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WIC Reset Program and Chipless Firmware
747spokes

WF-2750 - Recovery code in the License.exe to return the Epson printer to chipless firmware not working.

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I have an Epson WF2750 that I successfully installed the chipless firmware operation causing the ink cartridges to report permanently full. Then I decided to check out the option ‘To restore chipless firmware paste saved Code to Recovery Code window and Click Recover button’ as advised in the WF2750 Chipless Manual. This is a useful option in case of the chipless function being lost because of a mistaken firmware update. So to do this I had to carry out a firmware change that can happen inadvertently if the operator of the printer accepted for example a firmware update from Epson. I could not find a firmware update from Epson and so I attempted to downgrade instead. So via the WIC utility I selected to downgrade to the firmware version JP24G5 24/05/2016. This I duly paid the $99.90 for and used the key that was emailed to me to carry out the procedure. However the procedure did not complete successfully and the printer became locked in to the Recovery Mode and remained that way even following removing the power and restarting several times. Following this I repaired the locked situation by downloading and installing the Recovery Firmware ‘Recovery_wf2750.zip’. This did work to return the printer to normal functioning and returned the printer to the same firmware version that it was already in before and after the chipless firmware had been installed ie. JP0212 release date 02/02/2018. However the chipless function no longer was operating and the cartridges were interrogated by the Epson software and the ink levels show depletion as the ink is used.

So then I thought was my opportunity to test the chipless firmware recovery function. I had saved the recovery code from the license.exe program when the chipless function was originally installed, as advised. So then I proceeded to re-start the license program with the printer in the recovery mode and tried to paste the recovery code in but found I could only paste it in with the printer in the normal mode which allowed the printer to be identified in the license.exe window. So then I was able to paste the recovery code into its panel and clicked on the ‘Recover’ button. The system then appeared to function correctly ending with the following message:

Activation Key has been written. Recovery Code has been generated successfully. Save it for possible Firmware Recovery. Restart printer by pressing on power button (don’t replug the power cable!)

Following this I pressed the printer power button causing the printer turn off. Then I turned the printer back on hoping to find that the chipless function had been restored but sadly it was not. The cartridges still showed reducing quantities of ink. I shut down both the printer and my computer several times and also repeated the recovery procedure again in the same manner but all was unsuccessful in restoring the chipless function.

Anyone having the patience to read my letter will probably understandably question my decision to remove the functioning chipless operation as it was working perfectly well. My reason was because I wanted to familierise myself with the chipless restoration procedure and have the peace of mind that it does reliably do the job. I have offered to install the chipless function on some friends printer and I needed to be sure that I can retrieve the chipless function in the event that the owners mistakenly allowed a firmware change thus losing the chipless function.

I have written to 2manuals for advice on this but have not received a reply yet (I think I used the wrong email address) and I thought there is a wealth of knowledge on the forum and I would be very grateful for any help. Another question that I have is what useful function can an eprom dump be put to? Can it be used to restore the contents of the printer main board eprom chip to a previous firmware etc  installation? The eprom dump is suggested in the WIC reset utility.

Thankyou for reading this long letter. Rgds Simon.

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Good day. Before you can use recovery code to restore chipless functionality you need to reupload chipless firmware again. Chipless firmware has been erased after you uploaded official firmware version to the printer again and recovery code is just a string of data, it can not work by itself.

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Hi. Many thanks for your reply. Yes, you are quite right - I have since discovered that - pretty logical really that the chipless firmware has to be reloaded and then the recovery code pasted into the license recovery window. Something else that maybe you can confirm: it seems that recovery can also be achieved by saving a so-called eprom dump (via the  WIC reset utility) that is taken when the chipless function is resident in the firmware and functioning correctly. Then in the future if the printer is mistakenly upgraded via Epson on the internet and the chipless function is lost - it can be completely returned to the chipless operation with the WIC reset utility using the EPROM options (it has to be enabled in settings for WIC utility) for restore.

So it seems to me that restoring the eprom dump will do the same job as as restoring the chipless function by  reuploading chipless firmware again and restoring the recovery code method.

However did I read somewhere that sometimes if Epson manages to reload the latest version of their firmware it may include a means of preventing the owner of the printer from reverting back to the earlier version? - by either of the two methods I describe above? Is this true?

One last thing, it seems that with or without the installation of the chipless firmware the version and release date of the firmware does not change. In my case, the original firmware was JP28H6 release date 28/06/2017 then after I bought and installed a firmware update that I thought was supposed to convert to chipless (which it did not) the firmware version changed to: JP0212 release date 02/02/2018 (which I have a feeling is the latest version from Epson for the WF2750 printer). Then when I bought the correct chipless 'firmware' and sucessfully installed it the firmware version did not change from JP0212 but remained at that even after I purposefully updated to lose the chipless function, version remained JP0212. Then I tried both the chipless firmware restore method and then the eprom dump restore method and they both worked to return the printer to chipless function and the firmware remained at version JP0212. All very interesting! I'd be grateful if you could comment on these methods of resting the chipless function. Thankyou. Simon.

Sorry one last question: When restoring the eprom dump two options come up: Skip Printer Head ID? and Skip Printer Serial Number? - does this mean that the dump can be used in another WF2750 if the skip boxes are ticked?

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