How to downgrade officejet 8600 to older firmware to enable non-hp cartridges.

[Downgrader8600]

I succeeded in downloading an old firmware. These files have an '.rfu' extension and before firmware was bundled with an exe file this rfu file that you can find in the list of the link old firmware, was sent as a print job to the printer that identifies it as a firmware.

i was stuck in a 'black cartridge depleted' screen and could not do anything from there. An older .exe firmware did not allow a downgrade as it checks for the firmware via USB first probably. 

Connecting to network printers using LPR on Windows 10

1. Click the Windows button, then type “control panel”.
2. Click Control Panel to open it.
3. Click “Programs”
4. Click “Turn Windows Features on or off”
5. Expand Print and Document Services, make sure LPD Print Service and LPR Port Monitor are both checked.

Then you need to disconnect the USB cable and connect the printer via ethernet to your PC. Because i could not access the menu I used Intenret Connectin Sharing to make sure that the printer got an IP address.

Enable intenret connection sharing on your internet connection in Network Adapters window and turn the printer on and off. In my case, because i did a reset it wanted to reininitialize, but was telling me the cartridges were leaking (this also disappeared with the older firmware). To find out what the IP address of the printer is open up a Command Prompt. [windows]-[r] CMD [enter] and type

arp -a

you should see a number 192.168.137.1 (that is the PC port connected to the printer) and another number like 192.168.137.123, any number that is not 1 last is the printer. (if you connected it all right)

First find your printer in the list of the link i gave above and in that list is an FTP download link where you can download an old firmware ending in '.rfu'.

If you have your firmwarefiel.rfu firmware then type the followoing command in the Command Prompt...

lpr -S 192.168.137.### -P 192.168.137.### firmwarefile.rfu

now comes the tricky part, keep turning the printer on and off and use the arrow up and enter keys to keep repeating the previous command.

THe printer will only get an IP address after at least a few seconds of being on and then you need to have the command running, opening the printer and closing it might help as well. At a certain point the command actually succeeds and a beautiful green downgrade screen with 1 2 3 4 5 on it will downgrade your printer to the older firmware.

No more leaking cartridges, no more depleted cartridges. Keep my fingers crossed but it is possible to downgrade the hp printers...

cheers, f