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How can I get my HP printer to print in black and white only even when one of my color cartridges is out?

I use a Mac to print with my printer and for whatever reason just because my Magneta cartridge is out it won't let me print in black and white by just using the black cartridge which is full. Does anyone know any way around this? I read online that this is a marketing strategy used to get more people to buy colored ink even when they don't need it and could just use black ink.
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Heartlander · 80-89, M
There may be a work around option via the front panel setup. It may not be a black only, but it may be an option to continue printing regardless of whether one of the toners is being reported as empty. So, if what you are printing is black on white paper, and if the magenta toner is completely and actually empty, it should still print as back.

Our experience is that there may be hundreds and hundreds and maybe thousands of pages worth of toner still in the toner tanks even though HP wants to shut you down.

My reference is a HP-4700, but I think it also worked for other HPs we previously owned. The how-to details are in the million page owner's manual somewhere with the lead in being about overriding HPs toner limitations. I would imagine the there would be a similar override for ink jets.