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Double Trouble QR Code

By Roger ⋅ September 26, 2011 ⋅ Email this post ⋅ Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Large corporations putting QR Codes on product packaging is not new but the QR Code on these HP Deskjet 3070A Printer boxes photographed in a local PC World store by a 2d-code reader show what can go wrong. The box on the right has the QR Code obscured by a security tab but it doesn’t really matter because if you scan the code on the box on the left it resolves to a page with the error message: File name provided does not exist: HPFiles/CQ191B/CQ191B_gb_en.xml

HP printer boxes with ususable QR Code

Discussion

5 comments for “Double Trouble QR Code”

  1. Scanned with Qrafter for iOS and went to a mobile optimized page for HP DeskJet 3070A e-All-in-One-Printer. I think it serves its purpose quite right. :)

    Posted by Kerem Erkan | September 26, 2011, 1:12 pm

  2. The code on the left worked for me! I got to a mobile optimized page with product info - nice!

    Posted by Jorgen | September 26, 2011, 1:22 pm

  3. The landing page URL is http://h41145.www4.hp.com/qr/printers.php?prod=CQ191B&cc=gb&ll=en&jumpid=QR|IPG|CQ191B|EMEA

    It did not work on an Android phone. It did not work on FireFox, or Chrome.
    Just tested it on a Safari browser and it works fine there. So far, it appears like it works for iPhone users only!

    Posted by Victor | September 26, 2011, 2:56 pm

  4. It worked on my Android, so I don’t think that is the case.

    Short URL:
    http://scn.by/9t9ab0htw8h3vn

    Target URL:
    http://h41145.www4.hp.com/qr/printers.php?prod=CQ191B&cc=uk&ll=en&jumpid=QR|IPG|CQ191B|EMEA

    Posted by Jorgen | September 27, 2011, 9:16 am

  5. @Jorgen, I’ve spotted the difference between my URL and yours. If you examine the cc parameter in the URL, one reads &cc=uk whilst the other reads &cc=gb.

    It appears like they are using an IP address database library that returns the country code which is then used to construct the target URL. The library returns either UK or GB. The file to be shown to the user uses UK as part of its file name. This is why I’m getting “File name provided does not exist: HPFiles/CQ191B/CQ191B_gb_en.xml”.
    This is a minor bug with their code, but can affect some users.

    Posted by Victor | September 27, 2011, 1:31 pm

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