Incompatible Ink Cartridge(s) Message on HP Photosmart C4480 All-in-One Printer

[Anthony52]

I have now tried every solution on this site and this one was the closest to working it even printed out an alignment page, so thanks for that, but then went back to displaying the incompatible cartridge error. These products are expensive so When it tells me I am using the wrong cartridge when I am using the right one, it is particularly annoying. this seems to be an ongoing problem with the product. The only solution seems to be a new none hp printer.

[jas3311]

One adjustment I made to the bulleted list of actions:

• Press the 3[Copy Color] once

For me, this didn't work. I pushed OK, and that worked.

You'll have to scroll through options to find the "Semi-full reset" option.

May help.

[mrcpelayo]

so far i have followed the instructions to the letter. Found a couple discrepencies with my printer, here is my order of operations:

-press power + cancel to enter set-up (secret menu)

-press scan (button 1 from the top down)

-press copy color (button 3)

-press black and white copy (button 2)

-this enters the actual set-up menu

-press black and white copy (button 2) until you find resets menu

**this is where it differs from your instructions a tinsy bit**

-press ok button on top to select that option, not button 3

-press button 2 until you seesemi-full reset and hit ok

-mine didnt restart itself, i waited 20min and turned it back on myself

it may be important to note that this did not fix my issue.

I will continue to mess with it to get it to work.

[horacejohnkirby]

this message,incompatibale ink cartridges came up on my hp photosmart c4480 all in one printer,

[DevRao]

Hi,

Please check the first reply in this post if all t\s steps like cleaning cartridges have been performed.

[Mahollowman]

I have also tried a great number of solutions posted in this thread and others, with no luck. My situation differs slightly from the others. 
1) i have remanufactured cartridges ( that i have used in this printer in the past, with no problems) and in most cases the steps posted in this thread worked.
2)My message error message switches between "incompatable....." To "installed incorrectly or missing" 
3)On my model the "ok" button is the one i use to select the catagory (as mentioned in this thread)

4) The Steps worked once and i was able to print the article i was trying to print. Then i found another thing i wanted to print, the printer grabbed more than one paper(as it does almost all the time) , Printed displayed the "paper jam" notice, i fixed the jam and now the" incompatable..." error is back again.

Note to HP: I have bought at least 3 HP printers in the past 5 years, i barely print anything and ink usually lasts me years. I will NEVER buy another HP printer.....EVER!!  I will buy any other brand else before i buy HP, even if it cost 3 times as much, it will be worth not having the headache.

To everyone else ty for the info and help

[SIDEMEAT]

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@VPeck wrote:

I changed my color ink cartridge (a 75XL) on Monday, 4/16/12, and everything printed fine on Monday.  I shut off my HP Pavilion Laptop and printer on Monday evening.  Tuesday, 4/17/12, I started working on my laptop and when I tried to print the printer's little screen says "Incompatible Ink Cartridge(s) and the monitor of my laptop says  "The following cartridge has a problem:  Black Ink Cartridge".  I had kept the black ink cartridge in (a 74XL) because it still has plenty of black ink in it.  I have removed both the color and black cartridges, made sure the contact point with the printer is clean, made sure that both cartridges have ink in them and that they are placed in the correct locations (black cartridge on the right and color cartridge on the left).  I don't know why I'm getting these messages and why the printer won't print when it did print on Monday after changing the color cartridge.  Both ink cartridges are XL's, however they are not identical. The black ink cartridge is longer horizontally (stick's out toward the printer cartridge door) further than the color ink cartridge.  Both are the same vertically/in height.  Both cartridges are the "XL" type.  I tried downloading and using the diagnostic tool, and it resulted in saying on the monitor of my laptop that there was no problem with the printer.  Can an HP agent contact me and help solve this mystery.  It's very frustrating as I use only genuine HP products (including both ink cartridges); and if I were to buy new cartridges, how do I know this same problem wouldn't occur?  Help please!  My e-mail is [Personal Information Removed] Thank you.

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[mcdmickey]

I was so excited to find a fix to this Incompatible Cartridge issue.....but I did it twice and the prompts were exactly as written.

Machine shut down, powered up and oops....Incampatible Cartridge.  I'm about ready to dump this printer.

[ethanjrt]

My C4480 won't allow me to use the scan/copy functions without a color cartridge, even though I have no need for color printing: I get the "Print Cartridge(s) missing or not detected" screen, which prevents me from using any of the other options. I tried the secret admin menu, specifically something I saw on YouTube as a fix for incompatible cartridges -- navigating to the checksum option, hitting OK, then Cancel a few times and voila! -- except that the message remains after I cancel out. Help?

Yes, I could go out and buy a color cartridge that I'll never use, but it seems like such a bullsh*t way for HP to make money that I absolutely want to exhaust every other avenue available to me first.


EDIT: resolved and kept here for posterity. The solution (for me) was to get new scanning software -- I followed the steps specific to my OS, helpfully provided at http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Mac-Printing-and-Scanning/Unable-to-scan-using-Photosmart-C4480-All-in-... -- and am now able to initiate the scan from my computer. Copying is another matter, but I guess that if/when I ever need to do that, I can get around it via a scan + print.

[MsApps]

Worked for me. Many, many thanks!!