custom firmware for printers? i am so tired of being ripped off

[mopinko]

i do a lot of printing for myself, but mostly for good causes. i have an hp laserjet and a semi-large format epson. i remember the good old days when you could refill your ink cartridges as long as you didn't mind making a mess. it has always infuriated me to pay $15 bucks for a dimes worth of plastic and a nickels worth of ink.
i flipped for a bigger better laser because the carts, tho expensive, at least had a decent capacity for the money. well, today i tried to refill a toner cart. i had 2 kits from 2 different companies, both of which came with a chip to reset the fill level. the first thing that pissed me off was that i opened this supposedly empty cart and it was FULL of toner. honestly almost what the refill kit contained. i dumped it like they instructed, swearing. and of course, both of the chips i had were not recognized by the printer.
i just can't stand it. there must be a way to hack these damned things to ignore the ink warnings. they are only page counters, they know nothing about the actual supply levels.
i just want to scream. it is a rip off, and a rape of our resources. the invisible hand of the market my shiny metal ass. rigged, rigged, rigged.

so, anyone know anything about custom firmware for this shit? it never occurred to me to hack something. but this is just so much shit.

[Why Syzygy]

1. No, but

for the printers I've used, the warning isn't just a page counter.
When the first low ink warning appears, I remove the cartridges and shake them. That resets the ink level.

[hobbit709]

2. Don't know about HP

But the chip resetter for my Samsung color laser works just fine. It gave me a low toner warning at about 700 pages on one color. So I bought a new toner cartridge and damn if the next day the other colors gave the same warning. Bought a refill kit online with a cartridge chip resetter included. Reset all the cartridges including the one I replaced and I-ve printed at least 500 pages since without any fading. When it starts to fade, I'll refill the cartridges with the toner.

what model HP, there are some fixes on line to turn off the page counter.

[mopinko]

3. it's a laserjet 3600

i bought one of those chip resetters for the epson, and it did not work. which is a pisser, because i have nice little refillable carts for it. they were supposed to keep working until they go dry, but they didn't. that printer will finish a print with the light blinking, but will not start up again.

btw, i have the poster above on ignore. if you tell me who it is i will take them off. #1, don't be offended. my list is very long, and totally arbitrary. i am always sorry in the small forums when i get a reply that is ignored. but...

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

4. I log out and see what it is said and then log back in.

[mopinko]

5. clever

never thought of that.

[lpbk2713]

6. Welcome back Hobbit.

I hope the pieces of your life fall back into place as soon as possible. Best wishes your way.


:thumbsup: :hi: :thumbsup: