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HP Recommended
Office Jet Pro 6978
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

I have a HP Office Jet Pro 6978 and it will not print anything in black. I installed a new HP print head and that did not solve the problem. I installed HP Smart just now and I can print a document from my HP laptop through HP Smart and it prints black just fine. When I try to print from a document placed on the screen it will not print black at all. The same applies to scanning a document. I cannot scan using the printer screen (scanner) but using HP Smart I can control the printer and scan anything I want through the laptop commands using HP Smart. Please help me solve this one.

 

I see a lot of people having the same problem with printing black. I am thinking this is a software problem in the printer and HP needs to own up to it. I would appreciate your comments and suggested solutions.

14 REPLIES 14
HP Recommended

@Richard_29

 

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

 

Reset the printer to clear certain error states, and then check the power source to make sure the printer is getting enough power to operate the copier.

  1. With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the printer, disconnect the power cord from the power source, and then wait 30 seconds.

  2. If you are using a power strip or multi-plug adapter, connect the cord directly to a wall outlet to make sure the printer is getting enough power.

  3. Reconnect the power cord to the printer, and then try making a copy.

    • If the issue persists, connect the printer to a different wall outlet to determine if the original outlet is causing the issue.

If the issue persists using a different wall outlet, partially lift the scanner lid, and then press the Copy button or icon. If the scanner light does not illuminate or move across the glass, it could be a hardware issue.

 

Let me know if this helps.

 

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

 

Thanks!

 

Have a great day!


I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

I have tried all of your suggestions days ago and nothing works. To be kind, I followed your instructions and still nothing works. I also used a volt meter on the outlets and they are all to code and function properly.

From my laptop I have full control over the printer and scanner using HP Smart as a platform. I can print black, color, scan anything I want, when I want. I can even use the printer control panel, scan a document using the OCR command and send the document to my laptop...... works perfectly!

The ONLY thing I cannot do using the printer control panel is to copy a document using black ink.

To repeat; I CAN print a document of any kind that requires black ink from my laptop. This works perfectly!

HP Recommended

Are you able to copy from the feeder?

 

Try a firmware update: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/ish_1776648-1643972-16

 

Let me know if this helps.

 

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

 

Thanks!

 

Have a great day!


I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

Printing from the document feeder does not work either.

 

I tried downloading the latest  firmware as part of my troubleshooting process and the most recent is already installed (the message I got when I followed your instructions. The version installed is:

Firmware Version MCP2CN2049AR Built Date 2020-11-30

 

I am working from my home and as I mentioned I can access the printer from my laptop. I am currently able to get by but I do need this printer for other conventional uses. ALL of my home and both offices are equipped with HP PC's Laptops, and Printers. This is the first time that I cannot find a solution to an issue. The challenge is yours and I appreciate your efforts to solve this one.

HP Recommended

Alright, so copying in any color does not work from scanner glass and feeder, correct?


I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

I am having the same problem of not being able to print the black color.  The other colors print fine.  I am able to print a PDF using HP Smart but it only prints black in grayscale and it is very hard to read.

HP Recommended

@opie65

 

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

 

Which Printer do you have?

 

Thanks 🙂


I am an HP Employee

HP Recommended

I wrote a detailed summary of everything I tried to solve the problem (over 2 pages) and when I tried to send the reply I received a note that my account could not be authenticated and the entire document was lost.  Frustrating to say the least!

 

When I print from my laptop using the "HP Smart" platform, and I set the default color to black ink, I do not get a printed document, just a black page. When I set the default to print in color, and I feed a word document of text only I get a perfectly printed page in black.  When I want to print a document in color which includes text in black, the document prints perfectly.

 

The black only command either through HP Smart or through the printer screen directly does not work. When trying to print a copy of the same color document with black text as above directly fed through the printer using the control panel, the color portion prints correctly but the black does not print at all. 

 

And YES, I tested the scanner ant that works perfectly scanning to my laptop and using HP Smart as the the control platform. I used the printer control panel to scan a document and convert the text to OCR and send the document to my laptop and that works well also.

HP Recommended

In the second paragraph above it should read "blank page" NOT "black page"

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