In sci.electronics.repair, on Fri, 31 Jan 2025 16:24:16 -0800, john
larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:
HP sells printers cheap with half-filled cartriges, and charges as
much as a new printer for a new set, which don't last long. If their
printers came with full cartriges, people would throw away the printer
when it ran out of toner.
Our Brother B-size inkjet printer/copier/scanner is great, and ink
refills are cheap. We do B-size schematics. They have a giant black
cartrige too; we mostly use black.
What does B-size mean? Is it bigger than 8 1/2 x 14?
What are the Brother design defects?
What are the Brother design defects?
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:28:24 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
wrote:
On Fri, 31 Jan 2025 12:23:06 -0800, john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> >>wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jan 2025 15:09:22 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> >>>wrote:
On Wed, 29 Jan 2025 23:41:08 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> >>>>wrote:
In sci.electronics.repair, on Wed, 29 Jan 2025 10:38:40 -0800, Bob F >>>>><bobnospam@gmail.com> wrote:
Is there a tiny hole in the case above that switch for usimg as paper >>>>>>clip to reset the device?
No, nothing like that. Like most VCRs, DVD players, DVDRs, amplifiers, >>>>>One big piece of sheet metal covering the top with no holes, no writing. >>>>>I wonder how it decides when to break?
Several ways to determine when to self-destruct:
1. Warranty timer. The timer records how many elapsed days between >>>>when power was first applied and the current date. When the timer >>>>shows 110% of the warranty period, it declares a fault or failure. The >>>>extra 10% is to deal with errors in the timer.
2. Predicted use. The "chip" in many inkjet printer cartridges is a >>>>good example. The manufacturer decrees that the inkjet cartridge >>>>should last 1,000 pages. When the chip counts 1,001 printed pages, it >>>>ceases printing and produces a difficult to decode error message. It's >>>>much the same with laser toner carts and drums. With older iPhone >>>>batteries, the clock was slowed down to simulate the effects of an >>>>aging battery.
Don't buy HP printers. They are in the theft business.
Brother is a much better deal, both laser and inkjet.
Wasn't it HP that was spying on customers by some ingenious yellow
pixel scheme? Then made some excuse about catching forgers or some
such claim.
The yellow dots are for identifying the printer for tracking ransom
notes, forgeries, fake documents, currency, etc. The yellow dots are
why your printer runs out of yellow toner or ink before the other
toner colors. See:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots> ><https://www.instructables.com/Yellow-Dots-of-Mystery-Is-Your-Printer-Spying-on-/>
Methinks this is where the "spying" story may have originated:
"Tracking codes in photocopiers and colour laser printers"
(Aug 11, 2007) ><https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-6-2007-5724_EN.html>
If you want to see the yellow dots, you'll need a UV LED flashlight. I
had the not-so-bright idea of pouring some black toner into an old
yellow toner cartridge. The dots were easily visible with a
magnifying glass. However, it took me about an hour to clean up the
transfer belt mechanism so that yellow would print normally. Not >recommended.
With email copy to Ed. Remove NONONO to email.
I posted in another thread about my philips DVDR3575H dvdr with--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
harddrive that stopped working 2 or 3 months ago. (I've had medical
problems since Dec 11, so I've not gotten much done. They are scheduled
to end or be permanent by March 11. I'm optimistic.)
But I did buy another identical dvdr from ebay for 180 dollars (they had
much cheaper, but the first one lasted me 15 years, and even though the
one I just bought is also already 15 years old, I still think it will
last 15 years. See, I'm optimistic.) And he was the only one who
showed a tv with a picture on it in his photos.
I put it in and it worked fine for 2 of the 3 tv's I'm using now, but
one 14" crt tv has much more static when text or commercials come on the >screen than it did before. That is another topic. Anyone have any
ideas? I'll post details if you do.
The topic here is what happened when I took apart the broken one. Since
it was totally dead, I expected to find a problem with the power supply.
