Talks to Watch

Brother Printer Genuine Toner Fix - Use Any Toner

230K views · Jul 21, 2020 · 8:07 · 0 HN recommenders · 3 mentions · discussed 2023–2025

A short walkthrough of a hack that tricks a Brother laser printer into accepting third-party toner by working around its genuine-toner check. It notes this may void the warranty.

Why Hacker News points people here: Linked in printer DRM threads as proof that workarounds exist for Brother's cartridge restrictions.

“You can still (for now) get around the Toner DRM.”HN comment, 2023

What Hacker News said 3

Cites itMostlyStableAug 2023

“You can still (for now) get around the Toner DRM.”

Shows removing the Brother toner DRM chip in minutes

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I have a new brother printer (<2 years old). It works just fine. The quality of the printer, as a device itself, I have no complaints about. It's the DRM Toner bullshit that is the problem. Unfortunately, in the past, that kind of behavior has often presaged other things like degrading hardware quality in the future. Will Brother do the same? I have no idea. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a different company that both supplies a quality product and also doesn't do the DRM bullshit. So, in my opinion, Brother is not longer better than other companies, but it doesn't appear to be worse either. Which is more an indictment of the printer industry than anything good about Brother. -edit- You can still (for now) get around the Toner DRM. The drm chip is pretty easy to remove and it just slots into a little spot on the toner. It's about a ~5 minute operation. So make sure to keep your OEM cartridge for now: this video

in “Requiring ink to scan a document–yet another insult from the printer industry” · view on HN
Cites itjustincliftOct 2023

“There are ways around their particular DRM - for now”

Shows a workaround for Brother's cartridge DRM

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Brother have started going down the cartridge DRM route now too, so they're no longer a good brand. :( link There are ways around their particular DRM - for now - but who knows how long it'll be until they're as bad as HP and friends: this video

in “HP fails to derail claims that it bricks scanners on printers when ink runs low” · view on HN
Cites itotherme123Oct 2025

“for a toner hack that shouln't be needed.”

Toner hack video for Brother printers

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> I’m about to add a Brother Laser Printer too. Be careful. Brother is doing shaddy things this days, like lowering printing quality, or not printing, if a non-Brother toner is detected. E.g. this video for a toner hack that shouln't be needed.

in “Inkjet printer with DRM-free ink will be launched via a crowdfunding campaign” · view on HN