Brother Ink Cartridge Not Detected? FIXED!

Sick of that "Cannot Detect" "Reinstall Slowly" problem that never goes away and cold reset will never solve? It's actually because of a stupid chip that prevents me from using Original Brother print cartridges I got from Japan for 1/3 the price, forcing most people to buy only overpriced local cartridges. Here's my solution to beat this scam! Comment below if this works for you!
BTW... Be super careful in detaching that chip. I won't be responsible for non functional cartridges from your carelessness in taking off and attaching the chips!

[@tylerbendis]

Just coming back 6 years later to say this still works and I thank you very much haha

[@globalitbangla]

এই প্রিন্টারটা ব্যবহার করেন এমন কেউ আসলে উত্তরটা দিয়ে যাবেন, আমি এই প্রিন্টারটাতে আলগা কালির ড্রাম সেট করছি কিন্তু সমস্যা হচ্ছে কালি ড্রাম থেকে অটোমেটিক টানছেনা, কালি শেষ হলে আবার হেড ক্লিন দিয়ে কালি আনতে হয়, যারা আলগা ড্রাম সেট করছেন তাদের সবাইর কি এই রকহম হচ্ছে না আমার মেশিনটাতে এই সমস্যা, জানালে উপকৃত হতাম।

[@davidwhittington2248]

Yo Binary Lab - What a GREAT video you have posted about this 'ink cartridge not detected' crap. I figured out on my own swapping the new chip for the old chip on an ink cartridge might fool the Brother printer into thinking the cartridge to be installed was a real Brother OEM cartridge - but I had NO idea how to remove the chip and re-install it on the new after market cartridge that was giving the error message. I never would have figured out the chip 'pops off' with a little delicate pressure. Your video explained exactly how to pop off the chip from the empty cartridge and install it on the after market cartridge. Thank you. I have big gorilla hands, and wrestling with these tiny chips without damaging them was a struggle. I used the end of a paper clip to gently get under the edge of the chip and apply a little pressure until it popped right off. Then my big hands had more trouble getting the chip aligned properly for installation on the after-market ink cartridge. But I finally got the chip aligned properly and it popped right into place. The after market cartridge was then immediately detected and the printer now works properly. Your video should help thousands of people get around the 'cartridge not detected error.' Thanks again.

[@Granddad92]

I used to get replacement cartridges that were not OEM from an online store. They changed to a different brand that gives me intermittent problems. Thanks for the tip, we shouldn't have to by exhorbitantly priced cartridges from the manufacturer.

[@frankrault3190]

Yeah! The first fix online that worked! My printer loves you! Thanks a lot!!!

[@mariar6733]

Oh my God! Brother sent me new cartridges because I had issues with the ones I bought and the NEW ones from Brother themselves could NOT be detected. Switched the chips and VOILA! It works. You are a genius.

[@mikeandannbond402]

Swapping the chips ABSOLUTELY worked for me!

[@sasha1641]

So this is a maneuver by Brother, to force consumers to purchase ONLY Brother ink cartridges. Now I have to go out and buy Brother Inks so I can reuse the chip over and over again. Thanks Binary Lab.

[@Steveorino123]

Actually Sasha Brother is/has been the most lenient when it comes to this out of all the printer manufacturers. Maybe Epson or Lexmark is in there with Brother, but most of the other printers you can't even think of doing this stuff, that is re-use cartridges, without GIGANTIC hassles. I know because I've been there. Brother Printers still leave some leeway, so be grateful!

[@AudiophileTommy]

ALL printers suck !🎉

[@fuelgasscrubber]

@@Steveorino123 Agreed, I chucked my Epson because of the constant non OEM cartridge problems and bought a Brother on the aftermarket companies recommendation. Brother has less problems. 4 years running, sometimes have to replace the chips (every 2-4 years) but the savings is remarkable.

[@stevemaloney7305]

THANKS! In 2024, this still works! I was replacing with original OEM cartridges no less. I swapped out the IC card as prescribed and it works just fine now.

