Printer won't print anything black after new HP cartridge inserted.

[troubled_7]

I would like to know if the fact that one of the colour cartridges is empty has any affect on printing in black only.  I have already aligned, cleaned printheads and printed the self diagnostic test (it printed in majenta!).  I am frustrated. Before the black cartridge ran out the printer was working.

[MKazi]

@troubled_7

Let me take a moment to thank you for posting on the HP Support Forums. 

MKazi is at your service. 

I understand that you have an HP printer and it does not print using the black ink cartridge only. I read that the color ink cartridge is out of ink. Not to worry, I'll be glad to assist you with this case.

During my research I found that to print in single-cartridge mode, remove one of the ink cartridges, and then continue to print as usual. The printer control panel or computer screen might display a message to install the missing cartridge. To clear the message and continue with the print job, click or press OK. Review the table to see how colors print in single-cartridge mode.

I genuinely hope this information helps. Let me know the outcome.

All the best! 🙂

[troubled_7]

I appreciate your attempt to assist me but sadly this did not work. Neither the control panel on the printer nor the advisory notice on my computer have an OK button nor do they have anywhere that I can place the cursor  and hit enter. I tried enter anyway and it did not work. I do not seem to be able to get around the missing cartridge message.

My printer has  3 colour and one black cartridge and I am wondering if the ALL have to be installed and have ink in order for the printer to work. To find this out I would have to spend another $120 on cartridges. That would be ok if it worked but if it didn't I would then have $180 dollars invested in cartridges that I can't use.  This is more than a small printer for home use would cost.

Does anyone know if the printer MUST have all cartridges with ink installed in order for it to work?

[MKazi · Accepted solution]

@troubled_7

You're welcome. 

Thanks for letting me know that the printer uses multiple ink cartridges (3 color and one black ink cartridge). 

For printer that use only 2 ink cartridges (black and tri color) can print in a single cartridge mode. If one ink cartridge is out of ink, the printer can still print using the other cartridge. Whereas, printers that use more than 2 ink cartridges, must have ink in all the cartridges to print. If any one of the ink cartridges goes out of ink then the printer will enter into an error state and stop working. 

Hope this information helps. Feel free to keep me posted for any further questions.

Cheers! 🙂