Patent ID: 8352622

Claim:
A set of printers, each printer of the set being configured to execute one or more printing processes based on print data sent from a host computer, each printer comprising: a rewrite command interpreting unit that detects a rewrite command broadcast from the host computer connected to the printer over a network; a status signal generating unit that generates and sends to the host computer a first status signal indicating a rewrite state of the printer when the rewrite command is detected; a rewriting unit that executes a firmware rewriting process; and a control unit responsive to the rewrite command interpreting unit and configured to delete a control command and associated print data stored in a print buffer, receive rewrite data, and direct the rewriting unit to execute the firmware rewriting process with priority over all other internal processes of the printer when the rewrite command is detected; wherein the status signal generating unit generates and sends to the host a second status signal when the firmware rewriting process is executing, and wherein the firmware is preferentially written to all of the printers in the set of printers based on the broadcasted rewrite command.