HP’s OfficeJet Pro 9025e printer is affected.
A firmware update rendered several models of HP OfficeJet printers unusable for weeks. As reported Leaky Computer on Saturday, the latest software update accidentally left many users with devices that would not print and only show the dreaded blue screen.
Currently, HP has support forums littered users complain that their printer no longer works and their screen turns blue, showing the error code “83C0000B”. The issue returns on May 8. According to Bleeping Computer, the problem affects owners of OfficeJet 902x printers.
There was at least one HP representative on the forum earlier he suggested that the error was caused by a “problem in the printer head”. However, Bleeping Computer reported that the problem was due to a firmware update released in May.
“Just spoke to Customer Service. They confirmed it’s a software bug happening all over the world. They won’t hear back until Tuesday the 16th, so there’s nothing they can do at the moment,” HP customer he wrote on the support forum on May 12th.
HP told the publication that a “limited number” of users were affected, but support threads indicated that the problem had reached dozens of customers in the US, Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Poland.
HP responds
HP is said to have told customers that the problem would be fixed or fixed at various dates throughout the month, but has yet to provide an official fix and has left customers unable to print.
Delayed responses and purported promises to fix the problem at past dates have resulted in visible frustration and customers reconsidering HP products.
A user on May 12 he wrote:
I spoke with HP Customer Care and they told me that there is currently no solution to fix this firmware issue. Maybe next Tuesday, they said. I will wait until Tuesday and then send the printer back to Amazon for a refund.
HP shed some light on the situation in a statement sent to Bleeping Computer:
Our teams are working hard to resolve the blue screen error affecting a limited number of HP OfficeJet Pro 9020e printers. Customers experiencing the error are encouraged to contact our customer support team for assistance:
However, we still don’t know when users will see a fix, why the firmware update was released, or why the update broke HP printers. We reached out to HP about these remaining questions, but a spokesperson responded only with the same statement sent to Bleeping Computer.
Another bad look for HP printers
It’s bad enough when customers have their printers bricked for weeks. As a general rule, when you want to print something, you need to get it now, Not when HP figured out their firmware issues. That said, HP doesn’t have much grace left when it comes to suddenly released software updates that ruin customers’ days. Now some people have run out of patience.
One disappointed user on May 16 he wrote:
Indeed, HP had to fix the problem by May 16 at the latest. I called HP France support this morning… I can’t fault the person who used diplomacy on the phone to explain that HP engineers were aware and working. on the matter, (this is exactly the message I received last week). This time there was no time allotted for the solution. I find it strange that HP doesn’t even try to send their customer service agents regular updates on apologies, known explanations of the problem, and efforts to resolve it instead of dealing with our growing frustration. It doesn’t inspire confidence that HP is paying attention to an issue that has made HP’s products completely unusable and prevented hundreds of customers in several countries from printing anything… Certainly not what we would expect from HP and it affects customer loyalty.
It’s unclear what caused the software update that broke HP’s printers and support pages. 9020e and 9025e series only highlights the printers’ use of HP’s highly malicious Dynamic Security. HP uses Dynamic Security to stop printers from working with non-HP brand ink cartridges. HP’s sudden release of Dynamic Security into printers has suddenly rendered ink stacks unusable.
Officially HP he says it uses “Dynamic Security measures to protect the quality of our customer experience, protect the integrity of our print systems, and protect our intellectual property,” but since its debut in 2016, it’s resulted in class-action lawsuits and angry customers being otherwise stuck. A working ink that HP decides doesn’t work.
HP’s Dynamic Security page notes Dynamic Security printers require periodic software updates to “maintain the effectiveness of Dynamic Security” and “updates may enhance, improve, or extend printer functionality and features, protect against security threats, and serve other purposes.”
Bleeping Computer reports that the only way users can avoid this frustration is to disconnect the printer from the Internet, and HP advises customers to do so until the problem is resolved. This doesn’t bode well for automatic software updates, which are supposed to reassure customers that their devices will stay secure and work without much effort.
HP’s poor handling of printer firmware updates may deter people from future updates that may be important. Meanwhile, HP has hurt countless customers, and many will now think twice about buying an HP printer again.