I didnt' see anything burned out, and before I got out my meter, I
looked around and in the middle of another board, iirc the tuner board,
I found a little switch that looks like the middle ones in the back row
here: >https://www.google.com/imgres?q=mini%20push%20button%20switch&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ebayimg.com%2F00%2Fs%2FMTYwMFgxNjAw%2Fz%2F~CQAAOSwg-NiIKR4%2F%24_57.JPG%3Fset_id%3D8800005007&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2F402506084854&docid=lTwHaPMd2PG4uM&tbnid=IkOz4CNcM5iAZM&vet=12ahUKEwiUzL-g8JKLAxUckokEHQRPGacQM3oECGUQAA..i&w=1600&h=1600&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwiUzL-g8JKLAxUckokEHQRPGacQM3oECGUQAA
The little black sticks sticking up in the middle are made of plastic or >rubber, so like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland, I
pushed it down. And the DVDR started working again!!!
How come they don't mention this in the owners manual for my model, and
I found a service manual for a similar DVDR that doesn't say a word
about it either. The switch is labeled Reset
Sw.50
I can post the urls for the manuals if you want.
I haven't connected the output yet because I'd have to connect a RF >modulator, but it shows On, Play, Rewind, none of which it did before.
I'm 95% convinced it works as good as before. Unless it fails again?
Likely? Why do they have this button if they're going to keep it
secret?
Have you ever heard of a button like this before?
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:28:24 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
wrote:
Wasn't it HP that was spying on customers by some ingenious yellow
pixel scheme? Then made some excuse about catching forgers or some
such claim.
The yellow dots are for identifying the printer for tracking ransom
notes, forgeries, fake documents, currency, etc. The yellow dots are
why your printer runs out of yellow toner or ink before the other
toner colors. See:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots> <https://www.instructables.com/Yellow-Dots-of-Mystery-Is-Your-Printer-Spying-on-/>
Methinks this is where the "spying" story may have originated:
"Tracking codes in photocopiers and colour laser printers"
(Aug 11, 2007) <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-6-2007-5724_EN.html>
If you want to see the yellow dots, you'll need a UV LED flashlight. I
had the not-so-bright idea of pouring some black toner into an old
yellow toner cartridge. The dots were easily visible with a
magnifying glass. However, it took me about an hour to clean up the
transfer belt mechanism so that yellow would print normally. Not recommended.
On 2025-02-01 06:19, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:28:24 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
wrote:
Wasn't it HP that was spying on customers by some ingenious yellow
pixel scheme? Then made some excuse about catching forgers or some
such claim.
The yellow dots are for identifying the printer for tracking ransom
notes, forgeries, fake documents, currency, etc. The yellow dots are
why your printer runs out of yellow toner or ink before the other
toner colors. See:
Are they still doing this? :-o
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots>
<https://www.instructables.com/Yellow-Dots-of-Mystery-Is-Your-Printer-Spying-on-/>
Methinks this is where the "spying" story may have originated:
"Tracking codes in photocopiers and colour laser printers"
(Aug 11, 2007)
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-6-2007-5724_EN.html>
If you want to see the yellow dots, you'll need a UV LED flashlight. I
had the not-so-bright idea of pouring some black toner into an old
yellow toner cartridge. The dots were easily visible with a
magnifying glass. However, it took me about an hour to clean up the
transfer belt mechanism so that yellow would print normally. Not
recommended.
I carefully examined printouts from my printer long ago, did not find >anything.
I examined some prints last night and also couldn't find any yellow
dots. Brain function returned this morning when I realized that I was >looking at B&W prints from my monochrome laser printer.
Yellow dots--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
require yellow toner. I'll try again, this time using my HP Color
Laser Jet Pro MFP M477fnw printer.
I examined some prints last night and also couldn't find any yellow
dots. Brain function returned this morning when I realized that I was >>looking at B&W prints from my monochrome laser printer.
I have days like that too. As long as it's not weeks, I'm not too
worried.
On Sat, 1 Feb 2025 21:06:45 +0100, "Carlos E.R."
<robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2025-02-01 06:19, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:28:24 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
wrote:
Wasn't it HP that was spying on customers by some ingenious yellow
pixel scheme? Then made some excuse about catching forgers or some
such claim.
The yellow dots are for identifying the printer for tracking ransom
notes, forgeries, fake documents, currency, etc. The yellow dots are
why your printer runs out of yellow toner or ink before the other
toner colors. See:
Are they still doing this? :-o
As far as I know, and can determine from skimming various related web
sites, they're all doing it and have not added any way to turn it off.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots>
<https://www.instructables.com/Yellow-Dots-of-Mystery-Is-Your-Printer-Spying-on-/>
Methinks this is where the "spying" story may have originated:
"Tracking codes in photocopiers and colour laser printers"
(Aug 11, 2007)
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-6-2007-5724_EN.html>
If you want to see the yellow dots, you'll need a UV LED flashlight. I
had the not-so-bright idea of pouring some black toner into an old
yellow toner cartridge. The dots were easily visible with a
magnifying glass. However, it took me about an hour to clean up the
transfer belt mechanism so that yellow would print normally. Not
recommended.
I carefully examined printouts from my printer long ago, did not find >>anything.
I examined some prints last night and also couldn't find any yellow
dots. Brain function returned this morning when I realized that I was >looking at B&W prints from my monochrome laser printer. Yellow dots
require yellow toner. I'll try again, this time using my HP Color
Laser Jet Pro MFP M477fnw printer.
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:02:57 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:
On Sat, 1 Feb 2025 21:06:45 +0100, "Carlos E.R."
<robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2025-02-01 06:19, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:28:24 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
wrote:
Wasn't it HP that was spying on customers by some ingenious yellow
pixel scheme? Then made some excuse about catching forgers or some
such claim.
The yellow dots are for identifying the printer for tracking ransom
notes, forgeries, fake documents, currency, etc. The yellow dots are
why your printer runs out of yellow toner or ink before the other
toner colors. See:
Are they still doing this? :-o
As far as I know, and can determine from skimming various related web >>sites, they're all doing it and have not added any way to turn it off.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots>
<https://www.instructables.com/Yellow-Dots-of-Mystery-Is-Your-Printer-Spying-on-/>
Methinks this is where the "spying" story may have originated:
"Tracking codes in photocopiers and colour laser printers"
(Aug 11, 2007)
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-6-2007-5724_EN.html>
If you want to see the yellow dots, you'll need a UV LED flashlight. I >>>> had the not-so-bright idea of pouring some black toner into an old
yellow toner cartridge. The dots were easily visible with a
magnifying glass. However, it took me about an hour to clean up the
transfer belt mechanism so that yellow would print normally. Not
recommended.
I carefully examined printouts from my printer long ago, did not find >>>anything.
I examined some prints last night and also couldn't find any yellow
dots. Brain function returned this morning when I realized that I was >>looking at B&W prints from my monochrome laser printer. Yellow dots >>require yellow toner. I'll try again, this time using my HP Color
Laser Jet Pro MFP M477fnw printer.
I found the yellow dots, but it wasn't easy. As usual, I did
everything wrong the first time I tried it.
1. Use a magnifier. I found that a folding jewelers 30x loupe, with
a built in white LED, worked well. This what I used: ><https://www.ebay.com/itm/116331398465>
Both loupes were low quality, but the price was right. The UV light
didn't do anything useful. I could try using one of my microscopes,
but the kitchen table is currently occupied.
2. Don't use paper with a rough or textured (linen, felt, laid, etc) >surface. Try to find paper with a smooth surface. If it looks like
the surface of the moon with a magnifier, find some other paper.
3. Some articles suggest using UV illumination. I have a wide
variety of UV lights in both LED and fluorescent in various
wavelengths. However, yellow toner is not phosphorescent, so it must
be the phosphors they add to paper to make them appear "bright". Sure >enough, UV illumination worked best with 96 bright paper. I didn't
have any 100 bright. However, UV illumination didn't improve
visibility much.
