We got caught by a firmware update!
January 6, 2021
We write about firmware updates, we give advice about firmware updates, but we still managed to get caught out by a firmware update.
Good old anonymous once said: “A new year and new beginnings.” Here at The Recycler that twelve day Christmas break normally translates into some rest and recuperation, family catch up and some behind the scenes housekeeping. You know the sort of thing…Updating our IT with faster internet, improving our webserver and website. The eagle eyed among you will have noted the faster loading and the ad rotation has been upgraded and a few more security plug-ins added. In the office we have added some new programs to help with our podcasting and generally updating the various programs we use.
But one little program slipped through the net… The latest version of software for our Dymo printer.
Readers who receive the printed edition of The Recycler will know that we use a lot of labels in our mailings. There are two options, buy branded or buy compatible (sound familiar) and we have been buying compatible for our Dymo machines for some time and they have always worked well, until…
We clicked the button to install the latest software version. It was a moment of pure madness, but for some reason, my brain froze, and the finger pressed the mouse button and the software loaded, but the labels stopped printing, unless you buy Dymo labels, which do (sound familiar) work.
The lady at Dymo was very understanding and we worked through the problem. I told her we were using compatible labels. That everything worked fine, until we updated the firmware to v8.7.5 ad the labels no longer work.
We worked through the operating system we have and passed that test. Then back to the labels again, and we get into the detail of what’s on the back of the label and then she gets the message and says: “Unfortunately, I would like to inform you that if there is no description on the label (for example DYMO logo and more), the label is not original DYMO label.”
But she missed the point: It is not a Dymo label, but the point at issue is that the label worked, but with the new firmware, it no longer works.
Dymo were happy to help check if the printer worked correctly, but that required us to fit an original label in order to continue. Which we did, and of course it worked. But we wanted to revert back to the earlier firmware version, so that our labels continue to work.
From my perspective the software had caused the problem, but Dymo advised they cannot support and offer any troubleshooting steps with the third party label as using them can harm the sensors in the printer. Suggesting that “sometimes the third party labels work for a while with the printer however the printer refuses to work with them at some point.
Oh, so knowledgeable me says that I believe the problem is connected to the software, because that is the only thing that has changed, and can we roll back to the earlier version. Which she agreed and sent a link to the software. We downloaded and installed the earlier software version and you guessed right…. the compatible labels still do not print.
Any suggestions for a new label printer would be welcome.
Categories : World Focus
