HP OfficeJet Pro 8610: "One or more cartridges are missing or damaged" and carriage stuck on right

[Volodja68]

I’ve been using original HP cartridges with my HP OfficeJet Pro 8610 printer without any issues however, recently, after replacing the empty Magenta cartridge with a new XL one, I encountered the dreaded error "Printer or Ink System Failure."

Initially, I followed the steps outlined at this HP support page, including cleaning the printhead, but with no success. When I reinserted the old empty cartridge, the error disappeared. Suspecting the new cartridge might be the issue, I purchased another new one, but unfortunately, the same error persisted.

Next, I accessed the hidden support menu as described here and performed the semi-full reset procedure multiple times, even clearing the logs. While the "Printer or Ink System Failure" error disappeared, it was replaced by "One or more cartridges are missing or damaged" specifically referring to the new Magenta cartridge.

I repeated the semi-full reset procedure using two original setup cartridges (Black and Cyan—unfortunately, I couldn't find the other two setup cartridges). This time, all errors disappeared, but I was unable to print because the two setup cartridges were empty. When I replaced them back, I encountered two different issues: either the "One or more cartridges are missing or damaged" error referring to the new Magenta cartridges or, when I inserted the old empty Magenta, an indication that the Black and Cyan cartridges were empty (which might be true for Black, as it was low before the tests, but Cyan is definitely full).

At this point, I assumed the problem might have been caused by performing the semi-full reset without the two missing original setup cartridges (Magenta and Yellow). I attempted the workaround described in this forum post, enabling the "trade OOBE" option and also replacing the Black cartridge with a new XL one. However, upon restarting, the "One or more cartridges are missing or damaged" error referring to the new Magenta cartridge reappeared, and the carriage became stuck on the far right.

Now, I can’t access the support menu (due to the error message) or the cartridges themselves. At this point, I’ve lost hope of fixing the printer, but I’d at least like to unlock the carriage to retrieve the two new XL cartridges I inserted.

[Volodja68]

For the records I managed to unlock it as follows: in the comments of an old YouTube video, I found instructions on how to access the Manufacturing (MFG) menu and perform an Out Of the Box (OOB) reset:

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Once the printer restarted, I was able to manually move the carriage, remove the cartridges, and then take out the printhead.

Then I decided to clean the printhead contacts again and try reinserting the cartridges. The printer powered on, and the carriage began moving normally. After completing the setup, the Black and Magenta cartridges were correctly detected as full; however, the Yellow cartridge showed as empty (which might be the case), but the Cyan cartridge also showed as empty, despite being full of ink. Maybe the problem is that upon restarting, the printer reported a non-original cartridge or one with a damaged chip (or something like that).

Now, I’m unsure if it’s worth spending more money to purchase new Yellow and Cyan cartridges. To save money, I could try non-original cartridges, but I’m concerned that my firmware version may not allow their use.

In the MFG menu, there was also an option to reflash the firmware, but without the manual, I’m afraid of making a mistake.