4. The tiny dots seem unevenly spread over the surface of the paper.
You'll need to move the magnifying glass around the page to find the
yellow dots. At 30x the depth of field is small. That means put the
printed page on something flat.
5. When I first started looking for the dots, I almost instantly saw
them. About 1 minute later, the dots disappeared. What happened is
that I had cataract surgery about 1 year ago. The problem was that it
wasn't totally successful. As soon as I was able to rest my eyes a
little, the dots re-appeared.
6. I guessed that the designers did not include a feature where the
dots moved around the page after each printed page. Therefore,
over-printing the same page multiple times should improve visibility. >Unfortunately, my laser printer has a registration problem causing the >overprinted dots and text on the page to move. However, I have more
dots to view. I found more barely visible yellow dots, but also a few
very bright yellow dots.
It's my understanding that the yellow dots also appear when "printing"
to a file. I suspect that printing on dark paper will improve the
contrast and make the yellow dots more visible. I would guess(tm)
that a yellow filter might also help improve contrast. I haven't
tried any of these (yet).
Good luck.
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 15:29:51 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:02:57 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> >>wrote:
On Sat, 1 Feb 2025 21:06:45 +0100, "Carlos E.R." >>><robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2025-02-01 06:19, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:28:24 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> >>>>> wrote:
Wasn't it HP that was spying on customers by some ingenious yellow >>>>>> pixel scheme? Then made some excuse about catching forgers or some >>>>>> such claim.
The yellow dots are for identifying the printer for tracking ransom
notes, forgeries, fake documents, currency, etc. The yellow dots are >>>>> why your printer runs out of yellow toner or ink before the other
toner colors. See:
Are they still doing this? :-o
As far as I know, and can determine from skimming various related web >>>sites, they're all doing it and have not added any way to turn it off.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots>
<https://www.instructables.com/Yellow-Dots-of-Mystery-Is-Your-Printer-Spying-on-/>
Methinks this is where the "spying" story may have originated:
"Tracking codes in photocopiers and colour laser printers"
(Aug 11, 2007)
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-6-2007-5724_EN.html> >>>>>
If you want to see the yellow dots, you'll need a UV LED flashlight. I >>>>> had the not-so-bright idea of pouring some black toner into an old
yellow toner cartridge. The dots were easily visible with a
magnifying glass. However, it took me about an hour to clean up the >>>>> transfer belt mechanism so that yellow would print normally. Not
recommended.
I carefully examined printouts from my printer long ago, did not find >>>>anything.
I examined some prints last night and also couldn't find any yellow
dots. Brain function returned this morning when I realized that I was >>>looking at B&W prints from my monochrome laser printer. Yellow dots >>>require yellow toner. I'll try again, this time using my HP Color
Laser Jet Pro MFP M477fnw printer.
I found the yellow dots, but it wasn't easy. As usual, I did
everything wrong the first time I tried it.
1. Use a magnifier. I found that a folding jewelers 30x loupe, with
a built in white LED, worked well. This what I used: >><https://www.ebay.com/itm/116331398465>
Both loupes were low quality, but the price was right. The UV light
didn't do anything useful. I could try using one of my microscopes,
but the kitchen table is currently occupied.
2. Don't use paper with a rough or textured (linen, felt, laid, etc) >>surface. Try to find paper with a smooth surface. If it looks like
the surface of the moon with a magnifier, find some other paper.
3. Some articles suggest using UV illumination. I have a wide
variety of UV lights in both LED and fluorescent in various
wavelengths. However, yellow toner is not phosphorescent, so it must
be the phosphors they add to paper to make them appear "bright". Sure >>enough, UV illumination worked best with 96 bright paper. I didn't
have any 100 bright. However, UV illumination didn't improve
visibility much.
4. The tiny dots seem unevenly spread over the surface of the paper. >>You'll need to move the magnifying glass around the page to find the
yellow dots. At 30x the depth of field is small. That means put the >>printed page on something flat.
