Identifying apparatus, apparatus to be identified, identifying method, and printing apparatus

摘要

In a process unit, an encoder encodes a code into a response code by a logic in which identification information output from a CPU of a main unit is set and then returns the response code to the main unit. The logic of the encoder can be rewritten. The logic is set as a first logic at the time of shipment and it is rewritten as a second logic under the control of the CPU after the start of use. In the main unit, encoders encode identification codes into first and second specific codes by the first and second logics, respectively, and collators collate these specific codes with the response code. The CPU identifies a status of the process unit according to whether they coincide with each other or not.