HP is dealing with a buggy firmware update that has crippled some OfficeJet printers. According to reports from Bleeping Computer, the buggy firmware was released worldwide earlier this month and affected customers are seeing a blue screen with the error code ’83C0000B’ on the printer’s touchscreen.
Customers in various countries have asked about the issue on HP’s support forums. A printer owner notices that he cannot even access the service menu of the device due to the blue screen error. Other customers have been told to wait until May 16 for a fix, but to date, HP has yet to fix the issue.
“Our teams are working diligently to resolve the blue screen error affecting a limited number of HP OfficeJet Pro 9020e and HP OfficeJet 8010e printers,” HP Communications Manager Nick Lucido wrote in an email to The Verge. “We encourage customers experiencing the error to contact our customer support team for assistance: https://support.hp.com.”
HP had sent Bleeping Computer much the same message published on Saturday. A notable update today is HP’s acknowledgment of the buggy firmware issue affecting not only the 9020e series, but now the OfficeJet 8010e as well. Bleeping Computer had listed versions of HP’s OfficeJet 9020e models as affected printers, including HP OfficeJet Pro 9022e, Pro 9025e, Pro 9020e All-in-One, and Pro 9025e All-in-One printers.
This isn’t the only HP-created problem the company has been causing its printer customers in recent times — some of which were intentional. Earlier this year, HP released updates that would prevent printers from accepting third-party ink sources, which the company has done before and even faced a class action lawsuit that ended in a $1.5 million settlement.
Printer manufacturers like HP are known to limit ink because it is the most profitable part of the printer business. However, adding DRM to ink cartridges can lead to other problems. The Verge senior reviews editor, Nathan Edwards, had to go through 57 simple steps to get his imported US HP printer to accept genuine HP Instant Ink cartridges.
The stress of knowing that a printer is only there to print, but realizing that it can’t do that one thing either can leave you in a sobering state. Remember, there’s a printer out there that’s perfectly fine and does what it’s supposed to do – and without poorly designed firmware (which I’m aware of).
