HP printer firmware blocks non genuine ink again claiming "malware attack" - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 03:58:27 pm
content: HP now claiming "malware" as an excuse for bricking third party ink cartridges or is it they are classing the cartridges as malware that will affect print, performance and security.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/hp-printers-computers-ink-cartridges-rivals/Quote*If they are not and never were HP+ enrolled or "e" series printer I hope they get sued for it and forced to issue refunds for every printer they crippled.**“third-party cartridges that use non-HP chips or circuitry can pose risks to the hardware performance, print quality, and security."I reminds me on lines of Winfixer scareware stuff except now from a reputable company."If you don't use our ink cartridges" malware will infect your printer and pc.Oh we'll bundle it together (performance, print quality and security" and say it is all at risk from malware if one of those things are compromised.If a printer was out of warranty why should HP care about updating it?***Utter bullshit. It was already like that before and you didn't need "updates" nonsense. I remembered with the basic printer drivers on a HP printer in 2012 they had a little alert that faded on and off at the bottom left on the traybar with the ink levels that appeared everytime it was printing. When I installed the later drivers some years later I remembered it haggling to sell cartridges despite using the genuine cartridges so I found the older drivers and replaced the program bit that did the ink cartridge alerts.****If they reuse the chip on he cartridges and reset it but I wonder how long that will last.Following to my fury of finding the "HP SMART APP" but no printer auto installed on my laptop last week. I traced it back a few days before when I was helping someone who had a HP Laserjet. It is Windows 10 LTSC should not be installing that crap and it won't be doing that again. Hardware ->"Do you want to automatically download manufacturer 's apps and custom icons that are available for your devices?"No.I thought that was for drivers only and NOT just for software or "apps" on their own without the hardware or driver installed. Useless sh*t promoted through Microsoft not acceptable. I didn't know there was a "HP Smart APP" for desktops I thought that was for phones and tablets.Having a quick look I found another thread on Reddit two years ago of users complaining that an update to their "HP SMART APP" had been forcing them to sign in in order to do the basic stuff like print and scan. Some of them found by removing it and installing the basic drivers it started to work.https://old.reddit.com/r/printers/comments/j8l7v5/cannot_use_printers_basic_functions_without_hp/QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteThe "HP SMART APP" set to hold printer owners hostage of their printer unless they create and account and sign in.Absolutely disgustingDown the toilet HP.Lots of nice looking HP printers in the local shops a couple of months ago and I am not talking about the locked down "app only" HP+ or "e" series models that sell for 1/3rds less but I certainly won't be recommending them.I imagine one day their ALL of their printers regardless whether it is HP+ or the "e" series will refuse to print unless it has broadband, the printer and user "signed in" to HP in order to operate in the name of "security" and "malware attacks".The only malware I see here is by HP themselves with their firmware interfering with third party cartridges and that "HP smart app" I found last week with the complaints about it interfering with the owners ability to print and scan.

author: fourtytwo42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 04:34:52 pm
content: AFIK HP is the malware problemNobody needs incompatibility like that in there systems, so simple answer, don't buy HP

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 04:46:33 pm
content: Quote from: fourtytwo42 on May 22, 2023, 04:34:52 pmYou know, it's such a shame considering the amount of money me and to a lesser extent my companies have given HP printer co. over the years and specifically preferring the brand for it's Linux compatibility.I wonder if the current corporate governance realize just how stupid it is to annoy their fan base.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 06:35:04 pm
content: In that thread they go on about forcing them to suddenly create accounts sign in and someone mentioning that they must accept DRM (digital rights management) within the cookie notice:https://old.reddit.com/r/printers/comments/j8l7v5/cannot_use_printers_basic_functions_without_hp/QuoteCramming things in their terms and conditions.QuoteApplications shortened to "apps" made insulting and degrading towards the user.QuoteThere was never any godsend. it was just the previous way of installing it with a little bit of manual work.It look may godsend way as the new trendy way is so awful with contempt for the user to use their device in peace.QuoteHP rather you throw out your printer than not use the app.QuoteOne angry printer owner made unable to use it out of the box without interference.Quote*Printer with "scan to network folder" works to a series of set standards and is independent of that rubbish.QuoteQuoteHeld hostage by HP "Smart app" which needs to go.QuoteNow that's how I felt (with any software not related to drivers) when Windows allowed it to install without my saw so but it didn't find any printers or fiddled with them.QuoteSarcasm:Now isn't that very clever of HP?QuoteHijack and harassment from HPQuoteSo you have to have an account with the Microsoft store (experience with an endoscope but was given the video viewer) then you have to create an account with HP.Quote* What a great answer actually the best answer they could give opposing the territorial behaviour of the ones who force this upon.I remember setting up a print and scan on someone's phone a couple of years ago.A few months later they told me it stopped working. When I looked HP stuff was gone but there was this "smart app" with non printer on there. When using it to put in the IP address (printer behind a firewall on another network range) I couldn't find where to put it in to connect to printer. I uninstalled it, found the hp printing tools having to really look further down in the Google playstore. It was easy, I put in IP address, detected it I think and it worked, then when printing I noticed this alert "Use HP SMART APP next time" everytime when printing something.WHAT AN INSULT"for something that does not seem to work the same.QuoteEpson outperformed HP out of the box in 5 seconds.QuoteQuoteWaste for the environment.Sarcasm:HP: Smart app must come firstQuoteI think they mean the consumers with "the smart app"QuoteBuzzword bullshit:"best printing innovation,""printing experience", "leading hardware" "best print app", "enhanced experience."*what about the "enhanced experiences" for the developers of these things when they want to print something or are they superior in some way?Won't be buying new from HP and this goes for any company that does this sort of thing and I thought Microsoft was terrible but in fact they seem to deliver this nonsense automatically if not disabled.Shame I use to like their products well 20 years ago but they seemed to have gradually turned scummy and horrible towards the user in ways where they may appear initially they are being nice by overdecorating, oversizing, oversimplifying and dumbing down the user interface in their so called "smart app" and making all the dead easy things appear so difficult whilst making claims I can do things for the first time that I couldn't before.I thought HP couldn't get any worse than this. This is not like mistakenly buying a HP printer with these requirements on them or hidden away (HP+ "e series) somwhere then return it. HP are imposing it later in the software. The "HP Smart app" should be set to take in account printers purchased without those requirement, do the job for the lifetime of the printer and not restrict or prompt the owner for anything else.Bullying, harassment, interference, malware(hijack, unauthorized access/trespass? remote hack and firmware crippling) from HP.I think this is the final nail in the coffin for HP.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 06:57:05 pm
content: I thought I'd spend a some time doing some local research regarding HP.Officeworks is a big chain of stores aimed at the SOHO market.I looked at the online reviews for a less than $40aud HP printer.https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/hp-deskjet-2720e-all-in-one-printer-hpdj2720e#reviewsTLDR; 1/5 stars. A $40 printer so low is expected.OK so it's a $40 printer. Let's see what a more expensive entry level business class $260 printer buys you:https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/hp-officejet-pro-9020e-aio-printer-hpoj9020e#reviewsThe general consensus: (review after review)QuoteNote the spelling and vitriol. Total rage posts.Hey HP, who is running your printer marketing department, Dylan Mulvaney?

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 07:50:58 pm
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on May 22, 2023, 06:57:05 pm$40 aud to £21.39 (I think that is too cheap for a new printer and basically asking for trouble.)So they don't necessary cheapen the quality of the printer but they sell a firmware crippled locked down variant.I would never spend £20 on a printer more like at least around £150 and I'd want it unlocked, left alone, free to use what ink cartridges I like and no meddling or interference from the manufacturer (no automatic/forced firmware updates) for it to work the same how I brought it until the day it mechanically fails.I remember something that looks like that, hp-deskjet-2720 and it reminded me of a lunchbox when it was folded up.Not straightforward with the limited controls for the wifi functionality but not forced sign up or anything and I think that was in 2017 for someone was having a little difficulty. I came back a couple of weeks later when it stopped working to find the printing port was changed automatically from the standard tcp/ip port to the WSD printing port when it stopped printing.I can't remember all the details but there is this service I had to disable to stop it doing that as it was doing it in an office too where it would work for a couple of weeks, WSD printing port installs at some point and the printers stop working and when I set it back it eventually defaults back to WSD.If a printer costs £200 and the same exact model is selling for £50 at Curry's, identical in appearance but crippled down (where features have been restriced instead of quality) then they have "a" £50 worth of a good printer which they may not own.Maybe they could call it something like "Primium" which gives the buyer an option to pay the full price to unlock the other features via the full firmware of the full price model "scan to memory card/ scan to network folder/ no account sign requirement, including no restrictions of the ink cartridges.But for owners of existing printers brought with a set of features and functionality that is suddenly removed when the printer is given an opportunity to connect up to HP and start a firmware update behind the owner's back rendering any ink cartridges or functionality void and I find completely unacceptable. Reminds me of the Sony OtherOs in 2010 except didn't they give notice and a choice? (Keep Otheros, no update no access to Playstation Network, install update, no OtherOs.)Claiming malware... what an insult.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 08:39:03 pm
