Watch out: dangerous firmware upgrade HP printers rendering 3rd party cartridges useless

[websnail]

You may also be using NAT for an added layer of security as well.

We're on a 3G broadband router so it's possible that's what's saving our bacon... Similarly our AV blocks firmware updates (unless whitelisted). Too many variables to nail down unfortunately.

That is quite a speedy counter move by the aftermarket industry! It can take many months, or never, for the Canon aftermarket to respond.

Well, we hit this issue last year when the ARC chips we had for the 970/971 stopped working for a couple of customers and us on a new machine.

The issue only affected the Apex chips that didn't show ink levels but their "ink level" non ARC chips were fine. Static Control chips worked all along and continue to do so, even after this recent update so there's something else going on that we're not privvy to at this juncture.

From what I can tell, the firmware update was released in March, so all machines manufactured from that point on have that installed. Those machines probably acted as the canaries to allow Apex to update their chips and then out comes this update (forced or otherwise) and they were ready to swap stock.

The only reason we're hearing about this now is that it hit so many people without warning and more importantly without people actually agreeing to it. It's that last that is going to see HP squirming somewhat. All this talk of "protecting their intellectual property" is being translated to "Stick em up, give us your money" by the masses. Not a smart move really...

 

[stratman]

We're on a 3G broadband router

Routers provide NAT functions, which translates the private addresses of your computer, printer, LAN into a single public address that is used to interface with the internet for data transfer to and from your LAN, computer and/or printer.

This helps protect against malicious intrusion from the internet but does not prevent software on your computer/network from opening a port, phoning out, and letting the malicious activity from knowing the existence and address/location of the victim.

That is where HIPS, Hosts files, Firewalls and Whitelists and Blacklists come into play, especially if there is no ability to prevent an update in a desired software from occurring in the first place (such as the automatic HP printer software update).

Similarly our AV blocks firmware updates (unless whitelisted).

This sounds like what is saving your bacon concerning unwanted software updates - your AV contains a firewall which allows you to Whitelist.

I do not begrudge printer manufacturers protecting their intellectual property and profit. I do find it unacceptable that they would not inform the user of a covert firmware update and not allow them to opt out.

 

[The Hat]

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I do not begrudge printer manufacturers protecting their intellectual property and profit. I do find it unacceptable that they would not inform the user of a covert firmware update and not allow them to opt out.

Again this goes back to ownership, who exactly owns what ?

The purchaser owns the printer that they bought and paid for, and that is perfectly true, and the Manufacturer owns the software that runs it, but unfortunately the purchaser can't see the forest for the trees, in the this argument.

The purchaser seems to think they can do what they like with THEIR purchase and then conveniently forgets about the other party in their purchase agreement, i.e. the manufacture.

The Manufacturer has the right to alter, change or replace the software when and how they please, their only obligation to the purchaser is that the printer will still preform as normal or better after any or all alterations and it usually does.

Now nowhere in this agreement does the manufacturer fail in their obligations, even with what looks like sneaky upgrades on their part, but it’s there in black and white that they can upgrade their software anytime to improve the printers’ performance for your pleasure.

We moan loudly when the manufacture does something undesirable that we all hate, but we do exactly the same ourselves by using non OEM products, if we want to continue to use 3rd party products in our printer then keep the printer from talking to their manufacturer, then every owner will be very happy.

Some would say, that’s easier said than done, so next time you install the printer, only use the driver from the CD and don’t load all the other crap that comes with the CD, this is the stuff that usually causes these upgrades to occur in the first place...

 

[mikling]

ET (255X) phone home.

 

[websnail]

Just to update on my current situation... it seems the update hadn't actually been applied to this system until it tried to do so today.

As I have two sets of the Static Control Chips I'm going to get things organised here so that I can act as a lab rat, in the next few days, but not until I've updated the Windows 7 install that's also on this machine.

Once I have the time and space to be able to continue I'll do the anniversary update and see what happens to the firmware on both printers.

I guess this is one of those "once in a lifetime" opportunities to actually be ready for something like this so I'll let you all know when I've taken the plunge and what the results were.

 

[stratman]

the Manufacturer owns the software that runs it

True. You are not allowed to reverse engineer that software, for instance.

However, my beef is with the thought of a covert firmware upgrade without explanation or ability to opt out. It is common for software to allow the user to opt out of automatic updates. It is unheard of , to me me, for a hidden firmware update. This is important in the context that firmware upgrades improperly done can make that hardware a paper weight.

 

[stratman]

Once I have the time and space to be able to continue I'll do the anniversary update and see what happens to the firmware on both printers.

Cool.

FYI... do NOT do the Express Install and instead DO the Custom Settings so you can easily turn off the Microsoft phone home controls. See #19 of the following link: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2267-windows-10-upgrade-installation.html

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

It is common for software to allow the user to opt out of automatic updates.

opting out is not an option anymore with Win10 home after the anniversary update, and since there are as well other pieces of software like graphic card drivers e.g. Nvidia coming via the Windows update function you don't have much choice anymore, or you dig into all the options like upgrading to Win10 Pro , blocking internet traffic selectively etc as discussed above

 

[stratman]

opting out is not an option anymore with Win10 home after the anniversary update

It appears you can configure Win 10 Home version to not automatically download updates. See https://www.cnet.com/how-to/stop-windows-10-from-automatically-updating-your-pc/

Using your firewall to blacklist the phone home apps is not difficult once you know where to find this function in your firewall software. The trick, then, is what to blacklist in the list in your firewall. Some files are obvious, others may require Googling to figure what they are in the first place.

 

[websnail]

FYI... do NOT do the Express Install and instead DO the Custom Settings so you can easily turn off the Microsoft phone home controls. See #19 of the following link: http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2267-windows-10-upgrade-installation.html

Ah, sorry to clarify... I have Windows 7 as a seperate installation to the WIndows 10 Pro instance. I made the conscious decision to purchase the WIn 10 Pro as a new license over a year ago so I didn't have to upgrade the existing Win 7 instance. Thanks for the link though...

The plan is to:

• Get my Windows 7 instance updated & do a full system drive backup
• Print off the firmware details for both Pro-X451dw and 551dw
• Printer off the driver details (version numbers, etc...)
  
• Boot into Windows 10 and run the anniversary update
• Fire up into Windows 10 and check for any changes in the printer(s), firmware, drivers, etc...
  
• Do some test prints and see if things change over time...
  
• Check malware scanners logs for any indications of attempted updates

Time will tell if anything happens or not... Either way, I figure it'll be a useful empirical exercise instead of trying to retroactively figure out what has happened.