My Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479 won't print in color, even though it thinks it is

[godspawned]

My printer won't print in color anymore. I've been though all of the system settings, job settings, HP Smart Settings, and other printer settings 4-5 times or more - everything is set to print in color.  When I go to the Color Usage Job Log - all my documents/photos show they are printed in color and not mono.  I am using the latest firmware and drivers.  I'm power-cycled, unplugged and let it sit a while, etc. Everything I can think of and read about.  I've also tried to make color copies on the device, bypassing the PC and it still is in black and white, so I think the issue is on the printer itself.  The Demo and supply pages are only printing in black and white.

Backstory:

Everything was printing fine in color across the windows machine and 2 macbooks we have.  Then one day I got a low toner warning for my yellow.  A couple of prints later and it was in greyscale mode.  At that time I checked all the settings to make sure nothing was set to print in greyscale on low toner alerts - and it wasn't everything is set to always print in color. The "very low cartridge settings" are set to "continue" (not stop, prompt, or print black).   After a while I got frustrated and bought new (HP Compatible) print cartridges, thinking it was some setting I could not override. I installed them and printed 2 beautiful full color pages.  My wife went to print something and we were suddenly back to black and white (on her laptop, mine, and the copy feature on the printer again).  It's not her settings - they are all set to color.  I re-installed the original print cartridges, but nothing. I reinstalled the new cartridges, and nothing (including power cycles and lots various combos - I am normally quite good at troubleshooting).  So it's just stuck on greyscale. 

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!