Canon MX922 Is There Service Tool or Service Mode?

[The Hat]

You can wipe the EPROM chip clean by exposing it to UV light, as for how long, that’s another question, then you have the problem of... Where do you get an older firmware and what are the button sequence to achieve this ?

It all goes back to them owing the firmware inside your printer, at one time we could alter this firmware to make the printer last longer, but they have restricted/blocked that avenue off from interference by us users.

Just out of curiousity, does anyone know if the ip7250 can be accessed via service mode to reset the counter?

Its easy to test your printer to enter Service Mode, you apply the correct button sequence and wait to see if the printer responds and enters Service Mode, but Canon have come up with a clever way of stopping you getting any further.

If you by chance can enter Service Mode on your printer and either don’t do anything whilst in there, or try to change something out of sequence, then you’ll get an error and failure, and once you leave you cannot re-enter, this only applies to newer printers, older models can still access Service Mode and be saved...

BUT the most important thing to remember, DON’T for any reason upgrade your firmware and only use the print driver that came with the printer, Canon print drivers are for more than just for printing, and never believe what a Canon Representative says...

 

[arw4]

The reason I queried the ip7250 is that it was first launched a good while ago, and certainly doesn't fall within Canon's latest generation of printers. The MX925 (MX922) is pretty much in the same boat, and similarly this takes the 550/551 cartridges also. I just wondered if these printers have escaped Canon's latest methods of preventing users resetting waste ink counters. In other words, is it worth buying a ip7250, before it becomes unavailable, in order to future proof?

 

[Technician]

A thought's just crossed my mind. These Service tools that are available online, are they official Canon software or third party apps.

 

[PeterBJ]

@arw4 According to druckerchannel.de the iP7250 can be resat, in English here. But there have been a couple of reports on the forum that it is not possible. I think this depends on the age or firmware version of the iP7250. see this post and this.

The druckerchannel staff used service tool v3200, but this version has also caused locked service mode in some PGI-x50/CLI-x51 generation printers. The iP7250 is of this generation. I think your best chances of a successful reset is using the version 4720 of the service tool, but beware of possible malware content in the service tool.

A thought's just crossed my mind. These Service tools that are available online, are they official Canon software or third party apps.

I think these service tools are official Canon software, but intended only for service technicians. Those found on the web are most likely leaked and possibly hacked to avoid the need for login/registration.

 

[Technician]

The reason I asked about the Service Tools was that if a piece of electronic equipment is designed to be firmware upgradable, then by definition it can be upgraded in that way.
Now if as result of attempting an upgrade to the said equipment it locks you out permanently, then under European law that would be deemed illegal. Mobile phone manufactures pulled that stunt for years locking you out of your phone if a firmware upgrade was attempted with what was seen as "unauthorised firmware".
As an example, if you input incorrect information into your online bank account or an ATM you'll be locked out....but not permanently, that would be against the law. I could be wrong here and I'll stand corrected if so, but if a manufacturer builds a piece of equipment that is specifically designed to fail irrevocably as a result entering service mode then that would be against UK & Euro law.
It's irrelevant whether you are supposed to carry out that function or not, if it breaks the machine that would not be down to you.

Before someone chirps in with "good luck with that one mate" I should say "been there, done that !" An Epson printer that belonged to my partner developed a fault nearly 3 years after purchase. It was returned to the store where it was repaired and I was presented with a huge bill for my trouble. After spending some time reeling off my pre-prepared speech quoting Euro and UK trading laws I walked away with the printer ...no charge for the repair !

 

[stratman]

You can wipe the EPROM chip clean by exposing it to UV light

The chip is an EEPROM. It can be erased using electricity, not light, and reprogrammed in place.

