Missing or failed printhead

[rhorho16]

My Officejet 6600 just suddenly gave me an error message during printing, "The printhead appears to be missing, not detected, or incorrectly installed."  What does that mean?  I try to push the 'Show Me' button for it to give additional information, but that does nothing.  

[Jeet_singh]

Hi @rhorho16,

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I understand you are getting an error message on your HP OfficeJet printer. I'll be really glad to help you with this,

To provide you with an accurate solution, I'll need a few more details:

Have you made any software or hardware changes on the printer before the issue started?

Are you using genuine HP ink cartridges?

What is the operating System installed on the PC? Is it Windows or Mac OS 

In the meantime, let's try these steps here:

Step 1: Power and Ink Reset:

1. With the printer powered ON, open the front door on your printer and remove ALL of the cartridges
2. Set the cartridges aside
3. Close the cartridge access door. No cartridges should be installed in your printer.
4. With the printer ON, disconnect your power cable from the rear of the printer
5. After 60 seconds, plug the power cable back in
6. Your printer should turn back on on its own
7. Once the printer is powered on it will prompt for the missing ink
8. Open the cartridge access door and install just the black
9. Close the cartridge access door. Now, the printer should prompt for the remaining missing cartridges.
10. Open the cartridge access door, install the next cartridge and close the door
11. Our goal here is to see if one specific cartridge triggers the printhead error. If still no error and your printer prompts for missing ink, open the cartridge access door and install the next cartridge.
12. Lastly, open the cartridge access door and install your final cartridge. Close the door once all 4 cartridges are installed.

If you get the printhead error again you may want to remove all the cartridges again and reinstall them 1 at a time again but the opposite way this time to see if the error is triggered again with the same cartridge or once all 4 cartridges are installed.

This is a bit of a tedious process but if just the yellow cartridge (for example) triggers the error then you most likely have a defective yellow cartridge and by replacing that cartridge with a new yellow your printer should return to normal. However, if the Printhead Missing error only happens when all 4 cartridges are installed then we're back to a printhead hardware failure on your printer.

Should the Printhead Missing error remain, please proceed to the next step?

Step 2: Update Firmware:

Defective programming on your printer may cause the built in Printhead to not be detected properly. To ensure that corrupt Firmware is not causing your error, please click here to download the update. Once the website opens select the Download button at the top. When prompted, allow the download to Run. Follow any onscreen steps to update the firmware.

For more details, please follow the steps suggested in the support document for - HP Officejet Printers - 'Missing or Failed Printhead' Error - Click here

Please respond to this post with the result of your troubleshooting. I look forward to hearing from you. 

If you wish to help others looking for the same solution as you've found, mark the post as Accepted Solution.

If you wish to show appreciation for my effort, please click the Thumbs up icon at the bottom of my comment.

And I Hope you have a good day, Ahead.

Regards,

[goodhelper]

Hi rhorho16,

It seems your printer has some issues with the printhead:

-- If the printhead is removable, you can take out the printhead, take out all the supplies, check if there's any extra ink leaking out, gently clean the printhead and insert it back to the printer, power cycle printer and insert back the supply one by one, check if the message is gone.

-- If the printhead is not removable, then take out all the supplies, check if there's any ink leaking, clean it, insert supply one by one, power cycle printer if needed, check if the message is gone.

Hope above information could help you!