Photosmart wont print black

[mlholdman]

This is my second HP to have printhead errors both in less then 3 years. first it wont recogonize the yellow now the black and as I've read no color in the black block in the  print report then it's  the error 0x61011bed, printhead failure again. Did all the troubleshooting just like before and nothing except for now it says printer failure.  So once again I'm shopping for a new printer I just put all new ink in this one and have 4 unopened that came from multi-packs so I can't return them and none of HP's new printers use 564 ink so I'm out $150.00 in ink. I'm thinking like some of the others as long as I'm out the money I may as well try a cannon. I have used nothing but HP for years and recommeded it to everyone   but the only reliable printer was my oringinal Photosmart I bought in 2005 it still works it just isn't compatable with my computer. I just keep it for making posters. I've notice that with each one I buy they do less and less and they don't last. I also see they don't make the Photosmart any more that should tell you there was too much wrong with them. I really liked them while they were working I do a lot of photo printing for my family and I am trying to finish my Grandson's first baby scrapbook and My oldest grandaughter's wedding album that's why I stocked up on my ink. I print more Photos than anything else that's why I bought them.I noticed a lot of the people are ex HP experts are you ex because you couldn't take it anymore? If anyone else bought a different brand can you let me know how they worked out?

[mlholdman]

edit ink is 564 not 524

[Bob_Headrick]

The troubleshooting steps in the document here may help resolve the printhead failure message on your Photosmart 7520.  If that does not resolve the issue then it may help to soak the printhead as shown in step 6-8 of the document here.

[mlholdman]

I appreciate  that , but I did everything but soak the printhead and I did it several times, I did soak the printhaed in my last Photosmart 310 as a last resort all that did was waste a lot of ink.  I now have over a $150.00 worth of 564XL cartridges that I can't return and can't use because HP doesn't make a new printer that uses them. I never thought I would say it as I am a long time only HP user but I am seriously looking at Epson and Canon as a replacement since I'm already out the money on this ink. I print more photos than anything else which is why I started with Photosmart. I did see that a lot of the new Hp's have gone back to the two cartridge  system that my first one used, and by the way it stil works just the tech is not compatable with my computer.  Thank you, but that was all the same troubleshooting I followed with  both this printer and the last one with no help,  neither lasted even 3 years.

[Bob_Headrick]

I would certainly try soaking the printhead before I gave up, I have seen enough cases of this fixing cases of black not working or printhead failure messages that I would at least give it a shot.  

What is the model of you original Photosmart?  There may be a compatible driver if that is the issue.  The Deskjet 970 driver is a good match for the Photosmart P1000, the Deskjet 990c is good for the Photosmart 1215.  Do you have the actual original Photosmart - the rectangular boxy one that had only a parallel post that was introduced in about 1997?  I do not know if there was a compatible driver for that one, but any later model should be usable even in Windpws 10.

Do you have unopened 564 XL cartridges?  If so it may be possible to exchange them for cartridges that would work in a new printer. For cartridge exchange of HP cartridges unopened and in-warranty see the post here.

If you print a lot of photo's you might look into one of the Envy models that supports Instant Ink. The Instant Ink service is a subscription that charges for a monthly set of pages, with ink supplied automatically.  Unused pages can be carried over up to one month's usage.  There is generally a 50% savings on ink costs, but this is for the average user.  For someone who prints primarily photos the savings are much greater, since the pages are counted regardless of the coverage.  A full page borderless photo counts the same as a simple text page, even though it may use more than 20x as much ink.  

[mlholdman]

My original is a photosmart 2610, I bought it in2005 and used it until 2009 I still use it when I need to make a poster. I'll try to soak the print head, I found one on eBay for$37 I may try. I will let you know if anything works.

[Bob_Headrick]

The Photosmart 2610 was (and is) a nice printer.  It is still supported with full featured drivers through Windows 10.  I have mine set up on a wired network. The full featured driver can be downloaded from HP here.

The full featured driver supports:

Mac OS 9

Mac OS X 10.10

Mac OS X 10.11

macOS 10.12

Mac OS X 10.2

Mac OS X 10.3

Mac OS X 10.4

Mac OS X 10.5

Mac OS X 10.6

Mac OS X 10.7

Mac OS X 10.8

Mac OS X 10.9

Windows 10 (32-bit)

Windows 10 (64-bit)

Windows 2000

Windows 7 (32-bit)

Windows 7 (64-bit)

Windows 8 (32-bit)

Windows 8 (64-bit)

Windows 8.1 (32-bit)

Windows 8.1 (64-bit)

Windows Vista (32-bit)

Windows Vista (64-bit)

Windows XP (32-bit)

Windows XP (64-bit)

[mlholdman]

I thank you for all your help but I'm done, I soaked the printhead, Nada. I bought a new printhead at first it printed a diagnostic page still showing no Black. so I replaced what was a new black with another one. Now it is back  to printer failure.  Missing or Failed printhead. I give in, and since this is the second one to quit on me I just can't trust another HP and I thought I would never own anything else I have told all my friends and family that's what they should buy. NO MORE.  I have already wasted to much money on this I can't justify another HP

[Bob_Headrick]

The Photosmart 7520 may be beyond hope, but what about the Photosmart 2610?   The full featured driver can be downloaded from HP here.  

[mlholdman]

I love that one but it has to be wired and I do need to print from my laptop as well. I haven't used it for more than an occasional poster in a long time I don't know how it would hold up to hours of use at a time. I am doing my grandaughter's wedding album and my youngest grandson's first year scrapbook. I am also making a scrapbook for all my grandchildren's life up to when they hit 21,I call them the first chapter of their life. so when I'm not watching the little one I'm spending hours working on my photo creation's and printing out a variety of size photo's. I'm not sure the old  girl would  be up to it.