this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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Free and Open Source Software

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FOSS-Firmware for printers? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 year ago by RandomLegend@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/foss@beehaw.org
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We all are pretty annoyed at how the printer industry is screwing customers over. There are a few printers that are really good but most of them suck and try to suck out your money by demanding ink when none is needed.

And i also know that it's nearly impossible to create an open-source printer that can be build by smaller businesses like the 3D printing space can do.

But are there any projects underway to reverse-engineer printer firmware and make it possible to flash the custom ROM onto a printer? No specific manufacturer in mind right now, but wouldn't that make things better? Simply disable all the stupid checks that claim that you NEED ink to scan or that you NEED yellow to print a black text?

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[–] Moonrise2473@feddit.it 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

all those "print where you want" gadgets that are on kickstarter are using an hacked hp printhead, so i guess it can be reverse engineered or there's an arduino/esp32 library

unfortunately, hp printheads are literally the worst quality and least reliable that you can find on the market in the history of inkjet printers (i don't think anyone ever made worse printheads than HP in any point of history)

edit: searching "HP 6602 printhead arduino" gives many interesting results. But still, an epson printer from the late 90s that has been kept in a humid barn for three decades would be more reliable than an hacked HP. They don't even work when new and in warranty!

[–] TrenchcoatFullofBats@belfry.rip 4 points 1 year ago

HP HQ to Printer: DRINK A VERIFICATION CARTRIDGE

[–] Quexotic@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I noticed that you typed printhead there. Try a laser printer. It's a game changer... Unless you are doing photography prints.