Canon printers reject Canon ink cartridges that were distributed without chips

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muhammed
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Joined: 04/13/2013
Legimet
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Joined: 12/10/2013

Yes, seems like it.

libredrs

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Joined: 01/29/2012

This was discussed on the 2600 Off The Hook radio show last night. Canon forced DRM on customers, got caught short on chip supply and is now showing how it can be defeated. Pathetic. Let's hope nobody ever buys another Cannonized cartridge (or any other product) again.

andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

Now Canon's own printers are flagging the DRM-free cartridges as fakes, and Canon has had to tell customers how to bypass their DRM system to get their printers to work: https://www.bgr.in/news/canon-scrambles-and-chip-shortage-leads-printers-to-flag-ink-cartridges-as-fake-1035804/

It would be nice to think that big tech companies would learn a hard lesson from this example and stop cramming DRM into so many products, but I think they will learn absolutely nothing.

lanun
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Joined: 04/01/2021

> I think they will learn absolutely nothing.

Of course they are going to learn: they are going to offer subscription services to have printers remotely monitored. As soon as ink levels near zero you will get a postal order delivered to your doorstep, and of course a due compensation withdrawn from your bank account. Stop complaining, they are just making life easier for you. In fact, they might even let you get the printer for free.

No, you cannot suspend the subscription, for your own good. What if you ended up ordering low quality ink? Think of the children!

andyprough
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>"you will get a postal order delivered to your doorstep, and of course a due compensation withdrawn from your bank account"

Canon will do no such thing to me. I have a beautiful 12-year-old Brother laser printer which loves Gah-NUUUU/Leeenuuux and which gladly accepts cheap generic laser toner cartridges. About $25 for 4 years worth of printing.

Also, how can Canon withdraw funds from my non-existent bank account? I keep all my money in ancient silver coins and bury them beneath the shed my chickens sleep in - they guard it with eyes like a chicken-hawk.

lanun
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Joined: 04/01/2021

Who needs a printer anyway, when we all have access to stones and chisels?

> I keep all my money in ancient silver coins and bury them beneath the shed my chickens sleep in

I think you could get them to lay silver eggs, if you feed them the proper nutrients.

Legimet
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Joined: 12/10/2013

Same here, my Brother DCP-7020 is over a decade old, and printing works fine on all GNU/Linux systems. I rarely need to replace the toner. Only problem is that you can't scan with free software. I've thought about reverse engineering it.

koszkonutek
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Joined: 03/19/2020

Other articles about this seem to suggests the "DRM bypass" boils down to skipping a warning message... Really? If so, I have doubts this can be called DRM at all. A weak DRM at best

https://www.slashgear.com/canon-showing-how-to-bypass-its-own-ink-cartridge-drm-is-pretty-ironic-10706443/

libredrs

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Weak perhaps, but effective unless it's challenged. Now the cat is out of the bag, Cannon will have to develop strong and powerful DRM.

SkedarKing
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Joined: 11/01/2021

Another words, its like dvd level protection...

When I saw these, I found it highly amusing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AACS_encryption_key_controversy

https://web.archive.org/web/20070502002957/http://rudd-o.com/archives/2007/04/30/spread-this-number/

If only people became this serious about the hardware bs that is happening in the bios, right now...

ah well... I can dream.

;)

muhammed
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Joined: 04/13/2013

Thank you for posting this koszkonutek. I wondered what the consequence to the customer was, and concluded that the ink cartridge was "rejected" when I read about it online. I'm glad that you found that it's merely a suggestion, and that it is indeed merely a suggestion. I regret the sensationalized/misleading title of this thread.

lanun
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Joined: 04/01/2021

In fact there is only one occurrence of "DRM" in the whole slashgear article, and it is in the title.

loldier
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Joined: 02/17/2016

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/01/chip-shortage-has-canon-telling-customers-how-to-skirt-its-printer-toner-drm/

It's hardly DRM if it can be by-passed easily by dismissing an error message.

"The software on these printers comes with a relatively simple way to defeat the chip checks. Depending on the model, when an error message occurs after inserting toner, users can press either “I Agree,” “Close,” or “OK.” When users press that button, the world does not end. Rather, Canon says users may find that their toner cartridge doesn’t give them a low-toner warning before running empty."

Abort, Retry, Fail?

lanun
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Joined: 04/01/2021

Agreed. It is poorly designed, wrongly applied and dysfunctional DRM, if it is anything related to DRM. Which is all good news. But they still felt the heat from their insistence on controlling users coming back to hit them.

I could not find any open design for a 2D printer, so I might start 3D printing my administrative mail. In ceramics. Like this:

https://tube.cadence.moe/watch?v=MYd_AmkCWfM

andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

You can 3D print fake meat now. So we could probably 3D print our own bodies. Get younger and prettier.

lanun
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Joined: 04/01/2021

Yeah, that's how I have been doing all that morphing recently. You can feed anything into that printhead, really.

You have to be aware that there is a well known effect that people tend to become somehow shallower with each reprint. That is why you should limit your morphings to two to three per year max. Like smoking cabbage, it makes you disappear if abused.