Recently, it was alleged that Brother had been using firmware manipulation tactics to block people from printing using third-party ink cartridges when such printers needed refilling.
Running out of ink may have been a good thing after the January non-security preview update as Microsoft has confirmed that the update caused printers, specifically those that support dual mode printing, ie, USB print and IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) Over USB, print gibberish. It affects Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2.
Microsoft has explained the issue in detail:
After installing the January 2025 Windows preview update (KB5050092), released January 29, 2025, or later updates, you might observe issues with USB connected dual-mode printers that support both USB Print and IPP Over USB protocols. You might observe that the printer unexpectedly prints random text and data, including network commands and unusual characters.
Resulting from this issue, the printed text might often start with the header "POST /ipp/print HTTP/1.1", followed by other IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) related headers. This issue tends to occur more often when the printer is either powered on or reconnected to the device after being disconnected.
The issue is observed when the printer driver is installed on the Windows device, and the print spooler sends IPP protocol messages to the printer, causing it to print unexpected text.
The company has, for the time being, issued a way for IT admins and system admins to temporarily resolve the problem by deploying a known issue rollback (KIR) through a Group Policy configuration. Known issue rollbacks are typically used by Microsoft to work around non-security bugs. Microsoft writes:
IT administrators can resolve this issue by installing and configuring the special Group Policy listed below. The special Group Policy can be found in Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Group Policy name listed below>.
Group Policy downloads with Group Policy name:
- Download for Windows 11, version 23H2 and 22H2 - Windows 11 22H2 KB5050092 250131_150523 Known Issue Rollback
- Download for Windows 10, version 22H2 - Windows 10 22H2, 21H1, 21H2 and 22H2 KB5050081 250131_082569 Known Issue Rollback
Important: You will need to install and configure the Group Policy for your version of Windows to resolve this issue. You will also need to restart your device(s) to apply the group policy setting. Note that the Group Policy will temporarily disable the change causing the printing issue.
Microsoft says that a "final resolution" is being worked on and it will be shared in a future Windows update. You can find the issue here on Microsoft's Windows health dashboard website.
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