HP admits to printer firmware update that blocks non-HP cartridges

Suspicions aroused after thousands of HP printers are forced out of action on the same day

Printer maker HP Inc, which is currently in the process of acquiring Samsung's printer business, has been accused of puting a 'self-destruct' protocol into a printer firmware update intended to stop people using re-manufactured cartridges.

It comes after thousands of people reported getting the same error message about their cartridge on the same day last week, Tuesday 13 September.

One third-party ink supplier carried out an investigation and claimed that the end-of-life date was programmed into a firmware update released in March 2016. A statement to Dutch media suggested that HP does indeed take steps to block cartridges "to protect innovation and intellectual property".

HP has never made any secret of its opposition to radically cheaper printer cartridges produced by third parties, as well as refills and other ways of cutting the cost of printing.

The company said in a statement to Computing: "HP is constantly improving security for its products and customers. Beginning in late 2015, HP implemented updates to the firmware related to the security chip in HP OfficeJet, OfficeJet Pro and OfficeJet Pro X printers that maintains secure communications between the cartridge and the printer.

"The purpose of this update is to protect HP's innovations and intellectual property. These printers will continue to work with refilled or remanufactured cartridges with an Original HP security chip.

"Other cartridges may not function. In many cases this functionality was installed in the HP printer and in some cases it has been implemented as part of an update to the printer's firmware."

So that confirms that the firmware exists and has been in place for a while, but it's not clear why everything went tits-up when it did.

Printer ink cartridges are something of a bugbear round these parts as, despite their high price, they rarely contain more than a few millilitres of ink.

Third-party manufactured cartridges have been found to have anything up to 10 times as much for significantly less money, so the decision to block them always sits badly with us. HP has even taken re-manufacturers to court before now.

HP isn't alone in doing this, however. Not by a long shot.