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Question Brother turns to the dark side. No longer allowing 3rd party cartridges

That's a damn shame.

How do I block updates? Their software is bloated and confusing. Don't know where to look.
 
I think you'd have to block your printer's IP at your firewall to make sure it can't do outbound connections. I didn't realize these things even updated themselves.
 
Red Squirrel said:
I think you'd have to block your printer's IP at your firewall to make sure it can't do outbound connections. I didn't realize these things even updated themselves.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I couldn't find any way to block it in the router settings without blocking it from the network altogether. But that's a problem if I want to use it without a USB cable.
 
I use Pfsense, so just created an outbound rule. I can connect to it locally, but it itself, can't connect out to the internet. I think mine is old enough that it may not even self update though, it's from the early 2000's. But now I know to also not manually update the firmware because it could brick it.
 
Thanks for this. When I chose my Brother colour laser (really, LED but who wants to quibble?) the ability to use third-party toner carts with a minor adjustment was really important and I am using that feature. I have been suspicious of this and have refused to "bite" on the pop-ops urging that I update the printer's firmware.

I lucked out in this! I have a model HL-L3290CDW which LACKS a number of features in related models that make use of the internet directly. According to the manual for these several models, mine does NOT have any way to access the internet and download anything. The only way to update its firmware is to use a utility on my computer to download, then install that on the printer. Access to the printer is solely by WiFi on our home network - it is shared by several users in our house. I went through that manual thoroughly and the printer's menus today to confirm. You can bet I will never do that! Great printer, never want to hobble it!
 
So, Brother may NOT have done this with their printer firmware updates. They claim they have not, but people do report problems that appear from working third-party toner cartridges after a firmware update.

How might this happen IF Brother is telling the truth? Well, my Brother colour laser printer has menu options that allow the user to reset the print count record of each toner cartridge separately. Basically, print count is used as the way for the printer to predict when a toner cart is empty, but often that process calls "empty" too early. So resetting the count can evade this issue and allow printing to proceed. That is, until the cart actually IS empty and you can see bad prints. I might SPECULATE that updating the printer's firmware might cause problems with this system, so that resetting the print count on EVERY toner cart after an update MIGHT avoid trouble.

I note, also, that there are similar counter systems to predict component lifetime for the four toner DRUMS, for the one toner Carrier Belt, and maybe for the Fuser unit. Whether resetting those might help also, I do NOT know. As I said above, I have one particular model in which I AM using a third-party Black toner cart with no trouble, but never have tried to update the firmware. So I cannot verify my speculations.
 
I don't recall ever seeing any evidence of my old MFC-8890DW being able to update itself, though just checked and see no setting for it either.

What it has instead is the PC app, ControlCenter 3, which periodically checks for updates and lets me know and have the option to download and install them. I did that once, years ago, but nothing since.

Granted I have not had a need or tried to update the CC3 app, don't know if a newer version might automate that more, but with the firmware it has currently, the printer does not appear to have its own update capability.

While I had that CC3 open, I checked for firmware updates and there are none, probably won't ever be any more for this printer that has aged out of the support cycle. I don't think the cartridges are chipped though (AFAIK), just a reset gear that indicates after so many thousands of pages (or tells the printer that a new cart was installed, I forget which) or the optical viewport on the cart to indicate low on toner.

It has used bulk toner, and 3rd party carts, and reused 3rd party carts with more bulk toner, all of it's life. It has a separate drum though, so reusing a cart a greater # of times is more viable. In my experience, 3rd party drums are usually low quality so next time it needs one, it'll be an OEM drum if they're still available.

Edit: Fast forward to Jan 2026 and I needed a new drum. Brother wanted $135!! 3rd party was $22... so I bought 3rd party, seems to work fine and if it doesn't last another 30K pages, the rest of the printer may not last that long anyway, especially by then I may no longer have any PCs running that have driver support.
 
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I'm worried:
I have an HL-L2405W model bought (new) about a year ago from B&H.

It came with firmware V 1.08. I updated it to V 1.13, because I had no reason to not trust brother at the time, though I was quite aware of the shady practices of HP, cannon, epson, etc. It appears the very latest version is V 1.21
Recently, I turned off the auto updates (I was not aware they were enabled). I hope I got to it in time!

Maybe there's a small chance, because I rarely use it and I keep the printer turned off most of the time. It's still on the small toner cartridge it came with, so I won't know if I've been screwed until I replace it with an aftermarket part.

I sure hope Brother hasn't gone to the dark side.
 
My basic Brother printer has a waiting firmware upgrade. I'm like "nope. I don't think I'll allow that."
I mean, I use manufacturer ink cartridges . . . it's just that I don't want to be locked out of my printer unless I subscribe to a monthly plan, or have the app mandatory.
You know? :grimacing:

Running scared . ..
 
Stiff Clamp said:
My basic Brother printer has a waiting firmware upgrade. I'm like "nope. I don't think I'll allow that."
I mean, I use manufacturer ink cartridges . . . it's just that I don't want to be locked out of my printer unless I subscribe to a monthly plan, or have the app mandatory.
You know? :grimacing:

Running scared . ..
Click to expand...

If the printer does what you need it to do on the current firmware, isn't having any compatibility issues, and isn't accessible via the Internet, the simple fact of the matter is that there isn't any need to update the firmware at all.

Personally, none of my printers will ever be accessible via Internet. Period. That resolves the vast majority of issues for me that would otherwise require a firmware update.
 
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