HP outrages printer users with firmware update suddenly bricking third-party ink

Remote update strikes again. Every manufacturer that abuses this mechanism for anything other than actual security updates should be fined in a way that registers on their stock price and if they do it twice they should be fined out of existence.

Ive replaced entire HP printers with Brothers over the last 20 years.<p>Now Brothers MFC-3750 has gone evil with DRM-like ink cartridge.<p>Probably the only time that I cannot wait to buy a foreign knockoff instead; perhaps China can step up ... like now?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;printers&#x2F;comments&#x2F;s9b2eg&#x2F;brother_mfc_firmware_update_nongenuine_toner_now&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;printers&#x2F;comments&#x2F;s9b2eg&#x2F;brother_mf...</a>

I tried to read the article but my HP computer just turned off randomly and installed an unauthorized bios update bricking it. I&#x27;m on my phone now and outraged.

My Dad was affected by this and I am now pissed after performing [Parental Support]. I had told him not to buy HP but he still thinks it is the 80s. Well, thankfully Brother Printers is now in my country and so I can smash that HP with a large hammer and call it a day.

I just bought an HP color laser printer this week. This despite knowing HP&#x27;s shenanigans, but COSTCO has too good a deal and the wife really wanted a good modern printer (we have an HP 4Plus). I admit, it prints beautifully.<p>In the settings, there&#x27;s a way to shutoff automatic updates, which I set. But I don&#x27;t trust post-Corina HP <i>at all</i> and I wanted to firewall it from the internet.<p>It turns out my D-Link router is vastly more annoying than my printer. Unclear setting menus, no help or manual, and settings that appear to work will block every computer from the internet when the router is reset.<p>I hate the state of modern consumer electronics.

It seems like a desperate move to make as much money as possible before the consumer printing industry becomes irrelevant.

How many times has HP dones this now? Who the hell is still buying HP printers?<p>We, as dissminators should tell every consumer not to buy their crap. &quot;<i>It&#x27;s a trap!</i>&quot;

Just imagine how much cheaper their printers and cartridges would be if they didn&#x27;t waste money on security chips and OTA infrastructure

I wonder why there hasn&#x27;t been some rather cheap, open-source solution for home printing? Why does every single printer manufacturer needs to be so scummy? HP, Epson, Conan. They&#x27;re all horrible in terms of user experience. Is it so difficult to make a $100 printer that just prints? instead of bricking itself everytime it is actually needed.

Printers suck. They should be awesome. But instead, the print quality hasn&#x27;t really improved since 1999. The last notable feture: tabloid size ink jets came out a decade ago. Printers still have paper handling issues, and inkjets still waste tons of ink unclogging print heads. All the innovation goes into lock-in and marketing strategies for consumables. The silver lining is that most printers have a Linux drivers these days.<p>I was a big advocate of Brother printers, but the last one I bought in 2020 has been plagued with paper jams and the cyan ink leeched into the yellow internal tank. So I now have a tabloid format scanner + B&amp;W printer. I almost dread shopping for a printer because I feel like I&#x27;m entering into an abusive relationship with a loan shark (really, $75 for ink for the $200 printer?... or cheap toner! yeah! Oh, the developer unit costs more than the printer... Boo.)

Anyone knows of any notable open source printers? Hardware and software.

If I find my HP printer upgraded in this way, I literally will build a trebuchet in the back of my truck and hurl the now worthless paperweight through the window of the local HP division, which happens to be their printer R&amp;D department.<p>I will happily face any resulting criminal charges, because I am pretty sure there would be enough sympathy here alone to raise bail and legal fees.<p>If they want to behave like criminals, then they should expect tit-for-tat retaliation.

I think the US government should create an Energy Star like program for printers.<p>The average cost per year of ink would be shown and whether aftermarket cartridges are accepted.<p>The average person buys because they see the initial cheap cost. It is a bait and switch that is terrible for the environment.<p>Even worse, HP runs green washing ads on YouTube about printing trees.<p>Years ago, I switched over to Brother laserjets that accept aftermarket cartridges. Never worry about printing costs.

This seems to happen every few years. Printer vendors try to bleed a turnip, lock out features, threaten subscriptions, then public outrage. They back down and waggle their finger saying &quot;I&#x27;ll be back!&quot; like a good villain. They have to try to remain relevant somehow in a digital age when people certainly aren&#x27;t printing more lest they all shrivel up and die.

Hopefully Framework will make printers[1]<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;search?q=printer+from%3AFrameworkPuter" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;search?q=printer+from%3AFrameworkPuter</a>

I hate printers. I find them &quot;non computing&quot;, even if once we were using teletypes. Terminals won, and, later, graphical screens. I never knew how to fix one at hardware level. I like to mangle data either on a term or a screen, I don&#x27;t want to be the printed press guy. PostScript, PDF and DJVU look well enough onscreen since NeXTStep and much better in any modern GNU&#x2F;BSD machine even with GV and DjView at 1280x720 on a 10&quot; screen.

[dupe]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=35063208" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=35063208</a>

Why does anyone still buy anything from HP?

I feel lucky when decided to buy a Brother printer instead of HP. Super easy to setup, press the WPS button once to connect to WI-FI and I can start printing from my Ubuntu laptop without install anything.

This is why I stuck to my very old laser printer, in this case an HP 1012.

I swear I&#x27;ve heard this exact story before

Can someone explain how this can be legal?