[German]The aim of this blog post is to find out whether there are any potential victims. The topic: There is a suspicion that HP is again (possibly erroneously) blocking ink cartridges from third-party manufacturers in its inkjet printers by updating the printer firmware.
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Some background information
In September 2016 it became public, that HP has begun to block third-party ink cartridges with a firmware update. HP had distributed a firmware update for various ink jet office printers on March 12, 2016. From 13 September 2016, the time bomb within the firmware became active. From that point on, third-party ink cartridges were no longer accepted on certain HP ink jet printer models. Those using third-party ink cartridges or refillable ink cartridges received an error message. The printer driver reports that the ink cartridge is faulty or damaged. Anyone using new third-party ink cartridges also received this error message.
I've blogged about that within my blog post HP printer firmware disables refill ink cartridges and other articles (see the links at the article's end). The case created a slash back on HP. They was forced to release an update that overrides the 'protection mechanism'. Had reported about that within my post HP: New printer firmware re-enables refill ink cartridges.
Same procedure as every year?
In normal cases, you can say 'it has happened, but it fixed, so forget it'. It may be paranoia, but every year around September 13th, I receive reports from users who suddenly find that third-party cartridges are being rejected. Last year I've published the blog post Firmware Update blocks again non HP Printer Cartridges, due to users, who contacted me with the same issue. And I found other reports (see here and here).
At that time I wrote: The reason for this problem is HP's Dynamic Security Feature, which was probably brought to various devices by a firmware update. What the part does is described in this article: It checks the security chips HP installs in its own printer cartridges. Apparently there are sometimes cases where the HP Dynamic Security Feature is rolled out and activated via a firmware update. Then it block external cartridges.
Epson did a similar thing a few weeks ago in June 2018 (see here (broken)). But now it's September 2018, and I have new cases, reported from users. A few hours ago I received this reader comment in my blog post:
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Guess what – Sept. 16 2018, and they just did it AGAIN. My printer worked fine last week. Made the mistake of installing a software update today. And now guess what: "There is a problem with the printer or ink system". Nothing would get it to print. Until I borrowed a friends HP cartridge and guess what – works fine.
Nothing wrong with the printer. Just HP's corporate ethics.
Best of all, looks like they changes the error message from the last time just so fewer consumers would clue in. What a scam. What a morally corrupt company.
I will personally boycott HP from now on. And encourage all those reading this to do the same – noting that they've now made printer ink cost more than human blood, and their profit margins rely on that (literally – google it). Time to hit them where it hurts.
The user claims that his ink cartridge was no longer accepted after updating the printer software. At first, he believed he had made a mistake of his own, but after a diagnosis, the root cause came out: It's the printer firmware. As soon as he inserted an original ink cartridge, the printer worked again. It could of course still be that something is broken with the defective ink cartridge. But it smells a bit like the HP Dynamic Security feature was unintentionally rolled out and armed via a firmware update.
First I though: Maybe it's an isolated case, maybe a broken ink cartridge or a wrong update. But I've published the German edition of this blog post a day ago, and received feedback from two users, claiming the same behavior. In HP's forum I found isolated cases from Spring 2018, an I recognize, that this article dealing with the HP ink jet cartrige issues has been updated three days ago. Hence the question: Is there anyone else who has had this happen?
Similar article:
HP printer firmware disables refill ink cartridges
HP apologizes, new firmware update for printers soon
HP: New printer firmware re-enables refill ink cartridges
Firmware Update blocks again non HP Printer Cartridges
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Hello,
I so happen to have two HP 8600 Pro Printers and I am willing to use one for you to test on. If you give me directions and tell me what pictures you want me to take I will send them to you so you can determine if HP is making 3rd party inks unusable.
Also, I've seen the hack where a strand of wire is jumpered between two electronic pads on the print head to enable refilled cartridges.
Let me know if you are interested in using my printer as a guinea pig.
Thx, I did send you a mail – and see also the new blog post
Does HP blocks 3rd party ink cartridges again on its printers (Jan. 2019)?
2019-02-02 I am unable to install 3rd party ink in my HP 8720 inkjet printer. I downloaded the current firmware but I cannot install it. The checkbox to update the is disabled and for status it says 'not applicable'. I telephoned HP technical support and according the agent it is not possible to use 3rd party cartridges in this machine.
As HP has already been challenged on this, it seems highly unethical to prevent the use of 3rd party cartridges. I was not informed about this when I purchased the printer. Is there a new lawsuit in regards to this? Where do I sign up?
Costco will no longer refill certain cartridges from the effected printer. 8715 and 8720 for sure I know of and anything using the new cartridges are effected. 952 cartridges are now extremely expensive and not worth the investment.
