But for Rohan, the timing was disastrous. His thesis final review was in three days.
“Service required. Parts inside your printer are near the end of their service life. See your documentation.”
The printer refused to budge. No clicks, no whirrs, no printing. A quick online search revealed the culprit: the .
Rohan knew the physical pads were still full. The resetter had only tricked the software. He now faced a risk: if the pads truly overflowed, ink would seep into the printer’s base, possibly ruining the power supply or logic board. For the short term—finishing his thesis—it was worth it. For the long term, he cut a piece of absorbent craft felt and slid it under the pad area as a DIY overflow catcher. epson m105 ink pad resetter
The device doesn’t clean or replace the physical pads. It simply forces the printer’s internal counter back to zero. Epson designs the printer to treat this counter as a hard stop, but a resetter tells the printer: “The pads are new. Carry on.”
And that small green board? It now lives in his desk drawer, ready to whisper a second life into another trapped printer.
That Epson M105 printed another 1,200 pages over the next eight months before the pads physically leaked. By then, Rohan had saved enough for a new printer. The resetter had bought him time—not a miracle, but a tool for those who understand the difference between a counter and a sponge. But for Rohan, the timing was disastrous
He called the authorized service center. The quote made him wince: ₹2,500 for a “pad replacement” and a manual counter reset. Worse, they’d need five working days. Desperate, he stumbled upon a niche forum post: “Epson M105 ink pad resetter – DIY in 5 minutes.”
It’s a small, standalone electronic device, often no bigger than a USB drive, with a specific chip inside that mimics Epson’s proprietary service interface. Some are software-based, requiring a Windows laptop and a special utility like AdjProg or WICReset . But for the M105, the most common tool is a physical resetter with a wire harness that plugs directly into the printer’s mainboard.
Rohan’s Epson M105 had been a loyal workhorse. For two years, the monochrome ink tank printer had churned out assignment after assignment for his architecture school portfolio, hundreds of invoices for his freelancing gig, and even the occasional boarding pass. But one Tuesday evening, a flicker of amber light and a cold error message on his laptop screen brought that partnership to a halt. Parts inside your printer are near the end
He disconnected the tool, reassembled the scanner, and held his breath as he powered on the printer. The amber light was gone. The printer whirred back to life. A test page slid out—perfectly printed.
He powered off the M105 and opened the scanner unit. Following a shaky YouTube tutorial, he located the 8-pin EEPROM chip on the printer’s mainboard. He attached the resetter’s clip firmly over the chip. One red LED blinked. He held the button for three seconds. The LED turned green.