Galway Cartridge has been warning consumers of a new firmware update rolled out on various HP OfficeJet printer models, which is blocking non-OEM cartridges.
Following the Australian store Ink Hub’s warnings and advice about HP firmware earlier this month, we has begun issuing warnings to customers also. Over the “last few days” we have been receiving reports from over two thousand consumers that its newly installed private label cartridges have been malfunctioning in “25 different models of HP OfficeJet printers.”
It appears that HP has “rolled out an automatic firmware update at specific printers, which means that new private label cartridges may no longer be accepted worldwide.”
When consumers try and install their private label cartridges they encounter a message on their printers which reads “Problem with cartridge. One or more cartridges appear to be damaged. Remove the cartridges and replace them with new ones”. There is no problem with the cartridges themselves; the issue lies in the firmware update which is blocking their usage.
Updates of this kind are deliberately rolled out by HP with the aim of excluding private label cartridges and making users believe that private label cartridges are of poorer quality. Hence the misleading error message that the cartridges appear to be damaged, while that is not the case. Thus, over the back of the consumer, the fight is started with sellers of private label cartridges, Consumers should never be the victim of this.
HP claims to be allowed to perform these updates because HP printer packages will be provided with a sticker from December 2016. It says that “cartridges without an HP chip may not work and that cartridges that work today may not function in the future.”
However, we believe that the printer is the property of the consumer who has purchased it. This consumer must be able to decide for himself which cartridges to put in his printer. A sticker does not change that situation. HP is no longer the owner of a printer sold by HP and HP does not have the right to disable someone’s printer because that person does not use HP cartridges!”
Bruce Barnett of Cartridge World Fredericksburg posted a message on social media recently warning customers of HP’s firmware update affecting printers using HP 903/953 ink cartridges.
Barnett wrote, “HP has updated or is in the process of updating the firmware for these printers which would make the compatible branded 903/953 ink cartridges incompatible with your printer.”
He included a short video demonstrating “how to circumvent this happening”.
Galway Cartrridge has also been offering advice to consumers, advising them “to disable printer updates if they are happy with how their printer operates at present.”
Without these printer updates you are free to use the much cheaper compatible cartridges without issue.
HP released a firmware update on September 26, 2023 that impacts the HP inkjet cartridge range of 903XL/953XL.
How the firmware update is delivered:
