EU's 123inkt.nl Reacts To Reman Ink Cartridge Blocking Firmware By Hp​

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Europe's 123inkt.nl Reacts To Reman Ink Cartridge Blocking Firmware By Hp​
123inkt.nl reaction on blocked HP Printers.

The Netherlands, Nederhorst den Berg, 16 September 2016 – On Tuesday 13 september 2016 123inkt.nl received a large number of complaints that 123inkt private label cartridges were not functioning in various models of HP printers. Users received the error message (in Dutch): "Probleem met cartridge. Een of meerdere cartridges lijken te zijn beschadigd. Verwijder de cartridges en vervang ze door nieuwe cartridges." [Translation:"Problem with cartridge. One or more cartridges seem damaged. Remove the cartridges and replace them with new cartridges."] This is not the case, there is nothing wrong with 123inkt private label cartridges.

Research by 123inkt technicians indicated a large scale problem regarding the functioning of 123inkt private label cartridges in various HP printers. Subsequently 123inkt.nl has e-mailed customer informing them about the possible inadequate functioning of their HP printer. To get a better understanding of the scale of the problem, 123inkt.nl asked its customers to check whether the printer still functioned. Within one day more than 1000 consumers reported the problem.

123inkt.nl did extensive tests with various printer models. Once it became clear that the problem was caused by the printer firmware, 123inkt.nl asked HP Nederland for clarification on 13 September 2016. The reply was that HP Nederland did not know. Consumers who contacted HP customer service were informed that the problem was caused by the private label cartridges. One day later HP came back on that and the message now was that there had been a firmware update which caused the problem. The fact that private label cartridges were not functioning would be an unintended result of an update.

No firmware update
However, further research by 123inkt.nl shows that there have been no firmware updates of the printer models concerned prior to or at Tuesday 13 September 2016, as communicated by the HP helpdesk. The various printer models that have the problem have an update of 22 march 2016 (with firmware already developed in 2015). Also test printers held in in storage by 123inkt.nl, which had no network access and therefore were not updated, showed the problem. Printers with older firmware versions than the update of March 2016 also showed the problem per 13 September 2016. Therefore, 123inkt.nl's conclusion is that the problem is not the result of a recent update, but of the manner in which printer firmware has been programmed some time ago. HP's statement that the problem is caused y a recent firmware update is in our opinion incorrect and misleading

Solution 
123inkt.nl has immediately contacted the chip manufacturer of its private label cartridges in order to solve the problem. They confirmed the problem and indicated to have received reports from around the world. In the meantime it has become possible to develop new chips for 123inkt.nl private label cartridges for some HP printers and those are already in production.

Technicians of 123inkt.nl have also been successful at getting blocked test printers working again with an old firmware version of 2014, but that solution cannot be easily carried out by consumers.

123inkt.nl is of the opinion that it is very simple for HP to again make this old firmware available and in that way directly solve the problem for users of these HP printers, but HP apparently choses not to do so.

Conclusion
This problem does not stand alone. Printer manufacturers regularly execute firmware-updates, claiming that they improve the operation of the printer or solve security issues. The (un)intended result usually is that the operation of lower price private label cartridges is disturbed and error messages are triggered. This time the problem was not the result of an update to improve the operation of the printer, but the HP firmware was apparently programmed in such a manner that this problem started at 13 September 2016.

Affected printer model 
HP Officejet Pro 6830
HP Officejet Pro 8610
HP Officejet Pro 8615
HP Officejet Pro 8620
HP Officejet Pro 8625
HP Officejet Pro 8630
HP Officejet Pro 8640
HP Officejet Pro 8660
HP Officejet Pro x451dn
HP Officejet Pro x451dw
HP Officejet Pro x476dn
HP Officejet Pro x476dw
HP Officejet Pro x551dw
HP Officejet Pro x576dw

http://www.123inkt.nl/news/Press+Release+123inktnl+reaction+on+blocked+HP+Printers-593.html

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September 20, 2016 at 1:52 PM