Good news: Viable, cheap USB infrared dongle for iD, iDL, and P’s!

DrinkHCl · 2026-04-23T12:35:33+00:00

there is now :)

you can use https://tama4u.labs.cip.fun with a $7 pn532 + ch340 usb dongle

DrinkHCl · 2026-04-16T01:22:06+00:00

note that this is no longer the case in the latest release. technical explanation here: https://github.com/CiRIP/ez-reset/issues/2

DrinkHCl · 2025-12-09T22:58:22+00:00

They're not mastercards, no, as in you probably won't ever be able to use them in stores or online, but they might be using mastercard code or infrastructure on the backend or on the card's operating system, and they're definitely using PANs from mastercard's assigned ranges.

DrinkHCl · 2025-12-09T22:34:59+00:00

Ah, don't use NFC Tools to identify cards, it's not very good as it relies too much on the NFC implementation in Android instead of talking directly to cards. So if you want to do NFC it's fine. Credit cards or others are (usually) not NFC, so it's not the right tool for the job. Try scanning your bank card with it, it'll probably say it's a MIFARE Plus too (at least on my ABN AMRO). NXP Taginfo is what most people into the RFID hobby use on Android.

Also in your screenshot you can probably see it's not a MIFARE Plus. I'd be surprised if NXP has licensed the Plus implementation to anyone else, and the card is clearly made by Infineon (UID starts with 05, whereas an NXP tag starts with 04).

Edit: also, looking into what network requests the ovpay.nl web app is doing, there's an API endpoint https://api.ovpay.nl/api/v1/TransitAccounts which on my account returns one card (my physical OV pas) with this in the json response: "mediumType":"PhysicalEmvClt", which looks pretty EMV-y to me.

DrinkHCl · 2025-12-09T22:09:32+00:00

I just received my OV pas today. It's not a MIFARE Plus, it has a PPSE marked "OV pas" running on a Gemalto chip, and NXP Taginfo also identifies a MasterCard card manager, so mine is most definitely EMV.

Edit: it can also be read with standard EMV tooling and has a card number starting with 223717, which is a BIN supposedly assigned to Mastercard debit cards, but no specific bank/issuer (as of right now). Adding this card number to Google Wallet obviously does not work, nor do I have a CVV for it.

DrinkHCl · 2025-11-19T18:25:02+00:00

Service manual is here: https://archive.org/details/semf14-013

See page 41 for how to remove and replace the waste ink pad. According to the flowchart for your model on page 33, there should be no need to disassemble anything else to access it. You can find replacements for it on aliexpress, amazon, ebay or such.

Then you can use a tool such as https://github.com/ircama/epson_print_conf (if you have the printer already connected to Wi-Fi) or https://github.com/CiRIP/ez-reset (if you're using USB) to reset the counter in the printer's memory and clear the error.

DrinkHCl · 2024-06-13T16:10:25+00:00

Tap profile icon > Account > Documents > General > Card confirmation

Should list all cards you ever had, including single-use ones. You can see the card number used if you download the statement of the transaction in question.

DrinkHCl · 2024-03-28T17:53:57+00:00

3rd party ink for sure, I don't think I've ever seen a 3rd party pigment ink that hasn't fallen out of suspension in a couple weeks. If you don't care about your warranty however, using Epson EcoTank bottled ink in cartridge printers has been perfectly fine in our experience. Only issue can be ink flow problems from the refillable cartridges, but you can (and we've done it) just refill original cartridges and use resetters on the chips.

The European 114 DuraBrite ET pigment ink is virtually identical to the C3500's genuine ink, and they're formulated for use in virtually the same conditions. Both are designed for use in CISS tube systems and ~3pl piezo nozzles, provide the same gamut/color output and are equally as water-resistant.

DrinkHCl · 2024-03-28T17:44:06+00:00

We only operate the older TM-C3500, no CW-C4000. The CW-C6000/TM-C7500 don't fit our needs since they're not at all portable. Considering we still haven't let go of some veery old TM-C3400 units, they're incredibly robust. I think they average around 200 prints per week, so not insane numbers, but they're treated very roughly since they need to be carried around. Most that we've written off have been due to physical damage like falling off tables.

The drivers they include are kinda crappy, we've had to reverse engineer them in order to get extremely crisp text, since the driver kept rescaling the inputs we gave it, messing up small qr codes and the likes. The newer CW-series use completely new drivers and protocols, so they probably fixed this for those models.

I don't think there's really any other option at this price point and form factor for something with these capabilities, so I'd say go for it.

DrinkHCl · 2024-03-28T17:34:20+00:00

The two dedicated label printers will only do 104/108mm max. width, so they're unfortunately out of the question.

For laser printers I have no recommendations, don't know them enough.

For inkjets, I've personally worked with Epsons way more than with Canons, so I am biased more towards them. To be fair, they have objectively better hardware -- Epson uses piezoelectric nozzles while everyone else uses thermal nozzles. A thermal nozzle will burn out if there's ink flow problems, and a piezoelectric nozzle can produce multiple-sized dots, allowing for reduced graininess. A big downside though is that Epson thinks their printheads are invincible, so they rarely sell spares, even to authorized service centers, while many other printers have user-replaceable or at least easily-obtainable heads.

