Yes, it can and it usually does.
CD/DVD drives and printers use Firmware
Firmware
Yes
it tells you.
Double clicking on the printer icon shown on the control panel should show what printers are installed.
To find out which printers are installed on a computer, you need to open a hardware window on a Macintosh that shows the installed printers, which can be found under the Apple icon on the far left side of the screen at the top. On a Windows machine, go to the Start menu, then go to Control Panel, then open the Printers menu.
infrared
Printer patches and printer driver
To perform a firmware update on a Mac select Software Update from the Apple menu (top left corner), tick any available firmware updates and click the install button. The firmware update will be downloaded and usually installed in your Applications folder. Ensure your Mac is connected to the mains power supply. When you restart the computer the update will run and will talk you through the process. Depending upon just what is being updated it can take several minutes to complete the updating. You are usually required to restart the computer again to complete the update. If the update does not work disconnect any non essential peripherals - hard disks, cameras, printers etc. and try the process again.
External Devices
Thermal Printer
No the HP all-in-one printers do not print unless ALL cartridges are installed. I own one.