content: this shit is getting so old lol. its a damn liquid. you could buy the damn viscometer or whatever you need to qualify your ink for the printer cheaper then dealing with all this shit.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 09:32:27 pm
content: HP is an evil company, and I have removed them from my life completely for good reason.My Brother colour laser printer (actually an 'LED' type) purchased in 2018 still lives strong on its factory-provided toner. If you're not printing photos, don't bother with inkjet. Laser is faster, cheaper and requires minimal maintenance. If you *are* printing photos, then consider just ordering them online. They're not that expensive, and then you can bin the inkjet completely.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 10:13:25 pm
content: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/hpsmart.comQuoteQuoteI once setup a HP 8600 on a Mac in 2014 by fixed ip address and that was so quick and easy and it worked fine for so many many years.It was brought for an office the year before and the only thing wrong with it whilst produce great quality printouts it was not efficient and guzzled ink very fast. They were going to bin it or give it to me, The owner's printer at home was not great and it clogged up, so I persuaded them to try it out and advised to use it a couple of times a week to help prevent the printheads from clogging. That one gave no problems. I installed a file server for the network scanning folder with no problems with the shortcuts to the mac. There was also this feature where you could sign it up to this HP thing, and some URL on HP to remotely print but did not hinge on an account from HP for the printer to operate.Big contrast the bullshit above and belowI am a bit saddened to see them go down the toilet with some of the worst things imaginable that they have been up to lately.QuoteGot emotional and angry and end up damaging their printer over an "app" that HP stuck in the middle that refuses to do anything.QuoteBuy a new printer... I heard that one many times before.This is getting better:Quote*PISSING AND FARTING ABOUT over a phone, wifi signal, app, HP account, broadband and screensaver timeout.So YOU now need a "phone", internet, and an "app" just for the printer to align the printheads.Something I remember that was rarely initiated by the printer or could be started in the printer menu or sequence of buttons.QuoteSlow and bloated and hoops to jump through.

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2023, 11:33:30 am
content: About 4 or 5 years ago I did a lot of research and wound up buying a Brother ink jet, wide track, four in one. My main reason for that purchase was what I was paying for ink for my Epson. I saved the cost of the Brother in the first two years in lower ink costs and I was buying genuine Brother ink. The cartridges cost about the same amount, but they lasted about four times as long. The Brother printer is still going strong and it is one of the better purchases I have made.Now I am experimenting with refilled cartridges. I hope to cut the cost of ink to about 1/4 of the price of Brother ink. I ordered two sets of cartridges from a California company called Door Step. There are less expensive ink sources, but I wanted to go with a US company. If this works as well as I hope I will wind up cutting my ink costs around 80 or 90 percent over what I was paying for the Epson ink. Time will tell.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2023, 02:42:30 pm
content: I have a Brother A3 printer and it doesn't have a chip on the cartridge but this glass window.Slideshow:https://www.hpsmart.com/#:~:text=HP%20Smart%20is%20the%20%231,long%20time%2C%20in%20my%20opinion.QuoteWhere they or did they have time to sign in in an emergency?Just noticed the idiots obscured the picture at the bottom with a gradient that spans half way up the page with an annoying bouncing arrow or is it they are not idiots and think the public are stupid and like that stuff because they deemed stupid.*I though that feature was available for many years so why shouldn't it not be available now?I first remembered seeing it with a HP 8500a printer.QuoteUtter bullshit:I could do those things over 10 years ago that didn't seem to require an account for the printer to do all the basic things and there were a few ways to do it and I remembered this this URL thing (proxy from HP) that I was experimenting with the HP 8500a that didn't need a VPN or port forwarding. LIARS! Telling me I can't do the things I can still do over a decade ago.* Save time...they need a working phone all up to date, broadband for both, apple/google account, hp account, HP services to be running and if one of those thing are not working how will that save time if the printer refuses to work?QuoteNo chance the last time I used it (tools I downloaded got replaced with this) when I had no way of adding by IP address as the printer was through the firewall.QuoteThis functionI believe had been also available over 10 years ago.The HP8500a had shortcuts on the screen. I can add email addresses (to scan to departments at a company if I wanted to), scan to network folder in jpg or pdf (many in one file) and works though VPN.I reminds me when Thunderf00t says how Elon Musk reinvents things as his own creation.In the office this 8500a and the other printers where, there was a little bit of manual work but most of things when it comes to printing and scanning were pretty much automated.Scan to network folder (different names and locations)Fax driver (with address book)Email toPrinting via URL, through VPN or HP URL thing.https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hp.printercontrol&hl=en&gl=USQuoteI see so it use to be good at some point where it worked and now they ruined it with a trendy loading screen/overlay, spinners and demands HP account, internet and sign in which HP now finds more important than printing and scanning.

