U163: The following ink has run out. Replace the ink tank.This can be a pain, especially when you want to scan, or if you still have black ink and that's all you need to use. There are two methods that will work to temporarily clear this until you are able to get new ink (which, by the way, is much, much cheaper if you use generic brands). These may also work for other Canon printers, but I haven't tried it. (Update: one or both methods have been confirmed to work on several Canon PIXMA models, including the JX210P, MG5220, MG5270, MG5470, MG6320, MP220, MP280, MP470, MP495, MP560, MP620, MP640, MP970, MP980, MX310, MX882, and MX885; more information might be in the comments. Thanks for the info!)
The first method uses the printer's "factory mode". There are some interesting settings in here, but I'm not sure of what everything does, so be careful with them. This works temporarily (as it seems to reset after a few days), and does not permanently disable ink level detection (as it correctly showed full ink after replacing it):
- Unplug the printer.
- Press and hold the Power button while plugging the printer back in.
- Continue to hold the Power button and press the Reset button twice.
- Let go of the Power button and wait 10 seconds. It will eventually show the number 1 on the LCD.
- Once the printer also shows "Idle" on the screen, cycle through the settings with the left and right arrow buttons until you see "USER MODE POWER OFF". Press the OK button.
- You should now be able to print or scan.