I do believe HP is at it again. I just installed non HP ink and am getting an error message that reads: " Remove and Reinstall the indicated cartridges, making sure it is installed correctly". It is indicated on all four cartridges. I received an email from the supplier shortly after purchasing my ink and found out the following: "HP released a wireless firmware update on April 9th that may interrupt your use of compatible HP 902XL ink cartridges. Updating to this latest firmware version may prompt a cartridge problem message on your printer's display, preventing you from using compatible cartridges." I called HP to see if I could uninstall this update and was told the firmware update was not the problem and my print heads were faulty. I was offered a new printer at a discount price. REALLY? Shame on HP!! Hope this issue gets resolved!
guenni
when HP web services is enabled on some recent HP printer models (and these printers are connected to the internet either by Wifi or ethernet/LAN), automatic updates are locked on and will quietly download & install firmware updates without any user input.
users who want to use non-HP or 3rd party inks should follow the instructions on this inkjet411 page on disabling HP automatic updates, that includes disabling HP web services for some HP printers as well, to prevent firmware updates from installing silently: https://inkjet411.com/?page_id=5861
Thx for the hints – guess my blog reader will appreciate this (I'm boycotting HP since I discovered the WIA driver desaster with HP scanners after Windows Vista has been released – and Microsoft's developers told me, that HP was aware of an internal service change since Windows Server 2003, but offering high end scanners years later with old Windows XP WIA drivers and ended then suddenly the support).
BTW, just for your information, in case you are not aware of: If a comment is containing a link, it will be moved to my 'moderation folder'. After inspecting the comment, I set it to 'public' – need that, to block/prevent SEO spam.
My 8710 all-in-one always used 3rd party ink until this last replacement (May/5/19). Tried ink from two non-hp suppliers and had to return both. The larger supplier, LD, sent me an email stating that HP firmware upgrades had caused the rejection and that LD is in the process of re-engineering around the change. They politely refunded me and I had to by HP ink at twice the cost. Not happy here
Tried replacing non-HP cartridges which worked fine in our HP 8600 with a new set of generic Calidad cartridges on 18 May 2019. Kept getting "There is a problem with the ink or printer…" message. Calidad even sent us a new set of cartridges which they thought would work without issue but still the error still appeared. Semi and Full Resets did nothing to remove the block. Long story short, I've managed to get them to work after putting the printer in MFG mode (whatever that is) from the secret menu. To get there I did the following (I take no responsibility if this messes up your printer):
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
Hope this helps someone.
Thank you so much for posting this solution. I followed your instructions and now my printer works with third party ink cartridges. HP is using extremely shady tactics to keep people buying their outrageously expensive cartridges, even after a printer is no longer supported through warranty or firmware updates.
I bought an HP ENVY Photo 7830 printer recently (Sept 2019) and purchased some 3rd party ink cartridges from a well established supplier after the HP cartridges ran out. The 3rd party colour cartridge was accepted by the printer but the black cartridge was rejected. A message appeared in the display asking me to remove and reinstall the cartridge. The cartridge supplier sent me 2 more cartridges that resulted in the same issue. After reading comments from other HP victims in this blog, if I'd have known HP were blocking the use of 3rd party cartridges, I would never have purchased the printer. This is restrictive practise and an absolute scandal.
seems like a firmware update was silently installed on that hp envy 7830 printer without your knowledge & it blocked certain 3rd party inks (another reason to disable hp web services or hp software updates on any recent HP printer)
Purchased an Officejet HP Pro 8715 in 2017 along with a genuine HP multi pack of black and color ink for spare. I have replaced the ink cartridges once each with the black and color OEM ink from the multipacks. I still had unused OEM HP ink from the original multipacks. Just needed to replace the ink Sept 2019. Replaced with genuine HP OEM ink from multipack, bricked the printer. Called HP support, was informed that due to the expiration date of the cartridge (8/2018 printed on cartridge) printer will no longer function. The unused cartridges were disabled because they timed out. So I have full "new" unused HP cartridges and a printer that no longer will work. No apologies from HP agent states that's corporate policy and he cannot help but I can enroll in automatic ink subscription when I buy a new HP printer. .
They have gotten even sneakier. HP PageWide Pro 477dw. Updated to the 1937D firmware, built Sept 2019 from the printer itself, the latest at the website is from July. I had a whole set of third party inks, the C, Y and BK were replaced earlier than the firmware update, and though there was a warning about third party inks, they worked fine.
After the firmware update, I tried to replace the M cartridge, and just get the error "Remove and reinstall the indicated cartridge…" same as others above, without any warning about 3rd party inks or whatever. At the end of the message just says "if this message continues to appear, replace the indicated cartridge". They don't want you to know outright that they're blocking 3rd party inks, just that maybe they're defective for not being original.
