Brother accused of locking down third-party printer ink cartridges via forced firmware updates, removing older firmware versions from support portals
www.tomshardware.com
RepairTuber Louis Rossmann taken aback by Brother’s quiet turn to the dark side.
    • gutter_angel@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      2 hours ago

      i came across this explanation of it, haven’t verified it directly but he seems to make good content:

      https://youtube.com/shorts/ZX8OaZZDlM8

      he says theres identification each time you print using the yellow ink, and basically is a counterfeit currency countermeasure

      id kill to have a foss print setup though

    • werefreeatlast@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      45 minutes ago

      I got a 4 acre lot on Mars that I’m selling for cheap. You seem like a gulli…great fellow. $10k. Its pretty cheap right now because people don’t known the real estate trend yet. I’m taking amazon cards.

  • wowwoweowza@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    3 hours ago

    So… when there is some controversy over an article in Lemmy it gets the strike though? How did this evolve?

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      8 minutes ago

      If you read the article:

      We are aware of the recent false claims suggesting that a Brother firmware update may have restricted the use of third-party ink cartridges. Please be assured that Brother firmware updates do not block the use of third-party ink in our machines.

      So there’s no reason to leave an inflammatory and likely wrong title unchanged or otherwise without notation. The title is completely readable. I’m all for wrong information being flagged, and a strikethrough is a fine method of doing so.

    • thermal_shock@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      2 hours ago

      My client has a few dozen zebras. Reliable, but cost a little more up front. Some of theirs are 10+ years old, prints thousands of inventory labels a month off each one at each site.

  • MisterFrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
    19·
    7 hours ago

    I’m curious how this will go down in Australia. Seems like a pretty solid slam dunk refund, oh the product doesn’t work as advertised anymore?

    Cool, I’ve had this for 5 years and now I’d also like a full refund under Australian Consumer Law.

    Motherfuckers.

    (I don’t actually own a printer)

    • JackFrostNCola@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      5 hours ago

      I imagine they have some stupid note or sticker somewhere saying “to avoid damaging your printer only use genuine Brother replacement cartridges”.
      Then all they have to say is “we patched a bug where unverified 3rd party ink cartriges could erroneously be used and cause malfunction or damage to the product.”

      • MisterFrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 hours ago

        I found this help article where they say “Although not all non-genuine supplies may cause quality issues”.

        They said they recommend using theirs, but up until this they didn’t say you couldn’t.

        https://support.brother.com/g/b/sp/faqend.aspx?c=us_ot&lang=en&prod=dcpl2647dw_us&faqid=faq00000184_002

        Plus, it’s been universally understood that you have been able to use third-party cartridges. I really think if you’re persistent enough, you’d get a refund in Australia. Because else (in Victoria at least) you could take them to VCAT for like $70, which will cost them wayyy more in lawyer expenses than the price of a refund.

        This is not legal advice, but I reckon a refund under Australian Consumer Law is extremely doable if they go down this path (for existing printers).

  • MisanthropiCynic@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    3 hours ago

    They deny it was the firmware update. But not that something else has happened

    I’ve had issues with colour but not B&W

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.caEnglish
    241·
    10 hours ago

    As much as I love the brand, this was just obviously going to happen. It always happens, it’s the eventual outcome. All that is needed is one middle manager wanting to get an extra bones to come up with some short sighted idea that will make a little extra money in the short run and possibly bankrupt the company in the long term.

    See Boeing, see Intel, see…

    The only way to not have this happen is to get open source hardware. The open source eco system is amazing already but we need more focus on that, hardware. CPU’s, Computers, printers, phones, everything

    • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      9 hours ago

      What’s worse is remaining “ethical” in the world of business they exist in is a flat out detractor. A financial hindrance of the utmost.

  • ChiefGyk3D@infosec.pubEnglish
    22·
    14 hours ago

    I really wish we had open source 2D printers like we have open source 3D printers. That could solve a lot of the problems I think as we could have an open spec to allow people to do whatever they want. My Prusa doesn’t care what brand filament I want to use, just as long it can drive it, melt it, and lay it down the way I need. Also why is it my 3D printers are more reliable than my 2D printers most days?

    • letsgo@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      4 hours ago

      Can’t a 3D printer double as a 2D printer? It’d only have to print one “slice”; you’d replace the heated nozzle with some sort of writing stick, hey presto instant plotter!

  • NutWrench@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    11 hours ago

    I’m only letting my latest Brother printer connect to my computer through the USB cable. No Internet connection at all.

    • dukatos@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      21 minutes ago

      RPi as a printer server, with the printer connected to its USB port. Use FreeBSD on RPi just to make sure…

    • harsh3466@lemmy.mlEnglish
      2·
      6 hours ago

      Careful with that you though. I thought the same thing but someone pointed out in another thread that depending on your system, it may update the firmware over USB when you do system updates.