Error Code 11 - M234DWE - Genuine Toner suddenly stopped working. Unable to clear error

[H411]

As of Thursday morning 3/13/2025 - Still no updated firmware from HP. Printer still bricked. I'll keep this thread fresh until they either fix the problem - or refund us the money we paid for the printer(s) and/or toner(s) that went unused.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/hp-laserjet-mfp-m232-m237-printer-series/30836599?jumpid=in_r11...

[dvsldjkhb]

I'm in the same boat as everyone else here, 2 genuine cartridges that have only ever been used in this printer will not work, both showing error 11. The interesting thing is when one cartridge threw the error, I put the old one in and got one page out of it before it threw the error as well. I reached out to HP support on twitter and all they did was tell me to restore factory defaults claiming that would reset the firmware to an older version. Obviously that did not work. Then they said to call phone support which won't do anything because I'm 3 months out of warranty. Shameful that HP can get away with this, I have this printer for just over a year.

[H411]

This enrages me (and it should you as well.)

It's not as if this "broke" due to age and excessive use - NO.

It "broke" because of something that was 100% HP's fault.  HP INFLICTED this damage to the printer. 

This is equal to HP coming to your home or office with a sledgehammer and smashing your printer to pieces.

They need to refund our money or buy us another printer of our choice.

UNACCEPTABLE response from HP.

[dvsldjkhb]

Oh, and what pisses me off even more is I can't even use the scanner!!! I use this at work and now I'm forced to go out and buy something else, I can't wait for an HP "fix". Tech support has been no help. I think I'm going to return my HP that I have at home as well, I can't support a company that bricks thousands of peoples devices on a whim. It's just absurd.

[shippinguy]

As I mentioned earlier, I have been actively communicating with @HPsupport via X (twitter).  They are sending me a new toner cartridge and while I am fairly certain that this won't fix the problem at least I can then show them that the error is not with the cartridge.  The more people that reach out to @HPsupport the more likely it is that they will agree with the firmware being the problem.  Be sure to reply to their request for a DM and then detail as best you can.  The reply that I gave them that generated an active dialog is as follows:

"M234dw - Apparently the most recent firmware update that occurred on 3/4/25 (date code 20250209) has made it so that genuine HP toner cartridges are not recognized resulting in an error 11. My toner cartridge is a 134X with less than 100 pages printed. Installing the previous cartridge which is empty generates the same error. I have tried a hard reset, gently cleaning contacts, etc. After checking community posts on http://HP.com I am not alone in this problem. Please provide a link to the previous firmware version so that I can use my printer."

[dvsldjkhb]

I spent an hour on the phone with tech support, first they said sorry it's a hardware issue and you're out of warranty and we can help you buy a new printer. I reiterated that HP bricked my printer and it is not a hardware problem, the printer was perfectly fine 2 days ago. So they offered a replacement toner cartridge. I guess it's better then nothing but I highly doubt it will fix anything.

[shippinguy]

Looks like the word is spreading:   

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/firmware-update-bricks-hp-printers-makes-them-unable-to-use-...

https://www.vice.com/en/article/latest-hp-printer-update-bricks-printers/

https://www.techradar.com/pro/now-hp-printers-are-being-bricked-following-firmware-update

[sid300]

Yes exactly my printer is just 4 months old, and recently inserted a new cartridge as well.The error started showing sometime around 8th or 9th. This is totally insane a firmware update breaks a working printer and no response form HP. How can we revert this firmware update ?

The virtual assistant always redirects to a bot and nothing useful comes up

[dvsldjkhb]

If your printer is only 4 months old I would call them and go through the troubleshooting, eventually they'll tell you it's a hardware problem which should still be under warranty and hopefully they'll just send you a new printer. The problem is the rest of us. Mine is 15 months old, so 3 months out of warranty. Heck, I never even took the stickers off it. 

[shippinguy]

Even if it is still under warranty I doubt that a replacement printer would matter since it will grab the latest firmware upon installation rendering it useless.