5. When I first started looking for the dots, I almost instantly saw
them. About 1 minute later, the dots disappeared. What happened is
that I had cataract surgery about 1 year ago. The problem was that it >>wasn't totally successful. As soon as I was able to rest my eyes a
little, the dots re-appeared.
6. I guessed that the designers did not include a feature where the
dots moved around the page after each printed page. Therefore, >>over-printing the same page multiple times should improve visibility. >>Unfortunately, my laser printer has a registration problem causing the >>overprinted dots and text on the page to move. However, I have more
dots to view. I found more barely visible yellow dots, but also a few
very bright yellow dots.
It's my understanding that the yellow dots also appear when "printing"
to a file. I suspect that printing on dark paper will improve the
contrast and make the yellow dots more visible. I would guess(tm)
that a yellow filter might also help improve contrast. I haven't
tried any of these (yet).
Good luck.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 15:45:36 -0800, john larkin <JL@gct.com> wrote:
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 15:29:51 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>I already posted that link a few messages upstream. It doesn't say
wrote:
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:02:57 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots
wrote:
On Sat, 1 Feb 2025 21:06:45 +0100, "Carlos E.R."I found the yellow dots, but it wasn't easy. As usual, I did
<robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2025-02-01 06:19, Jeff Liebermann wrote:As far as I know, and can determine from skimming various related web
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:28:24 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> >>>>>> wrote:Are they still doing this? :-o
Wasn't it HP that was spying on customers by some ingenious yellow >>>>>>> pixel scheme? Then made some excuse about catching forgers or some >>>>>>> such claim.The yellow dots are for identifying the printer for tracking ransom >>>>>> notes, forgeries, fake documents, currency, etc. The yellow dots are >>>>>> why your printer runs out of yellow toner or ink before the other
toner colors. See:
sites, they're all doing it and have not added any way to turn it off. >>>>
I examined some prints last night and also couldn't find any yellow<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots>I carefully examined printouts from my printer long ago, did not find >>>>> anything.
<https://www.instructables.com/Yellow-Dots-of-Mystery-Is-Your-Printer-Spying-on-/>
Methinks this is where the "spying" story may have originated:
"Tracking codes in photocopiers and colour laser printers"
(Aug 11, 2007)
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-6-2007-5724_EN.html> >>>>>>
If you want to see the yellow dots, you'll need a UV LED flashlight. I >>>>>> had the not-so-bright idea of pouring some black toner into an old >>>>>> yellow toner cartridge. The dots were easily visible with a
magnifying glass. However, it took me about an hour to clean up the >>>>>> transfer belt mechanism so that yellow would print normally. Not
recommended.
dots. Brain function returned this morning when I realized that I was >>>> looking at B&W prints from my monochrome laser printer. Yellow dots
require yellow toner. I'll try again, this time using my HP Color
Laser Jet Pro MFP M477fnw printer.
everything wrong the first time I tried it.
1. Use a magnifier. I found that a folding jewelers 30x loupe, with
a built in white LED, worked well. This what I used:
<https://www.ebay.com/itm/116331398465>
Both loupes were low quality, but the price was right. The UV light
didn't do anything useful. I could try using one of my microscopes,
but the kitchen table is currently occupied.
2. Don't use paper with a rough or textured (linen, felt, laid, etc)
surface. Try to find paper with a smooth surface. If it looks like
the surface of the moon with a magnifier, find some other paper.
3. Some articles suggest using UV illumination. I have a wide
variety of UV lights in both LED and fluorescent in various
wavelengths. However, yellow toner is not phosphorescent, so it must
be the phosphors they add to paper to make them appear "bright". Sure
enough, UV illumination worked best with 96 bright paper. I didn't
have any 100 bright. However, UV illumination didn't improve
visibility much.
4. The tiny dots seem unevenly spread over the surface of the paper.
You'll need to move the magnifying glass around the page to find the
yellow dots. At 30x the depth of field is small. That means put the
printed page on something flat.
5. When I first started looking for the dots, I almost instantly saw
them. About 1 minute later, the dots disappeared. What happened is
that I had cataract surgery about 1 year ago. The problem was that it
wasn't totally successful. As soon as I was able to rest my eyes a
little, the dots re-appeared.
