HP Laserjet 2600 or 2605 toner: “Replace supplies” is a lie
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
I’ve had a Laserjet 2605dn for a few years. It’s been a pretty good printer, but I’d like to throw it in the bin. But first, if you will:
fraud, n.
1. A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
2. A piece of trickery; a trick.
3. a. One that defrauds; a cheat. b. One who assumes a false pose; an impostor.

It’s no secret that printer companies don’t make any money off the actual printers. The supplies (like toner) are where they make their millions.
When all three of my cyan, magenta, and yellow cartridges in my HP Laserjet 2605 ran out of toner simultaneously (i.e., on the same page), I was immediately suspicious. The printer’s LCD flashed “Replace Supplies” and refused to print another page (even grayscale!) unless I replaced all three cartridges, to the tune of about $300 CAD.
My suspicion was confirmed when I pulled the yellow cartridge and realized it was almost full. The printer ticks a counter every time a page is run through the printer, which has nothing to do with how much toner is actually consumed.
Thankfully, there is a printer setting that HP probably doesn’t want you to know about.
How to use ALL of the toner in your HP Laserjet 2605 or 2600
- On the printer itself, hit the big green checkmark button to access the menu.
- Select System Setup -> Print Quality -> Replace Supplies.
- There is likely an asterisk (*) beside “Stop at out”.
- Hit the > arrow once, and the display should read “Override out”.
- Press the checkmark to confirm that (the asterisk should now be beside “Override out”).
- Back out of the menu. The LCD should now display “Override in use”, meaning, you can now continue printing for as long as you actually have toner in the cartridges (and beyond, probably).
Thank you HP, for providing this “feature”, and for burying four levels into a completely non-obvious menu. I guess they had to call it “Print quality”, because “Not paying triple on already overpriced toner” wouldn’t fit on the LCD. Now we know how they turn a healthy profit on their oh-so-green cartridge recycling program. (“It’s free!”)
HP does describe this feature on their knowledge base. They also strongly recommend against using it, because it may cause “Color matching and other print quality defects related to the absent(sic) of a color.” Ha! Who would have thought. Oh, and–better yet–this feature voids the warranty on the toner you were about to throw out send to HP for recycling anyway.
Yes, printer companies have done this before, and yes, I’m still page flipping mad about it. If this article saves one poor soul the expense of $300 worth of toner cartridges, it’d make my day.
[Photo credit: jepoirrier (flickr)]
For me, professional improvement almost happens by default. My main method of improvement comes from ever-so-slightly pushing the boundaries of my knowledge on every new project I accept. I never take on anything that isn’t a good match for my skills, but I do take on work that will force me to grow in some small way. I also invest a lot of personal time into learning more about my craft, and developing projects purely for personal reasons. I do not consider this “work”, but it has absolutely helped my career.
Note well: This type of promotion is not selling. If your promotion consists of begging people to buy from you, odds are good you’ll be ignored completely. Promotion literally means “advancement”, which could be interpreted as the advancement of a cause, or a goal. Your goal is to advance your own personal brand. Promote yourself, not your products and services.