Change the Default READY Message on HP Printers

As most of us have observed, there is a default READY message displayed on all HP laser printers. Yaakov has managed to hack into the HP system and change the message as desired. He came up with a brilliant INSERT COIN message to replace the boring READY message.

Yaakov writes – “Well, of course I couldn’t ignore such an opportunity, and it turns out to be a lot of fun. You can think up your own funny, confusing or scary messages. My personal favorite is “INSERT COIN” which fits perfectly on the small LCDs. You can even sit in sight of the printer and change the message while watching the reaction of your victim. Don’t be surprised, though, if a large fraction don’t even notice. I was quite surprised myself but, it appears, some people don’t look at what is in front of them.”

The hack has been written using Perl language. The hack needs to be implemented by telnetting onto the printer using port 9100 and the following needs to be executed:

\e%-12345X\@PJL JOB
\@PJL RDYMSG DISPLAY=”INSERT COIN”
\@PJL EOJ
\e%-12345X

INSERT COIN in the code provided above can be replaced with any other message. But, do realise that special characters and longer sentences may not be displayed on the printer’s LCD due to the printer’s limitations.

I would like to see if users would actually try to find a slot to insert a coin after reading the message. I won’t be surprised if they actually do it.