News HP ink cartridge DRM bypass demonstrated using physical man-in-the-middle-attack

[Admin]

A tiny PCB installed on a refilled HP ink cartridge allows users to continue using it despite HP's strict DRM settings.

HP ink cartridge DRM bypass demonstrated using physical man-in-the-middle-attack : Read more

 

[cyrusfox]

Love to see this, but it is the reason I do laser these days(Have an old samsung color laser, too bad HP bought Samsung out too).
I use to have an HP that I added a modded ink well that could print on DVDs, problem was the print heads would clog either due to second party ink, or just from volume of prints.

I love to see DRM defeated, But I do wish we had greater consumer protection from these practices, the most egregious being serialized parts that will only work with whitelisted /or coded parts.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Last year I purchased an HP LaserJet which is the size of a small toaster. I love that printer and it connects SO easily to my Mac and Windows PC's. However I made sure to buy the Non-Subscription version even though the cartridge has DRM enabled. It's a shame HP has gone rouge with their DRM. It's bad for the consumer !

 

[Geef]

It is too bad HP can't sell certain printers with a requirement that you use X number of HP cartridges before you can start using third party cartridges. Make it known the sale is at a loss for them so you go into it knowing why you need to use them.

HP could even make a tiny bit of extra money by having a 'squeeze out a few more drops' option so once your current cartridge stops on you, you can pay like 5 bucks to get another 20 pages for an emergency print! Evil but people would probably pay it.

 

[micheal_15]

People need to stop buying HP printers. even the Uk government is putting them to an end after realizing the internal hard drive of all contracted printer models "hides" previously printed pages in a hidden partition. When the drive is changed over as per-contract, the enginer takes the OLD drive with them.....i.e. HP has access to everything the Civil Service has ever printed on that machine.

Not beyond belief that 'consumer' printers without hard drives instead push your printed info to the HP datacentres for storage and AI analysis.

All the driver has to do is send when your internet connection is idle, and not have errors if the connection is down...to not alert the end-user it's doing anything bad. just sit + wait for an active connection

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Weren't tank printers supposed to solve the issues of cartridge inkjets of both Ahole DRM as well as cost per page?

I say this as an owner of a 10 year old Brother CMYK inkjet that happily accepts generic carts and won't give me an excuse to upgrade...

 

[BryanFRitt]

It seams that manufacturers shouldn't be allowed to sell consumer after purchase stuff (like ink, product repairs, replacement parts, etc...) required to make their products continue work. It causes a 'conflict of interest' that typically isn't good for consumers and the environment.

 

[M0rtis]

Weren't tank printers supposed to solve the issues of cartridge inkjets of both Ahole DRM as well as cost per page?

I say this as an owner of a 10 year old Brother CMYK inkjet that happily accepts generic carts and won't give me an excuse to upgrade...

Apparently these do print a respectively large volume and are bang for the buck but HP and/or Epson have a way to screw you over with these too.
The ink tank printers have a purge area - a plastic plate with a sponge and these get "saturated" - either truly or in a similar fashion as cartridges that register as empty after X prints.
You need to call over a support tech to replace it.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Apparently these do print a respectively large volume and are bang for the buck but HP and/or Epson have a way to screw you over with these too.
The ink tank printers have a purge area - a plastic plate with a sponge and these get "saturated" - either truly or in a similar fashion as cartridges that register as empty after X prints.
You need to call over a support tech to replace it.

You should be able to do it yourself, like emptying and reusing or replacing the waste toner box on laser printers and waste ink pads on cartridge inkjets. The former is easy with a trash can, the latter with hot water and a sink.

 

[BryanFRitt]

It seams that manufacturers shouldn't be allowed to sell consumer after purchase stuff (like ink, product repairs, replacement parts, etc...) required to make their products continue work. It causes a 'conflict of interest' that typically isn't good for consumers and the environment.

But then they might want you to just throw away the products and get new ones, so they should be required to warranty their products too.

 

[Giroro]

Pretty much anyone can build a 3D printer from scratch using open source software and common parts, if they wanted.

Can the same be done with 2D printers? Seems like it should be easier

 

[hotaru251]

The original ink cartridges then received page limiters that required end-users to replace the ink after printing a certain number of pages, even if the cartridge still had some ink left.

which should 100% be illegal.

a person bought the ink and refusing to work when they still have some should be theft.

 

[yahrightthere]

Perhaps we should all DRM our own person, that way when we purchase an item we can require the EVIL HP & other companies to agree to our terms of DRM in order for them to sell their products to us.

 

[tony-w]

As stated in the original article inkjet printers are sold at a loss. In fact, some basic models are essentially given to retailers for free. The manufacturer has to then make their profit from high priced ink. It has been this way for a long time and I'm sure the manufacturers often wonder how competition led them down this path.

Some printers are so cheap that once the starter ink cartridges are empty the user just buys another printer. (Note that starter cartridges often look like normal ones but some manufacturers only part fill them)

You can do much better by buying an inkjet printer which costs more and has larger ink tanks. That way the manufacturer gets some return on the hardware and the per page cost of ink comes right down (to a level that at least I am happy with).

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Plus with a tank printer even if you buy first party ink, and using HP's 3x color ($17 each) 8000 page + 1x XL black ($18) 6000 page bottles, $69 as an example (prices on HP's website), it's far easier to justify buying them even as a home user.

 

[Kridian]

Imagine being one of the brightest minds fresh out of school with monumental aspirations, and you've had to take a job with HP designing ink cartridge chips that screw over consumers.

This is where we are in 2024!

 

[BryanFRitt]

Don't know if this also applies to HP printers or not, but at least with some printers, even if you don't print, you can run out of ink from full cartridges. [due to the printers routinely doing a head cleaning process so you can quickly start printing without having to run a head cleaning process right before.]

 

[Devoteicon]

People need to stop buying HP printers. even the Uk government is putting them to an end after realizing the internal hard drive of all contracted printer models "hides" previously printed pages in a hidden partition. When the drive is changed over as per-contract, the enginer takes the OLD drive with them.....i.e. HP has access to everything the Civil Service has ever printed on that machine.

Not beyond belief that 'consumer' printers without hard drives instead push your printed info to the HP datacentres for storage and AI analysis.

All the driver has to do is send when your internet connection is idle, and not have errors if the connection is down...to not alert the end-user it's doing anything bad. just sit + wait for an active connection

I think your tinfoil hat is on a little too tight.