More than 1000 Report HP Firmware Problem

Remanufacturers across the globe continue to share their frustration at HP’s latest firmware release since RT Media broke the news last week.

Since that time manufacturers of aftermarket chips have been inundated with calls seeking a solution to the printer upgrade.

The public media have picked up the issue. In the Netherlands for example NOS.nl said, “There are problems with printers with the HP brand. Consumers are reporting on social media that their HP ink printers have been disrupted since last Tuesday, and are no longer accepting others brands of ink – usually cheaper brands[translated]. “It seems that HP is trying to force people to buy expensive ink HP,” said the angry consumer Martijn in the NOS Radio 1 News.  “I find it shameless that they break-in this way onto my printer operations in my home.” The article says thatvthe problem is not restricted to the Netherlands with complanints being reported across Europe.

The story quotes the experience of remanufacturer 123inknt.nl which sent a letter to its customers explaining what was going wrong.

The managing director of 123inknt.nl has sent a copy of its explanation to RT Media. “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): “Problem 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.

Gerben Kreuning told RT Media that research by his 123inkt technicians indicated a large scale problem regarding the functioning of their private label cartridges in various HP printers. Subsequently 123inkt.nl e-mailed customers 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 1,000 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 saying that there had been a firmware update which caused the problem. The fact that private label cartridges were not functioning was an unintended result of an update.

123inkt.nl has been working with the chip manufacturer of its private label cartridges in order to solve the problem. They confirmed the problem and said they also had 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.