Hewlett Packard inkjet printer users often buy generic printer cartridges to save money compared to the HP branded ones. Earlier this month however, those no-name cartridges mysteriously stopped working in some HP printers giving users error messages like this:
What’s going on? Users have said that they had made no changes to their computer or to the printer at the time the problem started.
*MOUSE PRINT:
According to published reports, a firmware update from March 2016 had a hidden time bomb set to disable non-HP cartridges being used starting on September 13!
When asked by a Dutch broadcaster why HP did this, the company said in a statement:
“This is to protect innovation and intellectual property, but also to improve the safety of products for customers.”
The changes are made according to HP, “to protect the printers and to protect the communication between the cartridge and the printer.”
“Affected printers will continue to work with refilled cartridges if they contain the original HP security chip. Other cartridges possibly don’t work”, HP added.
We all know the real answer is “money.”
The affected printers seem to be OfficeJet Pro models 8610, 8615, 8620, 8625, 8630, 8640, 8660 and others.
If you are facing this problem, experts say you can try to rollback the firmware to an earlier version (not easy) or wait for no-name cartridges to update their chips to work again. To prevent the problem from spreading to other HP printers, experts suggest that you turn off firmware updates.
UPDATE: A few days ago, an Alabama consumer filed a class action lawsuit against HP for planting a “ticking time bomb” and trying to monopolize the printer ink market. And a day later, HP relented. Come back on Monday for a full follow-up story of these late-breaking events.
In a word, shameful!
Not at all surprising from HP. I quit using HP inject long time ago and went to Laser. Interesting what you find if you break open ink cartridge.
HP did this without prior notice. For years, HP was the only brand of printer I ever bought. My last printer was not HP (12 months ago) and apparently now none of my future printers will be HP.
I have been aware of this printer cartridge scheme for a couple years. The cartridges have identifiable digital signatures that thrid-party cartridges may not be able to replicate.
Why innovate of provide better quality when you can lock out competition?
I just replaced my last HP printer a month ago with a Canon Pixma and now I’m very glad. I used HP for years, ran through them, at least five, and I only bought maybe one or two sets of genuine HP cartridges because of the expense. Most of the off-brand cartridges I used worked perfectly well, though one or two were defective, but by using Amazon ratings, I was well-satisfied with the knock-offs. HP and I had a lot of fits, starts, jams and rattles, but I kept buying them until the last jam resulted in a snapped-off plastic part, and now I’m rolling with the Canon. Goodbye, HP, sorry, but we HAD to break up!
Anyway to make some money for HP is a good thing for them, but a bad thing for the consumer.
I also had the maddening and exasperating experience of having all four cartridges fail at the same time in my HP printer. Dozens of times I opened the machine, switched cartridges, popped them in and out–you name it, I tried it. When I wrote the supplier of the formerly very good and long-lasting cartridges, they described this dastardly deed dead on! They sent me new cartridges ASAP, so you can be sure that I’m a fan of them forever, but NOT of HP!
Hmmmm…. why does keurig 2.0 come to mind?? Oh yeah the word Proprietary
Day late and a dollar short. I traded in my old HP printer for a new one at Office Max. The tech said it was cheaper to replace than fix.
I would of kept my old printer if I knew this was the problem.
How is this a customer safety improvement? I wasn’t aware that printer cartridges (even third party ones) had a tendency to spray ink in people’s eyes or explode and embed shrapnel in the walls. Also, why must the printer remain on until the cartridges are replaced? What kind of harm to the printer are they concerned about should the user turn the printer off rather than leave it on for a week until they get around to ordering replacement cartridges?
It’s especially sneaky to have the firmware delay its behavior until a certain date (possibly unless it is fully disclosed in the release notes, though most manufacturers don’t prompt you to look at such things prior to installing the firmware). That ensures a maximum number of users will have installed the firmware prior to the enforcement date.
Don’t forget that HP was one of the printer companies that used all the ink colors (black, blue, magenta, and yellow) when printing a back and white document. They got their hand slapped for that stunt. They claimed it gave darker black lettering.
@Derlin
I don’t think that the printer does any different motions when using an HP cartridge versus a third party unit. The only thing I can think of is that the print head, which is part of the ink cartridge, may clog
I had just bought a HP OfficeJet for my wife at Christmas. I replaced a different brand. I checked before I bought it to make sure it could run generic inks. It could (of course; this depends on the quality level of the generic) So I finally got one. Thought I could afford it if I tried quality generic inks. Used up the ones that came with it (those partially filled ones -just to get you going ones) and then bought quality XL replacements. Ran Great !! Until the firmware kicked in. Boy what a pain in the ‘hp’ this has caused. Well I can’t afford to pay about $100 every time HP ink runs out… so as new as it is… I guess I will be looking for a replacement already. Not worth a dime if you can’t afford to run it !! Thanks for the cheap trick of getting them out and into our homes, before you implement your -expensive to the consumer- trickery. HP has lost my trust on this one. BYe