This file accompanies the Waste Ink Maintenance Counter Utility
(executable: MaintenanceCounterUtility.exe, version 1.0.0). It records
attribution, licensing, third-party components, and data-source provenance.
This document is not legal advice. Anti-circumvention, repair, warranty, consumer-protection, product-liability, and trademark laws vary by jurisdiction. This utility is provided as a maintenance-focused, compliance-oriented tool; it is risk-reduced, not risk-free. Any paid distribution requires legal review before paid distribution by a qualified local intellectual-property / product lawyer.
This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or approved by Epson. Epson is a trademark of its respective owner. Product names are used only to describe compatibility with selected printer models.
All other product names, brand names, and trademarks referenced anywhere in this project remain the property of their respective owners. Their use is for plain-text compatibility identification only and does not imply any affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship.
This project includes no Epson logo, no Epson artwork, and no vendor-supplied graphics or branding of any kind. Where a manufacturer or product name appears, it appears only as plain text for the purpose of identifying which printer models the utility is compatible with.
Product names are used only for compatibility identification. They do not indicate that this utility originates from, is licensed by, or is in any way connected to the named manufacturer.
This project is licensed under the European Union Public Licence v1.2
(EUPL-1.2). The full text is in LICENSE.txt.
The EUPL-1.2 is a copyleft licence. The corresponding source code MUST be
published with any binary release. If you distribute
MaintenanceCounterUtility.exe (or any modified build), you must make the
corresponding source code available under the same terms.
Source files covered by this licence include:
maintenance_counter_app.py(entry point / GUI)printer_core.py(backend)epson_d4.py(independent USB + IEEE-1284.4 (D4) + control-channel layer, written from public specifications and documented protocol/API facts — not copied from any third party)model_db.py(embedded model database)eeprom_io.py(backup/restore and paths)operations.py(reset safety controller)oplog.py(local operation logging)gen_model_db.py(build-time database generator)- the automated tests in
tests/
The application has no runtime dependencies beyond what ships with the
Python interpreter. It uses only the Python standard library and ctypes.
There are no bundled third-party runtime libraries.
The application relies on the Python standard library, which is distributed under the Python Software Foundation License (PSF License). The standard library is the property of the Python Software Foundation and its contributors.
The only build-time dependency is PyInstaller, used to produce the
--onefile --windowed binary. PyInstaller is distributed under its own
license (the GNU General Public License with a special bootloader
exception, which permits using the PyInstaller bootloader to package and
distribute applications regardless of their own license). PyInstaller is the
property of its respective authors and contributors.
PyInstaller is required only to build the binary; it is not required to run the application from source, and no PyInstaller source code is included in this project's repository.
The embedded model database contains 108 compatible models and is embedded directly in the binary. Its provenance is as follows:
- Converted from
epson_print_conf, which is licensed under EUPL-1.2, Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Ircama. The model data used by this project was converted from that EUPL-licensed source under the terms of the EUPL-1.2. - Plus the L3250 / L3251 / L3253 / L3255 family, which was verified on real hardware by this project.
There is no unlicensed database, no proprietary or vendor data, and no reverse-engineered vendor database in this project. A previously used larger unlicensed database has been removed and must not be reintroduced or used.
| Models | Status |
|---|---|
| L3250 / L3251 / L3253 / L3255 | Verified on hardware (June 2026) |
| All other models | Experimental — EUPL-derived data, not verified by this project on hardware |
Experimental entries are provided on a best-effort, maintenance-focused basis. Counter readings and addresses for experimental models are approximate and have not been confirmed on physical hardware by this project.
Any supported-model data added to this project in the future must come only from legally usable sources or from independent verification on hardware. Acceptable sources are limited to:
- data that is itself available under a license compatible with EUPL-1.2 (with proper attribution recorded in this file), or
- values independently verified on real hardware by this project.
Proprietary, vendor-confidential, or unlicensed data must not be added.
The Waste Ink Maintenance Counter Utility is an open-source, maintenance-focused utility for selected compatible inkjet printers on Windows 64-bit over a USB connection only. It reads approximate waste-ink maintenance counters, creates a local backup, and can reset those counters only after the owner has physically inspected, cleaned, replaced, or redirected the waste-ink pad/tank.
The utility performs no physical maintenance and is not a way to avoid service requirements. Resetting a counter does not address the underlying physical condition of the waste-ink pad or tank; physical maintenance remains the owner's responsibility.
The application includes safety behaviour intended to keep its use maintenance-focused and compliance-oriented:
- first-run Terms-of-Use acceptance;
- a mandatory pre-reset warning (8 points);
- a required checkbox: "I confirm that the waste ink pad has been inspected, cleaned, replaced, or an external waste ink tank is installed and functioning";
- a required second confirmation: "I understand this action modifies printer maintenance counters and I accept full responsibility for ensuring physical maintenance has been completed";
- an automatic EEPROM backup taken before every reset (the reset stops if the backup fails, unless the user explicitly overrides with a warning);
- restore-from-backup;
- local operation logs that record model, transport, counter values, backup path, confirmation flags, and errors, but not serial numbers or personal data;
- a low-counter caution; and
- a reminder to power-cycle the printer after a reset.
There is no telemetry; nothing is transmitted off the device.
This NOTICE is provided for attribution and transparency. It is not legal advice. Because anti-circumvention, repair, warranty, consumer-protection, product-liability, and trademark laws vary by jurisdiction, distributing this software — and especially any paid distribution — requires legal review before paid distribution by a qualified local intellectual-property / product lawyer.