Image forming apparatus, storage unit controlling method, and storage unit controlling program product

A method of controlling a storage unit for an image forming apparatus including a control unit that controls each component, a first storage unit that is a non-volatile and rewritable storage unit mounted on the control unit, a toner containing unit that contains toner to be used for an image forming, a second storage unit that is a non-volatile and rewritable storage unit mounted on the toner containing unit, and a detecting unit that detects an amount of the toner remained in the toner containing unit, the method comprising:

• storing count information into the second storage unit, the count information counted at the image forming,
• copying the count information from the second storage unit to the first storage unit, when the detecting unit detects that the amount of the toner remained in the toner containing unit is not enough, and
• keeping on storing the count information into the first storage unit, until the toner containing unit is replaced with a new one.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program codes embedded therein for controlling a storage unit by a computer for an image forming apparatus including a control unit that controls each component, a first storage unit that is a non-volatile and rewritable storage unit mounted on the control unit, a toner containing unit that contains toner to be used for an image forming, a second storage unit that is a non-volatile and rewritable storage unit mounted on the toner containing unit, and a detecting unit that detects an amount of the toner remained in the toner containing unit, the program codes when executed causing the computer to execute:

• storing count information into the second storage unit, the count information counted at the image forming,
• copying the count information from the second storage unit to the first storage unit, when the detecting unit detects that the amount of the toner remained in the toner containing unit is not enough, and
• keeping on storing the count information into the first storage unit, until the toner containing unit is replaced with a new one.