author: Conrad Hoffman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2023, 03:19:06 pm
content: They make uneconomical hardware, buggy bloatware, and I've not allowed them to darken my doorstep in many years. Too bad, as old HP test equipment was the best.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2023, 05:04:34 pm
content: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Scanning-Faxing-Copying/HP-Smart-App-now-requires-online-account-after-years-of-use/td-p/8291341QuoteI see, it is the Microsoft store pushing this bullsh*t from HP and not just HP aloneWell I will just have to change my settings and policies on everything else and disc image templates not to allow "apps" from Microsoft to automatically download, interfere and cause problems.I'd imagine in the next line of HP printers, when someone inserts a non genuine cartridge in the printer, the printer and "app" will educate them what malware is. Non genuine/Third party cartridges = malware very bad for your printer's health.I see a pattern hereA couple of weeks ago I was testing out Onedrive for someone, which I installed my modified copy of Windows 10 LTSC enterprise. I don't use Onedrive myself and had to revert a few steps to reshow the onedrive icon that I had removed in the navigation pane. Office stuff like Word and Excel refused to save in the one drive folder, administrator access denied. Apparently it attempted to sign in the package and I set policies not too in my disc image. I found by disabling file collaboration it worked for a while. Weeks later, it defaulted, and found an update removed that option and the same message appear. insert registry value it worked for another week but still worked on mine. Very over zealous and arrogant of Microsoft,I found out last week ago, Onedrive has linked and "signed in" the operating system to Microsoft when I was looking in the PC settings at other things despite setting group policy editor not too.I won't be using Onedrive again if they are going violate and preferences and do things behind my back and work against me but I imagine that file collaboration options removed some time ago as it was an old disc image copy at the time I last made changes to it.I left good feedback about my preference/control and feelings being violated which they may not find pleasant (exactly how I feel) in the Onedrive feedback. Not that it would make a difference."c:\users\<account name>\onedrive" is just a folder.Without the settings files in there and outlook closed office programs saves in there without a problem.Saving into that folder should not need, internet and microsoft account, Office and operating system to be signed into in order to save in it.VERY STUPID. Final nail in the coffin for Onedrive.Seeing how they are behaving like this removing options to force people to sign in their Office package (Office 2019 and 2021) and Operating system (through the later updates) to save the one drive folder and that shouldn't be surprising they are pushing out software that do similar things like require sign in to use a printer.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2023, 08:19:19 pm
content: Just refurbed a HP4650 colour laser which I got for peanuts when a local company wore it out. Should last until no-one makes cheap toner any more, and is the dog's. Also got a faithful LJ4Plus (with rare duplex) which, sadly, I can't prevent having toner smears over the printouts. Too good a printer to tip, though.OTOH, based on putting up with an OfficeJet AIO and various laptops, HP computing kit made since the breakup is so shitty I won't countenance even looking at it, never mind considering using it. I'm surprised they still have customers - they must surely be running out of fresh marks by now.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2023, 08:29:58 pm
content: BTW, regarding scanning programs, I found none of the printer manufacturer's stuff was that brilliant. I'd get used to one then change printer for various reasons (usually because it turned out to be shit, or break out of warranty, etc) and then my workflow wouldn't work with the new scanning app. Epson pissed me off by changing the app without the option to go back, so I had to readjust despite not even getting a new scanner!So I splurged onVueScanwhich works with pretty much any scanner/AIO. Not cheap, but lifetime updates and all that, and you can change your scanner without raging at the stupid software that comes with it.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2023, 08:55:40 pm
content: Before network to scan folder for many documents I used Irfanview which started the basic HP scan tool but that seems to look nice and more geared up for with no bloat and reminds me a little of Canon network scangear.QuoteThat's nice they go to the effort.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2023, 04:20:03 am
content: Quote from: PlainName on May 23, 2023, 08:29:58 pmOr just make sure to get a scanner that's on the SANE supported list.

author: MrMobodies
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 02, 2023, 06:01:22 pm
content: https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/shopping/hp-has-found-an-exciting-new-way-to-drm-your-printer/ar-AA1bHdGuQuotehttps://www.lbc.co.uk/news/hewlett-packard-disables-printers-non-hp-ink/QuoteI don't see any integrity left in them. If they care about their "intellectual property" so much that they put into the printers and firmware, they can keep it I don't want if it is going to be so precious and sentimental to them that they have to start meddling/interfering and affecting the customer's use where it no longer does the things it once did out of the box.https://www.techradar.com/news/hp-printers-could-soon-lose-their-official-environmental-certification-following-user-furyQuoteGood*More like HP's attitude. If a printer was purchased with a set of features and it worked out of the box with a set of third party cartridges and I don't mean the ones enrolled with the ink subscription then leave those printers alone.