6. I guessed that the designers did not include a feature where the
dots moved around the page after each printed page. Therefore,
over-printing the same page multiple times should improve visibility.
Unfortunately, my laser printer has a registration problem causing the
overprinted dots and text on the page to move. However, I have more
dots to view. I found more barely visible yellow dots, but also a few
very bright yellow dots.
It's my understanding that the yellow dots also appear when "printing"
to a file. I suspect that printing on dark paper will improve the
contrast and make the yellow dots more visible. I would guess(tm)
that a yellow filter might also help improve contrast. I haven't
tried any of these (yet).
Good luck.
much about how to best view the dots. So, I went to YouTube (as
suggested).
Here's one that features your favorite microscope:
"Yellow Dots of Mystery: Is Your Printer Spying on You?" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sit6zUQKpJc>
and one from EFF:
"Yellow Dots of Mystery: Is Your Printer Spying on You?" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izMGMsIZK4U>
As usual, I was doing it all wrong. I tried illuminating with UV, but
should have used a blue LED and turned off the room lights.
Dots all folks.
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Dots all folks.
I suspect Obamba's fake birth certificate has yellow dots on it.
On Sun, 02 Feb 25 11:31:29 UTC, Lizard Cheney ><lizard.cheney@j6.insurrection.dept> wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Dots all folks.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FHEeG_uq5Y>
I suspect Obamba's fake birth certificate has yellow dots on it.
Nope. It was printed using a monochrome typewriter. We didn't have
color laser printers in 1961: ><https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/birth-certificate-long-form.pdf>
On Sun, 02 Feb 25 11:31:29 UTC, Lizard Cheney <lizard.cheney@j6.insurrection.dept> wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FHEeG_uq5Y>
Dots all folks.
I suspect Obamba's fake birth certificate has yellow dots on it.Nope. It was printed using a monochrome typewriter. We didn't have
color laser printers in 1961: <https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/rss_viewer/birth-certificate-long-form.pdf>
[lots snipped]
I examined some prints last night and also couldn't find any yellow
dots. Brain function returned this morning when I realized that I was
looking at B&W prints from my monochrome laser printer.
I have days like that too. As long as it's not weeks, I'm not too
worried.
here's an old series of articles by the kind folk at EFF
describing the issue.
https://www.eff.org/issues/printers
On 2025-02-01 23:48, danny burstein wrote:
[lots snipped]
I examined some prints last night and also couldn't find any yellow
dots. Brain function returned this morning when I realized that I was >>>> looking at B&W prints from my monochrome laser printer.
I have days like that too. As long as it's not weeks, I'm not too
worried.
here's an old series of articles by the kind folk at EFF
describing the issue.
https://www.eff.org/issues/printers
I probably have read that long ago.
Hum. Is this an USA thing? I think the EU privacy laws should make this >illegal in the EU.
Jeff Liebermann wrote:--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 15:45:36 -0800, john larkin <JL@gct.com> wrote:
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 15:29:51 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>I already posted that link a few messages upstream. It doesn't say
wrote:
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 14:02:57 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> >>>> wrote:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots
On Sat, 1 Feb 2025 21:06:45 +0100, "Carlos E.R."I found the yellow dots, but it wasn't easy. As usual, I did
<robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:
On 2025-02-01 06:19, Jeff Liebermann wrote:As far as I know, and can determine from skimming various related web >>>>> sites, they're all doing it and have not added any way to turn it off. >>>>>
On Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:28:24 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> >>>>>>> wrote:Are they still doing this? :-o
Wasn't it HP that was spying on customers by some ingenious yellow >>>>>>>> pixel scheme? Then made some excuse about catching forgers or some >>>>>>>> such claim.The yellow dots are for identifying the printer for tracking ransom >>>>>>> notes, forgeries, fake documents, currency, etc. The yellow dots are >>>>>>> why your printer runs out of yellow toner or ink before the other >>>>>>> toner colors. See:
I examined some prints last night and also couldn't find any yellow<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots>I carefully examined printouts from my printer long ago, did not find >>>>>> anything.
