New Twist to Printer Ink Refill Scam

[jonovid]

Canon DISABLES scanner when ink runs out. Who owns this scanner

this video deserves more interest. 
when independent functional systems stop working just because one part is out of ink. so international corporations can sell more ink.
just knowing that this is happening is troubling
IMO this is a new twist printer ink refill scam.
now just imagine if your Internet of things shutdown in sympathy, for your printer? or its it their printer!
or your operating system had sympathy for the printer been out of ink, so stopped working! 
were will this type of BS end?

[Refrigerator]

I had an inkjet printer do something similar-ish.
I found one at the dumpster and it still had plenty of ink in it but wouldn't print because some ink drainage was full 
To fix this issue it said to bring the printer in for service (yeah right).
But if i pressed a button combo to print a test image it worked perfectly well.
I didn't find a way to reset this nonsense so i tore it down to salvage components, there was no sensor to sense any kind of drain.
The whole thing was entirely calculated in the processor to just assume it's done with life after some number of prints. 

[Sal Ammoniac]

I have a Brother all-in-one that works the same way--you can't scan documents or FAX anything if the ink cartridge is empty.

[bob91343]

Refrigerator, what model printer?

[amyk]

I had an inkjet printer do something similar-ish.
I found one at the dumpster and it still had plenty of ink in it but wouldn't print because some ink drainage was full 
To fix this issue it said to bring the printer in for service (yeah right).
But if i pressed a button combo to print a test image it worked perfectly well.
I didn't find a way to reset this nonsense so i tore it down to salvage components, there was no sensor to sense any kind of drain.
The whole thing was entirely calculated in the processor to just assume it's done with life after some number of prints. 

That's the "waste ink counter", there's an absorbent pad on the bottom that holds the ink it spits out when doing cleaning cycles, and when it gets "full" (as calculated by the counter) it stops, because continuing could cause the ink to actually overflow out of the printer. For some models there are reset programs, it's a value stored in EEPROM somewhere. Of course the real solution is to make it a bottle that you can empty when it gets full, and those running a CIS will usually have an external one added: http://www.undr.com/understatement/2008/epson_1280_ink_waste_tank/index.html

The community has managed to produce working open-source 3D printers, but there doesn't seem to be much interest in hacking 2D printers beyond the commercial ones (some of those greedy ba$tards charge to reset the counter too....)

[james_s]

This is exactly why I refuse to buy multifunction devices. I want a separate scanner and printer, most of the time I only need a printer, I pull out the scanner and set it up when I need to scan something. I also gave up on inkjets and only have a color laserjet.

[xrunner]

IMO this is a new twist printer ink refill scam.

I used to have ink jet before I got frustrated with colors drying out. But, I remember that you could buy off-brand carts with the chip so they would work fine. Are you saying that this little trick makes you have to buy the name brand ink carts because they have a new scam that can't be replicated in after market ink carts?

[tooki]

Canon DISABLES scanner when ink runs out. Who owns this scanner

this video deserves more interest. 
when independent functional systems stop working just because one part is out of ink. so international corporations can sell more ink.
just knowing that this is happening is troubling
IMO this is a new twist printer ink refill scam.
now just imagine if your Internet of things shutdown in sympathy, for your printer? or its it their printer!
or your operating system had sympathy for the printer been out of ink, so stopped working! 
were will this type of BS end?

Not even remotely new, nor unique to Canon, nor unique to inkjet models.

[Muttley Snickers]

I have a Brother all-in-one that works the same way--you can't scan documents or FAX anything if the ink cartridge is empty.

Which model is it?   
I also have a Brother multi-function unit (MFC-790CW) and all of the features and functions still work regardless of the ink levels. In fact it only monitors whether the ink cartridges are present or not and if removed it asks if you have replaced a particular colour cartridge (BYCM), at which point you can say you did and it will show a full cartridge in the ink level display. This model only gives an estimation on ink used and doesn't monitor the cartridges in any other way which is handy for refills or if using generic after market cartridges, best printer I ever bought.   

Anyway, in regards to the video and because of their questionable and bullshit business practices the big guns at Canon need to be fired.          

[johnboxall]

Canon have been doing this for years. We needed to scan some documents while out on a remote site, before smartphones had decent cameras. The fastest solution was to drive into town and buy a Canon MFC from Australia Post. Wouldn't do a thing until it had a workng ink cartridge fitted. We made a few copies, used up the ink then wanted to scan again - nope. It's now slowly decomposing in a hole near Injune.

[T3sl4co1l]

It's not new, HP and others have been doing it for years (decade now??).  I suppose it's just understood as normal to gripe about ink levels in inkjets made by almost anyone.  It's just that, apparently, people are finally getting vocal about the same things applied to MFPs.  Why that took so many years, I have no idea.

