HP Photosmart Premium C310A..

[Jennifer14]

HP Photosmart Premium C310A..Error message says the smaller black ink cartridge is missing. 

I bought an XL Black and put it in the larger slot. I threw away the smaller cartridge and now the printer will not work at all with an enpty slot.  I went to the store and bought a new back cartridge that did not say XL on the box.  When I got home it IS an XL and wont fit into the smaller slot. The stores around here do not carry the smaller cartridge for black anymore.  This is so frustrating.  This printer has been a huge disappointment. Even when I have all brand new cartriges I only get about 10 pages before the ink is gone. That's $3.00 per page to print, black only or color.( BS.)

How do I get this printer to by-pass the smaller empty cartridge slot and read the larger one?

[Bob_Headrick · Accepted solution]

The smaller "black" cartridge is a photo cartridge.  You will need to replace the photo cartrdige, the printer cannot print without all the cartridges installed.  (Further - removing a cartridge for an extended time will allow the printhead to dry out, which may cause permamant damage....)

The document here may help in identifying the proper cartridge.

Figure : Photo ink cartridge with camera logo

Figure : Black ink cartridge

Black and Photo cartridges also have different label icons:

Figure : Photo ink cartridge

Figure : Black ink cartridge