How to print without yellow toner cartridge in a laser printer

Question

I accidentally broke the yellow cartridge of my brand new Laser Printer hp CP1215. I want to just use only other colors like magenta and cyan etc. But the printer is not printing at all because there is no yellow cartridge.

Is there a way out to print using other colors like magenta or cyan? I want to do only text typing (highlighting) using these colors.

I am using Windows 7 Ultimate and HP Color Laser Printer CP1215

Solution

This is really for the HP CP1210 series but nevertheless, it doesn't hurt trying. From Page 51 of the HP Manual:

Cartridge out override

An Order Supplies message appears when a print cartridge is nearing the end of its life. A Replace Supplies message appears when the print cartridge is depleted. To ensure optimal print quality, HP recommends replacing a print cartridge when the Replace Supplies message appears. Print-quality problems can occur when using a cartridge that is depleted, resulting in waste of print media and toner from other cartridges. Replacing a print cartridge when the Replace Supplies message appears can prevent this waste.

The Cartridge out override feature in the HP Color LaserJet CP1210 Series Toolbox allows the product to continue using a print cartridge that has reached the recommended replacement point.

You can enable or disable the Cartridge out override feature at any time, and you do not have to reenable it when you install a new print cartridge. When the Cartridge out override feature is turned on, the product automatically continues printing when a print cartridge reaches the recommended replacement level. A Replace Supplies Override In Use message appears while a print cartridge is being used in override mode. When you replace the print cartridge with a new supply, the product deactivates the override mode until another print cartridge reaches the recommended replacement level.

Enable or disable the Cartridge out override feature

1. Open the HP Color LaserJet CP1210 Series Toolbox. See View HP Color LaserJet CP1210 Series Toolbox on page 43.
2. Click the Device Settings folder, and then click the System Setup page.
3. Next to Cartridge out override select On to enable the feature. Select Off to disable it.

Comments

[Mark Ransom]

The printer may not be able to print without yellow because of government mandated tracking information added to the page. I believe my Samsung adds yellow even when I specifically configure it for grayscale, because the yellow toner is depleting much faster than cyan or magenta. See seeingyellow.com

[DrWho]

@Mark Ransom: Thank you for the clarification. We have to help Governments for security purposes. But the unfortunate aspect is that we are paying for the yellow cartridge even if we don't use it. It is the printer toner cartridge manufacturing company which is benefited. Tracking may be disabled at least when monochrome printing or text only printing is done so that our money is not wasted.

[DrWho]

Thank you for your interest in answering. I want to highlight some text in magenta or cyan to show important points. I want to use black, magenta and cyan colors for text. Changing settings to print only black and white cannot do this.

[Liam W]

Then, unless your printer dirrectly supports it, I don't think there is any way. Sorry.

[DrWho]

Thank you. I would wait and see if somebody found a wayout.

[DrWho]

I have a humble suggestion. If we can block the detection of the yellow toner cartridge by the printer, it will print thinking that there is a functioning yellow toner cartridge. Since I am not printing an image, the result would be acceptable. Printer hardware engineers may know this way out.

[Ryan Allen]

That may work. However, HP drivers are closed source to the best of my knowledge so there is no easy way to achieve this. This may work if you able to at least replace the broken cartridge with an empty one. Most drivers don't care whether a cartridge is empty or not - all they care about is whether the cartridge is present or not. If you can get your hands on a junkyard or a refurbished market, you might be able to get your hands on a yellow cartridge.

[DrWho]

Thank you for the advice. I will try and get back. This may take lot of time to get a used cartridge. May about a week or two.

[DrWho]

I will try that and get back. Probably if we know the sensor for detection of the yellow cartridge, we may as well block it with a black tape. I would like to know your feeling.

[DrWho]

It looks like hp color laserjets are made for picture printing only. People like me who use it for text printing cannot use it unless a color cartridge which is not used also is purchased and installed. Since there is no solution, I have decided to dispose of the color laser printer hp CP1215 and get relieved of the problem of purchasing something which I don't require. Instead of hunting for a used yellow toner cartridge I took this decision to avoid further wastage of time.

[DrWho]

I have disposed of the laser printer and purchased an inkjet. That solved my problem. I hope at least in future laser printer manufacturers will provide this option to ignore the missing cartridge and continue to print with whatever cartridge is available

[DrWho]

Thank you. But this does not answer the question.