scanner trouble

I unknowingly made a huge mistake.

I have an old canon printer/scanner that I've only used to scan things for years.
Recently I thought I would price the black ink (both the color and black have been empty for that long also)...I removed the black to get the numbers and threw away the empty color cartridge since I knew I wouldn't replace it ever.   It turns out the black ink is way more expensive than I find worth it.

So.
I threw away the color when I removed the black cartridge (in the box at the store where they say they recycle them) and was going to do the same with the black until I went to use the scanner and it didn't work.

I go to Canon's site and find I need BOTH cartridges in place empty or not in order to use the scanner....if I had BOTH empty cartridges in place I could hold a button down and it would bypass the notice that I was out of ink which I think I've done in the past when scanning and out of ink.

I'm not buying a new scanner.  I did try peeking in the box to recycle empty cartridges at the store but my hand wouldn't fit inside and the person working there is not helpful.

This is after Phil so kindly helped me with software for this old scanner and my old laptop and all was working well...before I removed the cartridges.

and it looks like the slot for the colored ink is larger so even If I bought some black ink I would not have BOTH slots filled as required.

Why do 'they' make things so difficult?

We don't scan stuff though occasionally use a printer.

Every time I go to use a printer the ink is dried up and buying a new ink cartridge doesn't work for some reason so I have bought my last printer, ever.

I tell people I cant print stuff so don't expect to email me stuff they want me to print and my post office no longer has a printer that works so I am up a creek without a paddle ...

oh no!!! this is the classic example of companies 'enshittifying' their products to make consumers accept ever-worsening conditions.
(enshittification, with a bit about the man who coined the term: https://www.npr.org/sections/planet-money/2025/10/21/g-s1-94264/a-theory-why-the-internet-is-going-down-the-toilet )

i have what seems to be the same printer/scanner- i leave my empty ink cartridges in, and then take them for refilling when I need them. Lately, though, I've been sending my print jobs to the print shop up the road, which seems to involve fewer hassles.

It seems to me you have two choices- maybe you can find someone nearby via craiglist or whatever it is people use now who can give you old printer cartridges, or you need to buy new ones (cheaper than the scanner, i hope)-- if it enables you to use the scanner longer, and costs less than replacing it, i think it's a 'pay to learn' sort of situation.
if I were in the US I would ask to put up a sign in the library, or maybe talk to people i know who might have the same printer. lots of people hang on to the cartridges. Heck, maybe even here on Permies you might find someone who might be willing to send you some empties.

eBay is a good place to buy printer cartridges and they also sell refill kits for the DIY.

You might be able to just buy the one cartridge you need.

For better or worse, scanners are becoming somewhat obsolete. Many people use their cellphones to take pictures of documents instead.

Keep an eye on Craigslist, you might find someone giving one way (or maybe find a cheap used one on Ebay).
If you happen to go that route, be sure it comes with the software.

thanks everyone!

I've been using this scanner for a genealogy project...trying to put an ebook sort of thing together on my laptop for family so most of what I've scanned in and then stored on memory sticks is old old photos and letters (many from more than 100 years ago) ..a very few documents.

This glitch has me rethinking things.

I've been working on this slowly for years, the scanning anyway, so maybe I can call this a sign, call that part done and get rid of one more electronic device.

does your local library have a scanner? the one 10 miles from my house has a tech dept with copy scan print services...  they print 10 cents per page black & white,  50 cents for color... not a bad option for occasional needs.

j. syme...thanks for the suggestion.
my project is scanning individual photos and letters...lots of paper shuffling that I wouldn't attempt at our library😊

just in case someone has an empty color cartridge sitting around for a canon MG2400 printer I would happily pay shipping...It would have to be that as no other will fit, not even a black ink one.

Have you looked at the area where the cartridge inserts to see if there is a way to make it "think" like there is one in there?

You know, like a switch on the washing machine lid or something similar. Or even contacts that could have a jumper wire inserted between them like the safety switch on a riding mower seat.

Les Frijo wrote:Have you looked at the area where the cartridge inserts to see if there is a way to make it "think" like there is one in there?

You know, like a switch on the washing machine lid or something similar. Or even contacts that could have a jumper wire inserted between them like the safety switch on a riding mower seat.

that's a great idea!
have not tried but am going to soon...probably not this evening but will let you know one way or another!

Judith Browning wrote:

Les Frijo wrote:Have you looked at the area where the cartridge inserts to see if there is a way to make it "think" like there is one in there?

You know, like a switch on the washing machine lid or something similar. Or even contacts that could have a jumper wire inserted between them like the safety switch on a riding mower seat.

that's a great idea!
have not tried but am going to soon...probably not this evening but will let you know one way or another!

Maybe a long shot but worth a look.

Please remember to unplug it first before you go poking around!

I have downloaded a free app called Cam Scanner onto my Android phone that allows me to scan single and multiple documents onto my phone.

The free version contains advertisements when you open the app and has a watermark at the bottom of the page.

If the watermark bothers you, save the scanned documents/photos to the photo gallery of your phone and crop them so the watermark doesn't show.

The scanning app allows you to sharpen the images/resolution of the documents too.

Then you could plug your phone into your laptop, upload them and or transfer to the memory stick.

Here's a photo of a recipe showing the watermark at the bottom left of the page.

Les,
No luck bypassing or faking out the color ink cartridge connection....apparently it's electrical.
(it was unplugged😊) definitely worth trying!

Thanks Megan!
I'll look into that although I don't have a patch cord for this phone to the laptop nor the adapter to load things directly from this phone to a flash drive.
I could do that with my old phone.

why can't all the connections be standard?