[@lucemering2623]

GREAT hack. Saved my day! The printer didn't recognize the full cartridge of another brand: I exchanged the chips as you demonstrated and it just works. Did you notice there is a battery on this mini chip: I'll test these days whether this battery was the problem due to long cartridge storage... Anyway, many thanks for the hack!

[@fuelgasscrubber]

(Two years later)lol. I've never had a battery change work for me in my aftermarket cartridges, how did you make out?

[@kevan1154]

My son just showed me this video and it fixed the problem immediately. Saved my entire DAY!!

[@sureshparekh6847]

You save my days... The Chips is push fit. Exactly, what you describe, bother sites simply misguide and make you frustrate. Its says, power down, pull out all cartidges, place one by one and each time closed/open cartidge door, then it says push slowly etc BS/// Thank you my friend, you are best.

[@katieb4755]

Genius! Instantly fixed. You saved my day!

[@lamontwebb6843]

I bought one Cyan from Staples and it "Cannot Detect" so I exchanged the old one as you did for the one I just bought and it worked. I can't believe you figured it out! Thank you! Try to explain that to somebody at Staples. They must have purchased cheap ink from offshore and never considered that they wouldn't work so most people would just buy another printer as I was considering.

[@TheBinaryLab]

Glad to know this worked out. They certainly bought some other region's ink!

[@Steveorino123]

Not really Lamont. Read some of the comments and you will see that people have all kinds of problems with brand new OEM cartridges and GENERIC ones. It's almost a crap shoot or the luck of the draw. Lots of factors can cause what you say happened to you. Staples isn't that smart about ink cartridges and with generic stuff anything can happen. Not because of Staples. This cartridge stuff is iffy on occasion. I have a Brother with a Continuous Ink Supply System that I installed on it 3 years ago and it just now, after MANY, MANY, MANY, resetting of cartridges by pulling them out and simply putting them back in, I am experiencing the "cannot detect" bullshit, so here I am troubleshooting for a fix. I have had the $50 system on for 3 years and have probably gone through what would amount to 25-30 cartridges of each color over the three years. That's a lot of cartridges and $$ so I can't complain too much that I'm lookin g at glitch right now. The cartridges are always full with a CISS so all I've ever needed to do was partially remove them from the cartridge slot until the machine senses they are out, then following the digital instructions, put them back in and the printer always thinks it's a brand new cartridge. These buggers are tricky!

[@nehathakur1056]

Hey buddy thank you very much. I have brother DCP L 2550 DW LASER printer. I took out the chip from the old one and put it into the cartridge bought at Amazon. Changed the chips and now it’s working perfectly.✌️👌👍

[@meticulousmike]

Thanks dude!!! Saved my butt!! It's so nice to screw the greedy big box companies once in a while!!

[@nikolasvulaj5851]

Spent hours and found this video and now it works.

[@williamperry9514]

Holy shit, thank you soooo much!! Just ordered a larger ink cartridges for a brother monochrome and it had the same issue. Funny note: The Brother chip was glued in (lightly) and the 3rd party cartridge looked like it was engineered to do this... it has a little clip and plastic seats to set it in. Thank you, again!

[@HinTatChan]

Thanks million! It solves my problem as I moved my printer from one country to another where different cartridges are sold. Luckily I don't need to throw the machine away after all the packaging effort!

[@ajdinmehic9286]

After hours of trying to replace my tonner, I found this video. And it finally worked! I had to get the chip out from old tonner (was difficult to get it out), and put it into the new tonner. Thanks for the video!

[@JamesNicolson-le2rl]

And 7 years later this is still solving problems. Worked on MFC-L2750DW cartridge replacement that was not detected.

[@nicholea5526]

Thank you so much! I used this for my laser printer toner and it worked. Your video is much appreciated

[@stepha7468]

Interesting that you, and others who commented, seem to have trouble with Cyan. That’s the one I’m having issues with also. It was working fine previously, but has recently stopped working altogether. I can’t do a head clean because it tells me there’s no cartridge (‘Install slowly’ 🙄). I can’t even print in black and white due to this error!! Super frustrated that I can’t use a machine I paid $400 for.

