In the episode Marooned in Series 3, Rimmer smells and fire and makes the wrong assumption that Lister's guitar was made of 'canfer wood' rather than the reality that Lister has cut a piece out of Rimmer's chest.
Since Rimmer is a hologram it would be impossible for him to smell that it was canfer wood burning, or indeed for him to smell at all.
You're assuming that the holograms are pure light, and therefore incapable of interpreting scent because scent doesn't affect light. By that reasoning, Rimmer would be unable to hear or speak since light cannot generate or interpret sound vibrations.
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