12 Aug 2003, 20:10, Roy J. Tellason (1:270/615), wrote to all:

Hi Roy.

 RJT> I'd heard about some manufacturer putting a chip in printer 
 RJT> refill cartridges,  and then using copyright to keep aftermarket 
 RJT> vendors from making them.  I'd thought that it was one 
 RJT> particular vendor doing that,  but the guy I was talking to at a 
 RJT> computer store today says to me "they're all doing it".

 RJT> Is this the case?  Anybody know?

Sorry for not replying to your earlier message, but at that instant my
dealer was given a Cannon printer and a 'refill kit' by one of his
customers, as the instructions were too complicated for the customer to
figure out.

My dealer didn't ask for any help, so I didn't offer any!  A roll of messy
colored paper towels and two hours later, he plugged in the printer and
after two days more was never able to get the printer to function.

I _did_ finally read the instruction manual, and certain models of Cannon,
Lexmark, HP, and others I failed to remember _DO_ have the chip in the
cartridge (they call it a micro-bubble counter chip), while other models of
the same brands have the chip on the printer board getting data from the
cartridge.  In all cases, the refill kit had instructions how to defeat or
zero out the chip, but the overall process was a real can of worms.

 RJT> If so,  maybe I'm looking for a used laser,  instead...

After reading through that refill manual, that would definitely be my first choice!


     Good luck...  M.

--- Msged/386 TE 06 (pre)