Third-party status
DisputedDisputed: Brother denies blocking; some owners report rejections
This is the printer at the center of the 2025 Brother row: an owner said firmware W1.56 broke color registration with third-party toner. Brother denies blocking anything. Disputed.
What to do now
- Hold off on firmware updates until reports on the new version appear. Ars suggests keeping control of updates.[1]Brother recommends updating. We have not verified an auto-update off switch on this model.
What to buy instead
- Genuine Brother TN223 / TN227. Always accepted.
- Compatible TN227 from a seller with a firmware return policy. Ask what happens if an update rejects it.
- Account required
- No
- Cartridges
- Brother TN223 / TN227 toner
- Blocking firmware
- None reported
- Last checked
Also applies to: HL-L3270CDW, HL-L3210CW, HL-L3230CDW, HL-L3290CDW, MFC-L3710CW and MFC-L3770CDW (same TN223/TN227 toner per Brother).
Third-party and remanufactured cartridges
- Ars Technica traced Rossmann's video to a 2022 Reddit post: after firmware W1.56, an MFC-L3750CDW owner said automatic color registration failed with third-party toner.[1]
- Ars also cites an MFC-L3750CDW owner whose chip swap stopped working after an unspecified update.[1]
- Brother says its firmware updates do not block third-party ink or toner, and repeats this on its own US support site.[1][2][3]
- The Consumer Rights Wiki collects these reports and Brother's response.[4]
Brother account and subscriptions
- We found no Brother statement that the MFC-L3750CDW needs an account or subscription to print.[6]
Firmware that blocked cartridges
- W1.56 (owner report from 2022, via Ars Technica). Brother says no update blocks third-party toner.[1][2]
To see your version, print a printer status report or open the printer's web page. Compare it with the firmware list.
Workarounds that sources back up
- Hold off on firmware updates until reports on the new version appear. Ars suggests keeping control of updates.[1] Brother recommends updating. We have not verified an auto-update off switch on this model.
What does not reliably work
- Chip swaps: one owner says moving a genuine chip stopped working after an update.[1]
- Rolling back firmware: critics say Brother removed older versions from its site.[5]
What to buy instead
- Genuine Brother TN223 / TN227. Always accepted. Shop
- Compatible TN227 from a seller with a firmware return policy. Ask what happens if an update rejects it. Shop
These are plain store links. We earn nothing from them today. Disclosure.
What we could not verify
- Whether firmware W1.56 really caused the color registration fault, or something else did.
- Any 2026 report for this model.
- An on-printer setting to stop automatic firmware updates.
Know something we missed? Dated sources beat opinions. Corrections go on the page with a date.
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Sources
- Ars Technica: Brother denies using firmware updates to brick printers with third-party ink (published Mar 5, 2025)
- The Register: Brother denies dirty toner tricks (updated Mar 7 and 11) (published Mar 6, 2025)
- Brother USA support: Toner Error (read Oct 21, 2026)
- Consumer Rights Wiki: Brother printers causing issues with third-party inks (read Oct 21, 2026)
- Tom's Hardware: Brother accused of locking down third-party cartridges via firmware updates (published Mar 4, 2025)
- Brother USA: TN227BK toner (compatible models) (read Oct 21, 2026)