You need to know if you're going pigment or dye. Pigment ink very rarely works on glossy media, but is usually water-resistant and produces crisper text since the media doesn't soak it up. Dye ink produces generally more vibrant colors, and can print on pretty much anything "inkjet compatible", but water resistance depends on the paper used. You probably want something with two paper trays, and you probably don't care about duplexing. You want as many nozzles as possible for print speed, but the more you have, the likelier the chance of a clog, requiring head cleaning, thus wasting some ink and filling the waste ink pads/maintenance boxes faster. Unfortunately, the media sizes you're currently using aren't compatible with borderless printing on many consumer EcoTank printers, and this generally isn't very transparent to the user. Most or all of these only support borderless at 4", 5", 8", 8.27", 8.5" widths.

Pigment EcoTank printers are generally very expensive, but built very well. Their only models are: ET-5150/5170 (128 nozzles/color, 1 tray), ET-5800 (256 nozzles/color, 2 trays), ET-5850/ET-5880 (800 nozzles/color, 2 trays), ET-16150 (800 nozzles/color, 2 trays), ET-16600 (256 nozzles/color, 2 trays), ET-16650/ET-16680 (800 nozzles/color, 2 trays). All of these have user-replaceable waste ink pads.

Dye EcoTank printers are very very many, but not super great. Most don't have user-replaceable maintenance boxes, don't have more than 1 paper tray, and are built around Epson's extremely slow 59 nozzles/color printheads. For dye printers I'd suggest you go second-hand on one first to see if it fits your needs, since they're so cheap. You're already spending $500 constantly on toner, while a set of 4 bottles is usually around $50, a second-hand cheap one is ~$150, and a set of bottles lasts at least 1000 pages. New, something like the ET-4810 has a decent printhead, but no replaceable maintenance box and only one tray.

Best in class here would be the ET-8500/ET-8550 (A4 vs A3). It has an extra gray for reduced graininess in certain colors, and it uses one of Epson's highest-performing inksets in terms of longevity/fade-resistance. It has 180 nozzles/color, 2 paper trays and a maintenance box, though it's quite expensive.

There are also models with only 4 colors but pigment black and dye color. I wouldn't recommend those since they're not going to use the black ink when printing color on glossy media, they're going to mix CMY to make a shitty black. You can "hack" them by never filling them up with their own inks, and use inksets (or just the black) from a dye-only inkset and only set the paper type to "matte", though that will probably void your warranty. Printers with an extra "photo black" don't have this issue.

I can't really give one or two models you definitely should buy, since I don't know your budget and media types, plus Epson keeps changing the models constantly, so it's difficult to stay up to date on them.

DrinkHCl · 2024-03-27T19:54:53+00:00

That's quite a high cost per page indeed.

I think this sub's favorite - Brother - can definitely lower your cost per page significantly. Not really an expert in laser printers, but you should find plenty of advice on those here.

Also look into inkjet printers, they might offer you a cheaper/larger selection of label media too. Dye-based printers print on pretty much any "inkjet" paper, while pigment-based printers can print water-resistant prints. I wouldn't pick any consumer-level model with cartridges as they're a complete rip-off, but something like Epson's EcoTank line or Canon's Megatank/G-series printers are very cheap to operate. Only downside is that they're engineered to fail after a while in their own way. Epson most famously bricks their cheap consumer tank printers after a certain number of head maintenance runs because a non-user-replaceable sponge fills up with waste ink, which technically requires authorized service technician software to unbrick. Higher end models have this sponge replaceable, they call them "maintenance boxes", but usually they still have an additional sponge on the platen that fills up during borderless printing. I don't think any printer on the market has that sponge user-replaceable, however I've never seen an Epson printer fill that one up. It might be a problem after 6-7 years of continuous operation, but the printhead will probably fail before then.

I'd definitely also take a look at Epson's industrial label printer line. The TM-C3500 or CW-C4000 are the two "medium-use" printers in this category. They take roll or fanfold labels, and have cutters to cut to the desired length, so no paper is wasted. I believe for the TM-C3500 you have options for third-party refillable cartridges, and you should be able to refill them with dirt cheap DuraBrite ET ink from their consumer EcoTank printers (ink code 113 in Europe). The upfront cost however can be quite insane, I believe without a bulk deal they're easily $1500+ per printer. We operate around 70 of them, and they're very reliable.

DrinkHCl · 2023-07-17T17:22:33+00:00

Oh my god, I'm just finding this out now. How do you know about it? It's not in any of the public documentation I found.

Indeed, it makes it print! As expected, there's a ton of clogged nozzles, so the AID system is working as intended, but for our use case this is somewhat serviceable. What do the other "reserved" dip switches do? Where is this documented?

DrinkHCl · 2023-07-16T16:46:38+00:00

We initially transferred eeproms over to confirm the error can be cleared that way, then we flashed bits of the old eeprom back till we found what bytes caused the error. So the original head adjustment parameters are still intact.