[@Fridelain]

IF THIS DOESN'T WORK: (COMPATIBLE CARTRIDGE) TAKE OUT THE SMALL CIRCUIT BOARD. YOU MAY NEED TO LEVER A PLASTIC HOOK AWAY WHILE YOU PRY IT OUT, OR CUT FLUSH SOME PLASTIC RIVET, EITHER WILL HOLD IT IN PLACE. THERE IS A SMALL BUTTON CELL BATTERY ON THE OTHER SIDE, INSIDE A METAL HOLDER. SOME OF THE METAL WILL BE BENT TO HOLD THE BATTERY IN. FOLD IT BACK. PUSH THE BATTERY OUT FROM THE OTHER SIDE WITH A PIECE OF WIRE OR TOOTHPICK. KEEP IT OUT A FEW SECONDS. PUT IT BACK IN. MAKE SURE THE NEGATIVE SIDE WITH THE CIRCLE POINTS TOWARDS THE CIRCUIT BOARD, AND THE POSITIVE SIDE, THAT EXTENDS TO THE SIDE WALL OF THE BATTERY, THE ONE WITH THE TEXT MARKINGS, TOUCHES THE METAL CAGE. THIS WILL RESET THE CHIP. THEN PUT THE CIRCUIT BOARD BACK ONTO THE CARTRIDGE. IT SHOULD WORK NOW.

[@bryangl1]

Never commeent in ALL CAPS ! This is interpreted as shouting., and is also bad manners. You put people off from reading it.

[@insx]

THAT DIDN'T WORK

[@Fridelain]

@@bryangl1 I intentionally did all caps to grab people's attention. I already wasted 20€ on new compatible cartridges I did not need, money I could have better spent elsewhere. I hope to save others the waste and hassle.

[@virginiasavich9112]

Also thanks for the ALL CAPS cause it's easier to scroll and find your post.

[@thanu9795]

this used to work. now they make the chip very thin and it glued..so when you try to peel it off it just tear. greedy bastard

[@Miss-Laine]

what if I dont have the original cartridges anymore : ( is there a fix for that

[@awvawz]

Unfortunately the chip from Brother's own cartridge was a bit too wide to fit in the place for the empty generic cartridge. No go this time. Your instructions are highly appreciated. Thank you.

[@ChristyJames]

I did buy Brother brand ink and it still gave me the same error message, but this totally worked!! Thank you!!

[@stepha7468]

Was it the Cyan tank? I’m wondering if this is a systemic issue with this printer.

[@ChristyJames]

I'm afraid I don’t recall since it has been a while, but have not had any issues with any ink cartridges after this. @@stepha7468

[@fuelgasscrubber]

I use aftermarket refillable cartridges on my MFC-J6930W (from inkowl). Sometimes "cannot detect cartridge" will pop up on a tank (after a year or two) and I'm phuckered.So I bought a full new set of aftermarket cartrige's and replace just the chip when necessary. Most recent chip change didn't work. Cleaned the contacts with a pencil eraser (on the brand new chip that's been in my cupbord for 2 years) and away it went. Wish I'd have started with that. Thanks for the vid, great detail and yeah, if your chip shape is the same size, this definitly works.

[@cillvvv]

OMG it worked...thank you..did this on a brother printer with the large long toner. thanks so much!!

[@joannephillips6781]

That was clever Julian, I'm glad that worked! I will see if I can do that with a printer cartridge in the future, worth having a go! Thank you!

[@TheBinaryLab]

haha! thanks. i know it's not related to binary, but just felt i needed to get this message out there. just hate it when companies try to force you to pay extra for "region-specific" spare parts.

[@JDMHaze]

the USEFUL part of the video starts at 2:18

[@hi-mv6me]

ily have my kids

[@meinradgabriela]

Thanks a lot!!! It worked!!! To change the chip was not easy, but I made it. Many thanks again!!!

