Photosmart C6380 Ink Cartridge Problem Cartridge appears to be missing or damaged

[W_D_R]

When I installed a brand new HP black cartridge, after the existing HP black cartridge showed no black ink on paper, the message on the small screen said 'Ink Cartridge Problem - The following Ink Cartridge(s) appear to be missing or damaged' and it indicated the black cartridge was at fault.  I tried another new HP black cartridge and had the same outcome.

I cannot use the Clean Printhead facility/tool whilst the message remains!

I have reset the printer (several times) by unplugging the power cord from the printer whilst the power was on, waiting at least 30 seconds and then reconnecting the power cord to the printer.  All to no avail.

Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

[W_D_R · Accepted solution]

After trying many suggestions from the Forum, including cleaning the printhead twice, I gave up all hope and removed all connections to my Photosmart C6380 and instead began investigating other (non-HP) printers.  Several days later (I'm slow choosing new equipment!), I thought I would connect my printer to my computer for one last try.

AMAZING RESULT! 

The printer recognised all 5 HP cartridges  whereas it had previously been saying the (new) black cartridge was either missing or empty.  It then automatically proceeded to clean and align the cartridges, taking over ten minutes in the process, and finally it printed a sheet proving the printer was working again.  I had to restart the computer before I could print normal sheets.

It seemed to me that isolating the printer for a long period meant the printer lost all saved 'information' and so had to start again from new.

[coryhateshp]

I was haveing a problem with the missing cartridge with the black when I went to replace. Bought 2 from 2 different stores. Same error. Wanted to bash the printer. As a last resort I took out all cartridges and closed lid. All missing. Then inserted only the black. Holy **** its there. Reinserted others and fixed problem. Good luck

[ausshpuser]

I had same missing or damaged Black cartridge issue. Had tried cleaning contacts on the cartridge and in the printer with distilled water without luck. Also tried the wiggle of contact points trick, noticing the tension, still no luck. Tried the old Black cartridge which had been working, though running empty (with all other working cartridges in place) missing or damaged error remained.

Tried coryhateshp solution - removed all cartridges with printer on, reinserted troublesome Black closed lid, however it didn't work for me. Tried the same solution but with the working Photo Black, this being the cartridge on the other end of the carriage, guess what? this now came up as missing or damaged. I considered tension balance might be an issue. Is the tension of the printers cartridge contact points spread across the carriage? If so, do some troublesome cartridges prefer greater tension from the carriage contact points? Why would removing all cartridges and reinserting a doggy one suddenly fix a fault for some but not me? Is the order you replace cartridges in the carriage a factor?

Sounds silly but... Opened lid and removed all cartridges, closed lid and allowed the printer to report all cartridges were missing or damaged. Opened lid, replaced two colour cartridges Cyan and Yellow and closed lid. Cyan being in the centre position of the carriage. Cyan and Yellow found all other cartridges correctly listed as missing or damaged. Opened lid replaced in order Magenta and then troublesome Black, closed lid, success! Black now found! However, when reinstalled the Photo Black the printer reported it missing or damaged! Fixed this by Opening lid removing both Photo Black and Magenta, reinstalling Photo Black and then Magenta in that order. Closed lid all cartridges found.

Perhaps playing around with the order in which you populate the carriage with cartridges might be a last resort before buying a new printer. I suggest installing centre cartridge (cyan) followed by both blacks then yellow and magenta. Good luck.