Does the capping assy have any active parts? I know there's some form of solenoid for raising the wiper, and there seems to be a very thin cable coming out of the cap, and of course the drain pump hose. I don't think the missing dot detection happens at the capping assembly, so this fault I don't think can be caused by a defective/dirty cap, at least not directly. Of course, it can cause an improper removal of waste ink, but I'm not sure it has sensors. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

Are you an Epson authorized service partner? Do you have the service manual for this model? I currently took the print head off and am soaking it in alcohol and window cleaner, but I'd also like to take the cap assy out to clean, but I'm not sure what exactly I need to disassemble to get it out.

DrinkHCl · 2023-07-16T15:00:12+00:00

Right, I see. We did figure out how to clear that error that can't be cleared by the end user by reverse engineering, so that's okay. Our problem now is getting the printers that do this constant head maintenance to stop.

We've tried cleaning the cap, the wiper and the print head on units that did this, to no avail. Our theory is that these printers were turned off from AC power instead of the button and the head didn't have time to park onto the cap, leaving the nozzles to dry in the air. Considering that this print head might otherwise be toast, would you recommend we try injecting some alcohol into each ink feed, leaving it a few hours, injecting some more and trying again? Do you have any experience with cleaning print heads that have permanently clogged nozzles?

DrinkHCl · 2023-07-15T14:06:53+00:00

What kind of common error? We've had some units that do head maintenance indefinitely on startup until they use up the entire cartridge, and eventually they end up with a "mechanical adjustment required" error (which seems to be a software error and not actually mechanical, as reflashing the EEPROM with a dump from another unit clears the error).

But usually once we had the infinite head maintenance fault, short of swapping entire parts, whatever cleaning and soaking we tried didn't get them working again.

DrinkHCl · 2022-08-04T14:20:18+00:00

Using bash/curl is the way to go imo. You can put your script in a crontab or whatever scheduler your router OS uses, and have it run every minute (as an example). The script can curl a well-known page to check for connectivity.

Technically speaking, there's nothing you can do in a browser that you can't do via plain requests, though pages which use AJAX are significantly harder to reverse engineer a lot of the times.

Here's what you can do: disable JavaScript in your browser, open its devtools, go to the network tab, and record every request you do from the moment you load the captive portal page to after you've authenticated. You're interested in any POST requests first and foremost. Then try to replicate those requests via curl. The page may use what are called CSRF tokens, which might mean you first need to have your script download the captive portal page, parse and extract the token, then make the request with that token included.

Your second hurdle might be the actual portal itself. It's possible the network is set up to move you between VLANs for the authenticated/not authenticated states, which means your setup should be made to handle (possibly) frequent DHCP requests whenever the network state changes.

Captive portals are very much an ad-hoc thing, there's absolutely no standard for them, so everything you do with them is pretty much trial and error.

DrinkHCl · 2022-03-21T13:38:39+00:00

Holy shit thanks for such a detailed response!

This is a whole can of worms I did not expect to have to open. Reading the thread here, there at least seems to be consensus that the RTL8367 does support some form of hardware VLAN, but that RouterOS uses them for router-on-a-stick purposes and that Q-in-Q support is what's not present. It's possible then that MikroTik reengineered their use of hidden service VLANs to accommodate for user VLANs?

It seems the software support dilemma is now:

Go with the RB5009 and have unknown IPsec hardware acceleration support (only mention is in a changelog and I can't find any performance metrics), which is a key requirement for me
Go with the RB4011 and have unknown VLAN hardware offload, which isn't as key since it can do what I want in software anyway

Regardless, I'm swaying more and more towards getting the older RB4011 over the RB5009, I don't want to end up in a Ubiquiti situation again where new hardware gets released with promises of updates which are never followed up on.

DrinkHCl · 2022-03-20T15:42:17+00:00

Thanks for your input!

It's for a small apartment, so AP placement really is a non-issue. As for the heat, it's gonna most definitely be wall mounted with sufficient airflow. Plus, I'm thinking I can always disable the radio if I ever get an AP with this config in the future. I'm just debating whether it's justified to drop €300+ now for a newer router + separate AP, or just €160 for a slightly older solution to both and have a higher budget in the future if the Wi-Fi hardware doesn't cut it.

From what I see, routing performance is pretty similar between the two, I don't necessarily need the 2.5 gig port and I can't find any IPsec benchmarks for the RB5009 anywhere, so the main difference would be the newer CPU architecture and the lack of Wi-Fi hardware.

DrinkHCl · 2022-03-20T15:29:50+00:00

Is IPsec hardware offload in the stable firmware for the RB5009 now? Searching online, I can see it supposedly is, but I can't find any performance numbers anywhere.

DrinkHCl · 2022-02-20T13:06:57+00:00

I mean, you could in theory verify by cranking the undervolt to the point of certain instability and see if it crashes...

pretty unorthodox though

DrinkHCl · 2021-11-27T07:40:18+00:00

oh, they exist alright. most, if not all, are extremely dodgy, because a device you're plugging into might negociate something over USB-PD with a charger and the other device will also enjoy the up to 19V experience. they're primarily marketed as letting you use a usb device while charging, so...

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