[@bgl1082]

It worked for me, but the funny thing is that I always use generic cartridges, except that the new cartridge for some reason was not recognized by the printer, so I did what you showed here, I swapped the chips from the used generic with the new generic cartridge and it worked. Thanks.

[@dangferg1223]

Thank you for your demo. I was fighting with mine for a bit because it did not recognize a cartridge from a brand that I have been using for a few years. After watching, I noticed the little card was completely missing. I just took the card off the the yellow cartridge that I have just removed and put it on the new one

[@peterh3233]

Fantastic video! Thanks for this. Just as an aside, I didnt have a spare legit cyan cartridge but I did have an empty black, what I did was remove the chip off the cyan and remove the chip off the black and on the reverse of the chip there is a tiny battery, I swapped over the batteries and replaced the chip and hey presto! Works!! :) The chips are unique to the particular cartridge so you cant put a black on a cyan or vice versa but it seems if the batteries die it wont recognise the chip.

[@iamspartacus6713]

thank-you for answering my next question lol

[@mikexmartinart]

I can't believe this actually worked! Thanks a lot

[@haroldfaulkner9530]

This worked for me. I have a Brother MFC-J985 and I bought refill cartridges from Refill Bay.

[@launiepoissant-ross3976]

Thank you so so much. This fixed my problem and saved my day truly.

[@paulalewis3389]

I will have to try this! The Genuine ink is so expensive.

[@sarahlarock9885]

My problem with this is that I don’t have any old cartridges to use the chips... argh!!

[@danieltmaide]

Not so successful on my MJC-4620DW Brother printer... I switched the chips on both the cyan and yellow, but neither one of the 3rd party ink cartridges was recognized even with the original Brother ink chip.

[@kermiadjamil4090]

That why I hate printers

[@mrofnocnon]

Brother really needs to stop this kind of behaviour, the constant nickel and dime-ing. My own printer has three of the 4 cartridges nearly full but says all cartridges now need replacing. This is profiteering at its worst!

[@CJMarco-nq1yf]

No. People need to stop buying Brother products. Cheap printers equals expensive cartridges where they try to make their money.

[@ChasMaguire-Bass-Guitar]

Good work - this is a fantastic fix, and only took a few seconds do. I think you need to be very gentle prising the old chip out, but this made my third party (unbranded) printer cartridge work.

[@luisbernardo4280]

Nice, but in fact the cartridge consists of two parts snapped together and with a small screw driver you can pry the two parts apart and then exchange the part with the chip. So you can avoid yanking the chip and instead exchange the case.

[@RamTruckSteeringFix]

Luis Bernardo Luis can you please describe more fully where exactly & how to pry these two parts ? Thanks Brother (lol, you not printer company !)

[@IU_1987]

Yes, I think the method Luis mentions works better. Your cartridge consists of two pieces snapped together by a plastic assembly. Piece 1 houses the ink, piece 2 houses the microchip. Use a small screw driver like one from an eyeglass repair kit to push the plastic back and release the piece 2 from both the original Brother cartridge and your knock-off replacement cartridge. Slide the Brother piece 2 with the microchip onto your replacement cartridge piece 1 containing the ink. Install as usual. I would not have found this without Binary Lab's youtube, and I appreciate that!!

[@MLMandell]

It worked for my no-name ink substitute for Brother MFC-J870DW. I used a magnifying glass and a small pick to lift up the chip.

[@eddiemajcic7383]

My problem is that this error started just on it's own with aftermarket cartridges that were working. I don't have old cartridges that I can take the chip from to replace.

[@guest8485]

I saw another easier hack. Cover the plastic bit where you can see the ink, I covered mine with a black marker. Black tape also works. So basically cover all sides of that transparent bit and then put it back. The printer will recognize that it’s full.

[@dgnzl]

Just did this and it worked. Thank you!

[@adngaming4293]

Hello, Im french et its work !!!!! thanks so much my friend !!!! I was bloqued for 4 DAYS ! thanks

[@redstonepropertyserviceslt1032]

Thank you! genuine Brother cartridge didn't work when installed, swapped the chip from the old one! Amazing!

