling the user it's false and they are breaking warranty, rather than outright disabling the cartridge? This seems like HP is acting anti-competitively, such that a third party would struggle to…

Your willingness to entertain the thought that HP may be acting on behalf of their customer's best interests is certainly commendable, but I don't think HP deserves it. It's common knowledge that ink cartridges are a racket and the real money maker for printer manufacturers. I have absolutely zero doubt that this move was only done in order to coerce their users into buying ridiculously overpriced first-party cartrid…

I don't want to give them any tips but they could allow 3rd party ink but then intentionally make the printer spew the ink around in smudges and with color streaks etc when it think the ink is 3rd party. This would ruin the reputation of 3rd party ink and make people "learn" that they have to buy branded ink to get acceptable prints.
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