NA Rollback HP printer firmware?

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
20,862
Location
west Texas
Display Name
Display name:
Dave Taylor
My HP4630 has been working swimmingly for many months with its refilled cartridges. Recently someone accepted a firmware update and right after that it wouldn't print, giving error messages having to do with cartridge compatibility. I figured it was just empty, so popped in one cartridge then another but it won't accept any of my non-genuine cartridges and you can't just click OK to the error message. It now simply says it must be replaced.
I have another HP4630 (sans firmware update) so I tried these cartridges in it and they work fine so I know it's the printer and not the cartridges.
Looked online and found one site saying HP did the firmware update to preclude the use of non-genuine cartridges as a means of ensuring their revenue stream. They have that right. I also have the right to purchase other brands of printers. (Honestly I could not afford oem cartridges and have save tons by refilling and using reman'd cartridges.)
Before I toss this printer, just wondered if anyone knew of a way to change the printer firmware, back to original.
 
I won't buy HP anymore for that reason. Cheap printers and they gouge you on the ink. Brother laser and Epson all-in-one.
 
Eric can B and E brands cartridges be refilled, can you get reman'd cartridges for them? Or maybe OEMs for those are such a good price it isn't necessary.
Thanks
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Eric can B and E brands cartridges be refilled, can you get reman'd cartridges for them? Or maybe OEMs for those are such a good price it isn't necessary.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Both will accept refills and third party. At least so far. Found ink on the web cheaper than the brandnames. The laser goes so far for home use I don't worry. Photo ink I have not had trouble with generics.
 
Funny coincidence.

I'm disgusted with my PhotoSmart HP printer.

Started getting errors about a week ago concerning the ink system. Cleaned the print head per instructions found on the web to no avail.

Had been refilling cartridges successfully for a long time.

Anyway, ordered a Dell laser printer on sale for $99. Not color, but really don't need color that much anyway.

And the HP will go into the trash, and I'll never buy another.
 
Last edited:
I got rid of my favorite Brother MFC a couple years ago. Perfectly good printer quit printing because the ink disposal tank was full and has to be replaced by the factory. Out it went. In with an epson with a replaceable tank. What waste of a good printer just to make a few bucks.

David
 
I have a Lexmark MFP downstairs and it definitely does not like after market cartridges. It will use them, but keeps telling me they are not Lexmark products and will not tell me how much ink I have left. At least it will print.

The Lexmark was upstairs and was replaced with an HP :(
 
Not only that, have had half full HP carts get " Replace Cartrige " and refuse to print until I do. What a ****ing racket HP has....
 
The best advice I can give you is to keep searching the web. My HP6180 had been working fine for years (on oem cartridges) - but then my usual source dried up (quit stocking the type I needed). So I decided to try refilled cartridges - and ran into a bunch of trouble. A couple of times I got the "Ink System Failure" message - and was able to get around it thru restarts. Then that wouldn't work anymore. Thru a web search I found that there is a "secret" reset procedure - a special menu accessible by entering a code. It worked!
However, all is not well (even though the printer is working again). It seems that the refilled cartridges have a tendency to leak. Guess I will be shopping for a new one soon (probably Epson).

When it comes to computers and associated equipment, my policy is to ignore updates. If it ain't broke - Don't Fix It! I never updated Windows XP - and still use it on a couple of laptops (and they work just fine). My Nexus 7 is as it came out of the box - and works the same (I have heard stories of them becoming bricks following an update).

So if my HP printer is doomed, at least I did get my money's worth out of it (8 years?).
Like others have said, I won't buy another HP.

Dave
 
Went color laser years ago and have never regretted it. Cheap Samsung then later an expensive all in one. Toner doesn't go bad for years, sitting in the things, and they always print exactly what I wanted printed as far as print quality goes, first page, every time.

Inkjet has been dead for me for a very long time.
 
This may or may not work. In fact, it may even break the printer. It's a general procedure that used to work on most HP multi-function printers when they got cranky and needed to be reset.

I don't know if it will work on your particular printer. If it does, I don't know if it will rewrite the new firmware with the original firmware (revert rather than update). Finally, I don't know whether it will brick your printer. So use these steps at your own risk.

1. Unplug the printer.

2. Wait a minute or two.

3. Press and hold both the # and 6 keys. Do not release them.

4. Have someone plug the printer back in while continuing to hold the keys untill the screen goes blank.

5. When the screen goes blank, release the keys.

If you're lucky, you'll be in the admin screen. If not, either you'll have accomplished nothing or you'll have a new boat anchor.

Rich
 
The cheapest photo quality printer I've operated was a Kodak. The initial price was only a bit more, but the refills were much less for much larger capacity than the others. I never had good luck with refilled cartridges where the print head is in the cartridge. The head isn't made to last much longer than the ink and you really start losing definition in photos, and fonts aren't 'crisp' anymore. That's why when I have a lot of text to print, I get a cheap Brother laser machine.
 
Last edited:
denverpilot said:
Went color laser years ago and have never regretted it. Cheap Samsung then later an expensive all in one. Toner doesn't go bad for years, sitting in the things, and they always print exactly what I wanted printed as far as print quality goes, first page, every time.

Inkjet has been dead for me for a very long time.
Click to expand...

I do photo work. I use laser for correspondence and general printing, but a Canon photo inkjet for photo stuff. Lasers don't do photos well.
 
wsuffa said:
I do photo work. I use laser for correspondence and general printing, but a Canon photo inkjet for photo stuff. Lasers don't do photos well.
Click to expand...

It's funny how the materials have changed over the years. Back in the day, all the expensive photo work was done on laser, now it's inkjet.
 
denverpilot said:
Went color laser years ago and have never regretted it. Cheap Samsung then later an expensive all in one. Toner doesn't go bad for years, sitting in the things, and they always print exactly what I wanted printed as far as print quality goes, first page, every time.

Inkjet has been dead for me for a very long time.
Click to expand...

Nate, how does it do for hi res pictures? Looked at them awhile back but pictures weren't up to inkjet.
 
ejensen said:
Nate, how does it do for hi res pictures? Looked at them awhile back but pictures weren't up to inkjet.
Click to expand...


It wouldn't be. Most of the ink jets can print on glossy paper and are better for photos. I just sub those out if I bother printing photos these days. I don't print many.

There's probably some special paper that helps but I haven't tried.
 
denverpilot said:
It wouldn't be. Most of the ink jets can print on glossy paper and are better for photos. I just sub those out if I bother printing photos these days. I don't print many.

There's probably some special paper that helps but I haven't tried.
Click to expand...

Variety of paper available for inkjet/photo. Ranging from matte to superglossy. Also artistic papers available.

The glossy stuff generally shouldn't go through a laser unless it's laser rated. Something about the coating coming off in the imaging and heat-fixing process.....
 
denverpilot said:
It wouldn't be. Most of the ink jets can print on glossy paper and are better for photos. I just sub those out if I bother printing photos these days. I don't print many.

There's probably some special paper that helps but I haven't tried.
Click to expand...

Thanks, hasn't changed much since I first tried it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top