[@mehlizz]

My original ink stopped working out of nowhere. I removed and placed back in the chip and its back to normal. Thank you

[@sirfra456]

Easily done worked perfectly! Thank you!

[@blackerchaos]

A sticky note works perfect. I just cut off the top strip that has the sticky part with scissors and cut into tiny little squares to cover the looking glass. That was it.

[@StuffedGamer]

still works, not sure if it was the actual chip or perhaps the attached battery that did the trick (LC 3217), but at least I can print with my cheaper cartridges

[@Litbearcat]

You are a rock star! That was genius.

[@nickr1793]

So what about the yellow now? Now you have 2 problems right yellow is not detected and the other one is wrong color.

[@stickman1215]

I just purchased a full price black cartridge at Office Depot and it is still not detecting. I am finished with Brother printers, never again 😡

[@the_brand_express]

worked on my MFC-J6530DW as well, thanks for the tip

[@globalitbangla]

এই প্রিন্টারটা ব্যবহার করেন এমন কেউ আসলে উত্তরটা দিয়ে যাবেন, আমি এই প্রিন্টারটাতে আলগা কালির ড্রাম সেট করছি কিন্তু সমস্যা হচ্ছে কালি ড্রাম থেকে অটোমেটিক টানছেনা, কালি শেষ হলে আবার হেড ক্লিন দিয়ে কালি আনতে হয়, যারা আলগা ড্রাম সেট করছেন তাদের সবাইর কি এই রকহম হচ্ছে না আমার মেশিনটাতে এই সমস্যা, জানালে উপকৃত হতাম।

[@giuliac2288]

worked. simple. awesome. thank you!

[@CJMarco-nq1yf]

Yeah...did exactly that and niente. Took the old cartridge and reinstalled it. Same thing. Now i have an empty cartridge and a full cartridge where neither work.

[@jczerlonka]

You're brilliant, worked like a charm, thank you!

[@vanessaboyd8676]

You're genius! worked like a dream. Thank you :-)

[@bubbles2868]

wouldn;t be so bad if we could actually see what you did there! The video is blurry close up and 3/4 off camera when you showed how to remove the chip

[@Nurseratchet101]

bubbles if u paid attention u would know the 2nd tab was a bit tighter and he said he may have to pause the video. He needed to get a good grip on it cuz (as he also indicated) u have to take care not to break the tab cuz if u do "ur f*cked".

[@ashleyw9195]

Literally just saved my butt. Thank you!

[@RustyShacklification]

just tried this really neat idea but still my printer isn't recognizing it's there and full

[@julianbuss6022]

Once a cartridge runs out of ink the chip will register it as empty and no longer allow you to print. Surely swapping the "empty" chip onto a full cartridge will just tell the printer that cartridge is empty too. How do you resolve this issue? Is there a way to reset the chip?

[@pattybrey9465]

Thank You so much ! Literally, saved me from tossing it. 😊

[@gaviusnguyen1793]

I try it, and it works. Thank you!

[@stepha7468]

What if you don’t have the original cartridge any more?

[@steveschindler2802]

they must have changed something. I have a different model and I was able to use a cheaper ink cartridge several times in the past but now when I went to change out the black it says ink not detected. Its the same cartridge brand that worked in the past so I tried your trick and it still says ink not detected. They must have sent an update or something. I've ordered new ink so i will see if those cartridges work. If not I'll buy a new printer that is not a Brother. It's almost cheaper than buying the OEM ink.

[@bryangl1]

It's excellent that you are sharing your findings with others. But it would be even better if you planned everything and do it as a sequence of shots or takes, then edited together. There are several free video editors available that will do the job nicely, and it is both fun to do, and satisfying when you see what you vave achieved.

[@dalehammond1749]

Brother used to have the best inkjets on the market for economical printing. My J425 lasted 11 years and saved me thousands in cartridges. I wish I had purchased several when they were new.

