It's Counting your cartridge usage

[The Hat]

I was checking through the EPROM printout after resetting the waste ink counter on my 9500
and I came across something very interesting about my cartridges usage.

The Eprom counts how many times you change each cartridge and keeps a record of it,
mine were PM=021 times, PBK=231, MBK=016, GY=188, PC=006, C=042, Y=056, M=026, G=029, R=016
it was easy to see which ones had the ARCs on them.

So for anyone using ARCs just beware that its all being recorded on the inside your printer
every time you switch on that will count as a cartridge change..

 

[thanhhuy123]

Oh yeah! So the OEM definitely can disable the use of ARC and/or refilled cartridge if they really want to!

 

[Lucas28]

So the printer doesn't remember the chip numbers of each cartridge! What a relief. So now I can reset the same chip over and over again and the printer thinks I installed a new cartridge every time.

Canon probably collects the info at every update, to keep track of their consumer's ink use. There seems no harm in this, even if they can see the use of ARC's.

For users who don't like this we need a tool to reset these counters in the EPROM.

 

[PeterBJ]

I think Canon includes a program, reporting printer usage to Canon on the install CDs that come with the newer printers. I installed a Pixma 3600 on an XP computer using the install CD. It installed a lot of extra programs, almost HP style, and if I remember correctly there was report program, which I didn't install or disabled.

I can redo the install and report my findings with screen dumps if you like.

The older versions of the Canon service tools allowed an EEPROM reset, but then you also lost all other info stored in the EEPROM. Due to an error in some Canon service manuals I have made an unwanted reset of EEPROM data on a Pixma 5200.

Newer versions of the service tool don't allow EEPROM reset, and the newer printers are only supported by the newest service tools. I think this is for warranty reasons.

 

[PeterBJ]

thanhhuy123 wrote:

Oh yeah! So the OEM definitely can disable the use of ARC and/or refilled cartridge if they really want to!

As far as I know Canon hasn't used firmware upgrades to disable ARC chips (yet?), but Epson has done so, to make the use of a CISS more difficult.

Luckily the use of a resetter resets the OEM chip and it is still seen as an OEM chip by the printer. In my opinion the use of ARC chips is only relevant if you use a CISS or a resetter is not available, as it is not (yet?) with the newest Canon cartridge series. So the possible disabling of ARC chips for Canon by a firmware upgrade might become a problem in the future.

 

[thanhhuy123]

thanhhuy123 wrote:

Oh yeah! So the OEM definitely can disable the use of ARC and/or refilled cartridge if they really want to!

As far as I know Canon hasn't used firmware upgrades to disable ARC chips (yet?), but Epson has done so, to make the use of a CISS more difficult.

Luckily the use of a resetter resets the OEM chip and it is still seen as an OEM chip by the printer. In my opinion the use of ARC chips is only relevant if you use a CISS or a resetter is not available, as it is not (yet?) with the newest Canon cartridge series. So the possible disabling of ARC chips for Canon by a firmware upgrade might become a problem in the future.

I use HP!
BTW, can The Hat show me how to view those stuff in the ROM?

 

[The Hat]

I know very little about HP printers so cant offer you any advice on how to enter Service mode on any of their model sorry,
I do know however never to buy another HP printer again..

 

[PeterBJ]

thanhhuy123 wrote:

I use HP!
BTW, can The Hat show me how to view those stuff in the ROM?

Searching the HP forum for "hp AND service mode" I only found two threads: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7399 and http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=5574

That is not much info and there is no guarantee that the procedures will work with your HP printer. An error made in service mode can render a printer useless, so I strongly recommend to stay away from service mode operations, unless you find a service manual and possibly also a needed service program for your HP printer.

 

[thanhhuy123]

My HP model is quite new so there's no service manual leaked out yet as I searched through the net. Yes, I did manage to enter "Engineering Menu" but I'm so scary to touch any more button so I just pull the power cable!

The Hat: Yes, my fault, I should choose an Epson! (Just because refill ink in Vietnam are 99% for Epson 1% are for Canon/HP!! By the way, HP is very easy to use with open source OS like Ubuntu!! I'm a software engineer so I use both Windows and Ubuntu.

Epson tends to love Windows and MacOS much much more than Linux. HP is the other way around. But Epson refill ink is easy to find, HP is the other way around. OMG!!!

 

[PeterBJ]

Hi thanhhuy123

Check out this website: http://inkjet411.com/ . I haven't studied the website in detail, but some of the diagnostic procedures use what I think could be service mode or engineering menu. But be careful, your printer doesn't seem to be mentioned and it is never without risk straying away from recommended procedures, experiments might ruin a printer. Example here: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9092

Hi Lucas28

I installed a Pixma 3600 on an XP computer, using the install CD and choosing the easy setup that includes everything on the disc. The install program asks you to register your printer with Canon and participate in a printer usage survey program, that will send data to Canon. But you have the possibility to say "no thanks" just by clicking "next" during the install.