It seems they still do this periodically, and change the message so there's not much talk online about it since there's less assurance that they're purposely blocking 3rd party inks cause they don't outright say it anymore.
Update: I just downgraded my 477dw to the older firmware posted at the HP website, 1921E built in May (per the printer's UI) but apparently posted in July (per the site), and now I'm getting the "HP cannot guarantee quality blah blah" message for the third party ink, but it works, same as the other ones. Sneaky bastards. I used this post as a starting point: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/DesignJet-Large-Format-Printers-and-Digital-Press/HP-PageWide-Pro-MFP-477dw-firmware-update-failed-now-bricked/td-p/7135370
What I did was download another firmware .exe from the HP site, extracted the .ful2 file and put it in the root of the USB drive. Then connected that to the printer and selected USB from the printer screen, and the the option to update printer. It detected the firmware file, installed it and rebooted to the older firmware, and all is good now.
This is the firmware at the HP site: https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software13/printers/pwp_400-500/PW477DW_1921E.exe (extract the file maverickdw_dist_pp1_001.1921E_nonassert_appsigned_lbi_rootfs_secure_signed.ful2)
This is the 1921E firmware .ful2 file in case it's not available anymore: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18MQ3xodjfHFHZ-P3JGdhb46MoxOkRliK/view?usp=sharing
SHA-256:
cd176884b4518282a378e642d148c107e7b99f7150938213941bd67dbec91d6b
hi anews!
i try to update with old firmware my HP pagewide pro MFP 477dw because has began to block third-party ink cartridges but i cant find the file…..please can you send me the file 1921E with wetransfer site ?my region is europe if it matters…..
Your shortcut above maybe it's not available…..my email is tttgeo@gmail.com
Sorry, I think I fumbled the Drive link.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yuDU9hht14NE2APdlmOo6dSOBHs3SFz3/view?usp=sharing
I am also receiving the bogus error message "Remove and reinstall the indicated cartridge…" the same as all the other people above, without any warning from HP about 3rd party inks or whatsoever.
I am going to share my HP experiences with all my friends and acquaintances, and no more HP anything for me !!!!!!!!
found and downloaded the file= maverickdw_dist_pp1_001.1921E_nonassert_appsigned_lbi_rootfs_secure_signed.ful2
mail me…… ;-)
Don L. if I got your approval to forward your e-mail, I will forward it to @geo – but you are at your own risk! Check the SHA value given above.
Just drop a comment with yes – also Marty K.
i found it ……all ok!!thank you!
Apparently, HP no longer has the 1921E firmware available. The link above is broken.
Does anyone have a link to where it is?
Hello anews,
i´am also in trouble with the blocking of my cartridge.
Could you send me the File ?
kR Tom
HP support article – "HP Inkjet Printers – Dynamic Security Feature Affecting Cartridges Using Non-HP Security Chip"
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05308850/
HP is supposed to issue a new firmware update that removes the "dynamic security" security feature for several affected HP printers and allow non-HP ink carts to work again
Thanks for that. Reading up a bit more about it, that firmware actually enables Dynamic Security (or makes it worse) for some of those printers (my 477dw included), specifically the ones manufactured after 12/1/2016 that are on that list in the link. It is the same version that borked my printer as I indicated above.
wow an hp firmware update that is supposed to turn off dynamic security for your hp 477dw printer is having the opposite effect. that sucks bigtime. try using different 3rd party ink or perhaps look for hp ink refill kits in your region.
HP is up to it again. As of today, April 29, 2020 Ive now tried to install 3 different yellow 952XL cartridges ordered from LD Products, and I get an error message in every case: 'Remove and reinstall the indicated cartridge, making ……..' The problem started after the latest HP firmware update.
John
read the Amazon reviews of LD Products HP 952XL yellow cartridges:
https://www.amazon.com/Remanufactured-Replacement-952XL-L0S67AN-Yellow/dp/B071KH8ZVL
it's hit or miss with these inks; some good reviews as well as bad ones
try another brand
HI
I also need such a firmware update file, to block cartridges to the 8500PRO printer
Please help
help me
i want hp 477dw firmware version 1921E
I hit this problem as well, and put together a small write up on how to fix it in about 10 minutes time:
https://releaseengineer.blogspot.com/2020/11/fuck-you-hp-aka-how-to-downgrade.html
Hi Alex I love the title to your post! Unfortunately there is no way to access earlier firmware versions anymore!
April 2022 the same issue as described occurred when I inserted a 3rd party "HP compatible" black toner cartridge. Put the the old one back and all was well again. Look like there there should be a class action litigation as Amazon continues to sell these replacement ite4ms that won't work.