[@Kittygal09]

I agree...I forget which one my first one was, but it lasted forever. This 2nd one I've got now - 2yo and throwing ink codes. I replaced all cartridges with THEIR ink brand and I'm still getting it can't detect. I'm over Brother.

[@dbiggie11]

Worked perfectly. Thanks for saving me money.

[@eviwidianti5135]

Yes...It worked👌😁 thank you

[@sandyshah3813]

My cartridges for the Brother MFC-J985DW do not have chips

[@hotzesyperda9529]

If you change the chipcard, is it recommendate te check the battery on the back side of the chipcard. It kan be emty. The printer see it as emty cartridge, even as the cartridge is full. That's the discovery of today.

[@janewrin1830]

Alas, the chips didn't match in size so it wouldn't stay on. I would never buy a Brother again.

[@mgarcia2445]

I'm SO sick of my Brother printer! I ended up spending much more on the Brother ink cartridges because I couldn't get this hack to work. But the printer STILL can't detect the ink cartridges, even though they are brand new Brother brand ink! Then I wasted all this time on the phone with support, jumped through hoops, nothing worked. Then they looked up the purchase date, and it's out of warranty. Of course! NEVER AGAIN!

[@shamgar2loser]

Holy crap. I can't believe this worked. Are you god bro?

[@suziewong2181]

Loved your vid. I sooo feel your pain!!!

[@vasusubramanian8326]

Video not clear on the most important thing. Putting the chip back

[@philipbarrowarchangelrapha9105]

simple method but why does it say ink needs replacement when it does not - because its a software problem - they have made the program do this and many have complaint - up date the latest firmware from brother - took me a day to work this out

[@shaikhharith6719]

Now the new printers don’t have the exposed chip… Hmm

[@daveking5009]

Excellent - did the trick perfectly

[@TheBinaryLab]

glad to hear that!

[@jigardedhia]

Thanks for the tip! It worked our well :)

[@wortexinternational2598]

unfortunately did not work for me. I had one cartridge that was working fine and I bought a new "old stock" so i wanted to test it. I put it in, got the "can not detect" message. I put the one I have been using for weeks and now that one is "can not detect" as well.

[@nickr1793]

So how do you clone the chip ? Other wise it’s still useless

[@nickr1793]

Right? I guess I gotta wait until the stores open in the morning?

[@ninja2807]

hi I did swap the chips, and still cant be detected? do have any idea how to solve then?

[@grantcivyt]

Maybe the new chip is also not genuine Brother

[@fuelgasscrubber]

Try cleaning the chip contact's with a pencil eraser (even if it's new). Stupid but free and it just worked for me.

[@stevelines764]

Just buy one of the continuous ink tanks cost me £20 with 4 bottles of ink, installed it 2 years ago and still going strong 1400+ prints later, must of saved me a few £k by now!

[@liandreaandrea5771]

Where did you buy it?

[@anacripps8729]

man, it totally worked. thanks!

[@Steveorino123]

The people in the Brother Ink department say the chip is very smart, not stupid! They would, wouldn't they?

[@lamarcompstamp]

Dropping in to say this is still an awesome hack for Brother printers (worked on my LC3029 for black and color cartridges).

[@stratimang9419]

Worked as a charm!

[@marybethc1189]

Mine didn't work on 2 separate cartridges. The chip pins are intact. Originally, I ordered the wrong cartridges, though they look exactly the same. Guessing, Brother will not give me an exchange after opening the packages.

[@brianstark3578]

just tried this . the whole black base just unclips saves removing chip.thanks

[@tanello2]

im glad i got my Brother at the last moment when the chips where not yet invented on the ink cassette, all i had to do is tape off the lvl indicator window and i was set für a year.

[@SteveSmith-fh6br]

I'll never buy another Brother product again. They can kiss my ass for updating their firmware to not accept these alternate cartridges.

[@producedbyhelaina4029]

Interesting, same thing happened to me. I just gently wiped the chip , didn’t replace it and it worked. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@martinsundqvist7874]

Let's boycott Brother!

[@jamespittman7373]

This works very well, thank you.