Black letters print purple, but not on the extended self diagnostic pages.

[Stavrian]

Black letters print purple, but not on the extended self diagnostic pages. Cleaned heads twice, but black characters print out purple. Sometimes the L and l do not print.

[DavidSMP]

Hi @Stavrian,

Allow me to welcome you to the HP community. A very good day to you. 🙂 I understand that you require assistance regarding black that prints purple on the printer while the self-test page looks good. It will be a delight to help you. 🙂

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Spectacular troubleshooting, superb description and splendid analysis of the issue before posting. Kudos to you for that. 🙂 You are a valued Hp customer and I take it as a privilege to share this platform with you. 🙂

For better clarity and to assist you better I would require more information regarding this.

• Did this happen after a software or windows update? Do you remember?
• Did you replace the black cartridge and check again?
• Which app are you printing from?
• Did you try to print in black from multiple apps?

For a start, please make a few copies in black directly from the printer and check if it copies fine.

If it does not then please contact HP phone support to try and replace the cartridge or the printer if it is faulty and has a hardware issue.

Step 1. Open link: www.hp.com/contacthp/

Step 2. Enter Product number or select to auto detect

Step 3. Scroll down to "Still need help? Complete the form to select your contact options"

Step 4. Scroll down and click: HP contact options - click on Get phone number, Case number and phone number appear.

They will be happy to assist you immediately.

If the unit is under warranty, the manufacturer’s warranty should take care of it for you.

If it copies fine, then the issue may be related to the specific app that you are using.

Please uninstall the app and reinstall it and try again. Also, try printing from a different application. This should do the trick for you. If it does not work, then please uninstall the printer software completely by following these steps.

• In Windows, search for and open Programs and Features.
• Select your HP printer.
• Select Uninstall.
• In Windows, search for and open Devices and Printers.
• In the Devices and Printers window look for your HP Printer. If you see it listed, right-click on it and choose "Delete" or "Remove Device.”
• Open up the run command with the "Windows Key + R" key combo.
• Type printui.exe /s and click OK.
• Click on Drivers tab.
• Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it click on it and click Remove at the bottom.
• Select OK.
• Remove all instances of the same.
• Select Apply and OK on the Print Server Properties windows.
• Close Devices and Printers. 

Then please reinstall the full feature software from this link: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/HP-Photosmart-C5100-All-in-One-Printer-series/115353... and choose the correct operating system and follow the on-screen instructions. This should definitely do the trick for you.  I request you to try all these steps patiently to get the issue fixed.

Please keep me posted. I will keep a watch for your reply.

Hope this helps.  Let me know how this goes. I genuinely hope the issue gets resolved without hassles and the unit works great. 🙂  Please reach out for any issues and I'll be there to assist you. 🙂

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos to appreciate my efforts to help.

If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution” as it will help several others with the same issue to get it resolved without hassles. 🙂

Take care now and have a splendid week ahead. 🙂