Otherwise, Canon could not update firmware of an EPROM without coming to your house, remove the chip, and expose it to a specific light to erase. Then the chip would have to be inserted into a device/board that would allow flashing new firmware after which the EPROM chip would then be re-inserted back into the printer.

https://techdifferences.com/difference-between-eprom-and-eeprom.html

 

[The Hat]

We’re getting into corporate law and mixing that up with copyright, you never had the right to alter the firmware in the first place, we only could because someone released the Canon Service tool or copied and altered it to work for all us Joe soaps, now we don’t...

The printer is yours bought and paid for and if it doesn’t work properly then Canon will fix it for you, but not for free, to get your printer repaired or replaced YOU must first take it to an Authorised Canon Dealership yourself, then the fun begins.

They will give the printer a full check over, first the software and then the hardware, and if they find any unauthorised use, they can refuse to carry out any repairs under guarantee, or at all, anything, or everything you have done to your printer is there stored in the EPROM chip as evidence...

I have personally dealt with two separate Canon Service dealers with two very expensive printers and on both occasions, I came away with a blood nose, the first time they refused to service the printer and the second time they did but I had to pay all costs first, What under guarantee, ha ha ha...

The moral of this story, if your unfortunate enough to break your printer, then repair it yourself or dump it, and get a new one, because a trip to a dealership ends up costing nearly as much as the printer cost in the first place, and it takes about 4 weeks before you get any report on it, or before you can come and collect it, 4 or 5 weeks without printing a jot can be a life sentence...

 

[Technician]

@The Hat
I think we're rather drifting from the point here if I might say so. But back to basics....if and when my Canon printer flags up ink absorbers full, I will if possible enter service mode and use a readily available official tool to reset it.
No Canon firmware will be altered or reversed engineered in any way other than by which it was designed to do..ie reset certain parameters of the machine. That action would not infringe any intellectual property or corporate laws.
On the other hand if my printer as a result of this action is rendered inoperative, the fault would lay entirely at the feet of Canon.
As I've already pointed out, coding firmware with instructions to disable an electronic device and render it useless and then claiming it's purpose is to protect IP rights and security just does not wash here in the UK.
Let's put it another way, if it came to it it's not Me v Canon it's Canon v the Crown ! I'm not breaking UK law they are.
In a recent case HP were forced to backtrack on a firmware issue, whereby thanks to an update their printers were refusing to accept third party inks. They were the ones with the bloody nose in that instance and so will Canon if my machine goes t**ts up as a result of their dodgy practices.

 

[arw4]

@Technician, you beat me to it. I was thinking of the case with HP too, and I must have been scouring the internet as you were writing the above. To me it seems completely unacceptable that printer manufacturers (and let's be clear here - not just Canon) are allowed to build and sell products that put customers in this position in the first place.

Okay, I don't have a problem with the warning about my printer's ink waste tank becoming full, although whether it actually is or not is evidently somewhat debatable. To some extent it's similar to the warning I get on my car's dashboard letting me know that an oil change (service) is recommended by the manufacturer. It then tells me approximately how many days/miles I have before I should get it done. That's fair enough. When you buy the car, you accept the need for routine maintenance. Now, I could choose to follow the advice, or I could continue to drive past the due service time, after all I am the one that owns the car, not the manufacturer. And thankfully there is no clever chip or software that immediately shuts everything down the moment I exceed the service interval. Even then, I'm not compelled to take my car to an authorised dealer.

Going back to printers, if I choose to ignore the warnings and continue to run my printer until ink from the waste tank is running all over the desk and down onto the carpet, I should be able to do so. Yes, you accept the consequences of your own actions, and the fact that it invalidates the warranty. The question of attempting to alter firmware shouldn't even be an issue. The need should not exist in the first place!

 

[arw4]

I take solice in the fact that I am perfectly at liberty (should I so desire) to keep using my toaster to the point when the accumulation of breadcrumbs either creates a short circuit or sets my toaster on fire. Not being one for too much excitement (and certainly not too early in the morning), I choose to make regular use of the breadcrumb tray that the manufacturer has thoughtfully implemented in the design. Why can't printer manufacterers do similar with waste ink tanks?

Perhaps this comment should go in the "toaster" forum...