<https://www.instructables.com/Yellow-Dots-of-Mystery-Is-Your-Printer-Spying-on-/>
Methinks this is where the "spying" story may have originated:
"Tracking codes in photocopiers and colour laser printers"
(Aug 11, 2007)
<https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-6-2007-5724_EN.html> >>>>>>>
If you want to see the yellow dots, you'll need a UV LED flashlight. I >>>>>>> had the not-so-bright idea of pouring some black toner into an old >>>>>>> yellow toner cartridge. The dots were easily visible with a
magnifying glass. However, it took me about an hour to clean up the >>>>>>> transfer belt mechanism so that yellow would print normally. Not >>>>>>> recommended.
dots. Brain function returned this morning when I realized that I was >>>>> looking at B&W prints from my monochrome laser printer. Yellow dots >>>>> require yellow toner. I'll try again, this time using my HP Color
Laser Jet Pro MFP M477fnw printer.
everything wrong the first time I tried it.
1. Use a magnifier. I found that a folding jewelers 30x loupe, with
a built in white LED, worked well. This what I used:
<https://www.ebay.com/itm/116331398465>
Both loupes were low quality, but the price was right. The UV light
didn't do anything useful. I could try using one of my microscopes,
but the kitchen table is currently occupied.
2. Don't use paper with a rough or textured (linen, felt, laid, etc)
surface. Try to find paper with a smooth surface. If it looks like
the surface of the moon with a magnifier, find some other paper.
3. Some articles suggest using UV illumination. I have a wide
variety of UV lights in both LED and fluorescent in various
wavelengths. However, yellow toner is not phosphorescent, so it must
be the phosphors they add to paper to make them appear "bright". Sure >>>> enough, UV illumination worked best with 96 bright paper. I didn't
have any 100 bright. However, UV illumination didn't improve
visibility much.
4. The tiny dots seem unevenly spread over the surface of the paper.
You'll need to move the magnifying glass around the page to find the
yellow dots. At 30x the depth of field is small. That means put the
printed page on something flat.
5. When I first started looking for the dots, I almost instantly saw
them. About 1 minute later, the dots disappeared. What happened is
that I had cataract surgery about 1 year ago. The problem was that it >>>> wasn't totally successful. As soon as I was able to rest my eyes a
little, the dots re-appeared.
6. I guessed that the designers did not include a feature where the
dots moved around the page after each printed page. Therefore,
over-printing the same page multiple times should improve visibility.
Unfortunately, my laser printer has a registration problem causing the >>>> overprinted dots and text on the page to move. However, I have more
dots to view. I found more barely visible yellow dots, but also a few >>>> very bright yellow dots.
It's my understanding that the yellow dots also appear when "printing" >>>> to a file. I suspect that printing on dark paper will improve the
contrast and make the yellow dots more visible. I would guess(tm)
that a yellow filter might also help improve contrast. I haven't
tried any of these (yet).
Good luck.
much about how to best view the dots. So, I went to YouTube (as
suggested).
Here's one that features your favorite microscope:
"Yellow Dots of Mystery: Is Your Printer Spying on You?"
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sit6zUQKpJc>
and one from EFF:
"Yellow Dots of Mystery: Is Your Printer Spying on You?"
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izMGMsIZK4U>
As usual, I was doing it all wrong. I tried illuminating with UV, but
should have used a blue LED and turned off the room lights.
Dots all folks.
I suspect Obamba's fake birth certificate has yellow dots on it.
Please don't pollute a technical thread with political nonsense.
Especially obsolete allegations, especially my thread.
If you continue to do this, I won't include AHR in technical posts and
you'll be an even bigger blight on AHR.
In sci.electronics.repair, on Sun, 02 Feb 25 11:31:29 UTC, Lizard Cheney <lizard.cheney@j6.insurrection.dept> wrote:
I suspect Obamba's fake birth certificate has yellow dots on it.
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