All my ink cartridges "appear to be damaged" despite being brand new.

[ash1theprincess]

My printer ran low on black ink, so I replaced it with a genuine HP 950XL ink cartridge from amazon. Then, after a brief "Preparing Printer" screen, it decided that the color cartridges were empty. However, before I swapped the black cartridge, they were showing over half full. I thought this was strange so I came on here and I did all the usual stuff. I cleaned contacts, aligned the printhead, checked for obstructions, and, despite being able to hear the ink slosh when shaking the 'empty' colors, I caved and bought new HP 951XL color cartridges. After another "Preparing Printer" screen, it gave me the message, "One or more cartridges appear to be damaged" with all four cartridges displayed. 

I'm at my wit's end.

Inserting them one at a time, it shows that all 4 new cartridges are full, but never at the same time. If that "Preparing Printer" screen is shown (which it always does if all new cartridges are in), the printer whirs for a moment and then tells me to spend ANOTHER 120$ on cartridges.

Is there some way to skip this screen so I can print my documents with my clearly and audibly full cartridges? Or should I just give up and buy a different companies printer.

[Irfan_06]

Hi @ash1theprincess,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

I see that you are facing an issue with your printer that has an ink cartridge error.

A) Please follow the steps below to perform a power drain.

1) Take out the cartridges

2) Unplug the power cord from the printer & wall.

3) Press and hold the power button down for 15 seconds and release the power button, wait for about 30 seconds.

4) Plug the power cord back into the printer and wall, ensure the printer is plugged into the wall & not into a surge protector.

5) Insert the cartridges back into the printer.

Remove the cartridges > Unplug the power cord > Wait for 30 seconds > Plug the power cord back in > Insert the cartridges

B) Kindly refer to the steps on this link to update the printer firmware and let me know if that resolves the issue.

C) If the issue still persists, refer to the steps on this link to further troubleshoot.

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day

Irwin6

HP Support