Tim

[Zero999]

I would simply return it under warranty. Problem solved.

[eti]

Oh it’s him… no thanks, he’s too depressing.

[GlennSprigg]

Oh it’s him… no thanks, he’s too depressing.

?? Confused... What was wrong with the validity of his Post?
It seemed like a valid point, if not only the Printer ceased printing, but the 'Scanner' function did also ??

[cybermaus]

[Ranayna]

I have a Brother all-in-one that works the same way--you can't scan documents or FAX anything if the ink cartridge is empty.

Not being able to send a fax without ink actually makes sense. It is not very smart to sent out a fax without what is called a qualified sending report. That is a printout containing the time and date, and parts of the first page. If the receiver ever claims to have gotten nothing, or just an empty page, this report can be used to verify that you really have sent the document.

Not being able to scan is of course simply a dick move.

[themadhippy]

not being able to send a fax without ink actually makes sense. It is not very smart to sent out a fax without what is called a qualified sending report.

For a standalone device far enough,but for something connected to a computer the report could just as easily be saved on the host machine

[james_s]

Not being able to send a fax without ink actually makes sense. It is not very smart to sent out a fax without what is called a qualified sending report. That is a printout containing the time and date, and parts of the first page. If the receiver ever claims to have gotten nothing, or just an empty page, this report can be used to verify that you really have sent the document.

Not being able to scan is of course simply a dick move.

A person could just as easily throw away that printout and not have it anymore, or they could forge it easily to show that a fax was sent when it was not. I can see warning them that it would not be possible to print the sending report, but there is no excuse to flat out block it.

[EPAIII]

Why am I not surprised.

They will all but give you a printer. Between the discount and rebate, I almost made money on one I "bought". It is the INK that they are selling. And at astronomical prices.

[tszaboo]

IMO this is a new twist printer ink refill scam.

I used to have ink jet before I got frustrated with colors drying out. But, I remember that you could buy off-brand carts with the chip so they would work fine. Are you saying that this little trick makes you have to buy the name brand ink carts because they have a new scam that can't be replicated in after market ink carts?

Not just that. Color printers have been secretly printing yellow dots on B/W prints for some time now. Supposedly, so they can ID your printer if you send a letter with a bomb threat or something like that. So your color printer will not print B/W if your color cartridge is not there or empty.

But yeah, unable to use scanner due to ink cartridge is not acceptable. I was looking for a low cost standalone duplex scanner so I can just scan and archive that million letters that goverments like to send us. Nope, they dont make those, cheapest one is like 300 EUR.

[richard.cs]

Not just that. Color printers have been secretly printing yellow dots on B/W prints for some time now. Supposedly, so they can ID your printer if you send a letter with a bomb threat or something like that. So your color printer will not print B/W if your color cartridge is not there or empty.

I thought this was just laser printers? "Justified" by concerns about forged documents, money, etc.

[tooki]

IMO this is a new twist printer ink refill scam.

I used to have ink jet before I got frustrated with colors drying out. But, I remember that you could buy off-brand carts with the chip so they would work fine. Are you saying that this little trick makes you have to buy the name brand ink carts because they have a new scam that can't be replicated in after market ink carts?

Not just that. Color printers have been secretly printing yellow dots on B/W prints for some time now. Supposedly, so they can ID your printer if you send a letter with a bomb threat or something like that. So your color printer will not print B/W if your color cartridge is not there or empty.

Only on color lasers, not inkjets.

[cybermaus]

Not just that. Color printers have been secretly printing yellow dots on B/W prints for some time now. Supposedly, so they can ID your printer if you send a letter with a bomb threat or something like that.

Note to self: Buy a BW laser printer in case I ever need to organise a revolution.

[tszaboo]

Not just that. Color printers have been secretly printing yellow dots on B/W prints for some time now. Supposedly, so they can ID your printer if you send a letter with a bomb threat or something like that. So your color printer will not print B/W if your color cartridge is not there or empty.

I thought this was just laser printers? "Justified" by concerns about forged documents, money, etc.

Maybe the yellow dots is only for laser. For the inkjet, we may just lack the evidence, or widely available knowledge of it, I wouldn't be surprised there was still something printed on it.

[duckduck]

Canon DISABLES scanner when ink runs out. Who owns this scanner

this video deserves more interest. 
when independent functional systems stop working just because one part is out of ink. so international corporations can sell more ink.
just knowing that this is happening is troubling
IMO this is a new twist printer ink refill scam.
now just imagine if your Internet of things shutdown in sympathy, for your printer? or its it their printer!
or your operating system had sympathy for the printer been out of ink, so stopped working! 
were will this type of BS end?

Yes, that is BS. I bought an HP inkjet for light home use. It actually stopped working because I refused to connect it to the internet. I returned it. I refuse to buy anything else HP (that isn't test equipment ;-P ).