Allegedly, The chip shortage seems to be affecting the ability of some companies from supporting their own DRM. DRM is one way for content creators to control their content to ensure that others cannot access that content. This type of technology can also be used by hardware manufacturers to control what types of reusable materials the users actually use in this hardware (ie ink or toner in printers).
I remember first thinking this is getting out of control when I read that the popular coffee machine Keurig had implemented DRM preventing any other coffee modules other than theirs from being used. I can understand why companies want to sell the device at a loss or at cost with the expectation of making their money on the backend of the transaction through the sales of consumables.
However, this should not lock out competitors from attempting to fill the need. My last two printers each have a small PCB on the toner cartridge that proves it is a “genuine” toner cartridge from that manufacturer.
I was surprise to see that these small PCB’s are starting to be a victim of the global chip shortage. Specifically, the camera / printer manufacturer Canon that is having problems because it cannot seem to source these custom PCB’s. I first learned of this issue from a Youtube video by Louis Rossmann, but after some investigation it seems that there is a lot of this type of DRM
From the video, it seems that this message can be cleared and you can use non-genuine cartridges. I have heard similar stories of multi-function printers that completely stop working if the ink overflow tray gets full or if the cartridges are completely removed.
… as well as a few other general “smart chip” solutions.
https://www.tonergiant.co.uk/blog/2014/07/printer-not-recognising-compatible-cartridges/
https://tonerconnect.net/blog/disable-electronic-chips-inkjet-toner-cartridges/
