HP HSC 950 Printer "Press to Align Cartridges" loop - how do I get it to print?

Hi,
I have a HP HSC 950 All-In-One printer that always returns to the display message "press enter to align print cartridges", even after a complete print alignment is performed and looks fine. I can't get past this to print anything. I've wasted a lot of ink and time trying to get past this message. Can anyone help?
I encouter this error when the printer is plugged into a notebook running Windows XP or when it is connected to a router that accepts print jobs from i-mac computer running OS 10.4. The link below should get you to the HP page featuring the product I am writing about.
Thanks in advance
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=60259&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&jumpid=reg_r1002_usen
This question was solved.
View Solution.

The solution was to replace the color cartridge, as suggested in a previous post by Bob Headrick. Thanks, Bob!
Re: hp psc 2175 align cartridges
Options
11-17-2008 02:33 PM
The message you are seeing is a result of the alignment not completing. Load fresh plain white paper then press enter to print an alignment page. THe alignment will not succeed if the color cartrdige is empty. Steps to troubleshoot alignment failures are available here.
Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
Bob Headrick, Microsoft MVP Windows Expert - Consumer.
<---- If my answer was helpful please click the "Kudos" star.
If your problem is solved please click the "Accept as Solution" button ---->

Similar Messages

I imported a photo from my email to my iphoto but now my HP printer is printing my documents from the photo cartridge. How do I get my printer to print using the regular black cartrigde.

I imported a photo from my email to my iphoto. I am on a Mac OSX version 10.6.8. But now my HP printer 7510 is printing my documents with the photo cartridge rather than the regular black cartridge. How do I correct this.

Seems like an odd question for an iPhoto forum and more one for an HP forum.

Can't get past align cartridges

Several times when I try to start a print job, the press enter align cartridges message comes on. I do that but it stays on. I cannot print.

Hey @sandy91,
Welcome to the HP Support Forum. I understand you're getting a recurring prompt to align the cartridges on your HP PSC 2175 All-in-One Printer. I would like to assist you with this. I have some suggestions that may help you get past this prompt.
The first thing I suggest is to plug the printer into the wall outlet directly if it is currently in a power surge protector or extension cord. This may sound silly but this will ensure the printer is getting full power and may eliminate any unnecessary troubleshooting. If the printer is no longer getting full power from the power surge or extension cord it may give false errors, have poor connection, paper feed issues and quality issues.
I recommend you perform a 'hard reset':
1. Press the Power button to turn off the printer.
2. Disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer.
3. Wait 60 seconds.
4. Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.
5. Press the Power button to turn on the printer.
Next, if the issue persists, I recommend you remove and re-insert all ink cartridges. The printer will prompt you to scan the alignment page as before - do so accordingly. If the issue continues after this I do advise that you call our technical support at 800-474-6836. If you live outside the US/Canada Region, please click the link below to get the support number for your region.
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html
Thanks for posting in the HP Support Forum. Best of luck!
E-roq
I work on behalf of HP.
Please click Accept as Solution if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click Kudos Thumbs Up on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Printing blank pages and cannot align cartridges

I have an HP OfficeJet J4680 All-In-One
The printer is not used often and is at a seasonal home
In the winter I thought I needed new ink cartridges so I bought new ones. The printer did not really produce a readable finished product.
I am now trying to get it to work with 2 new cartridges and getting more and more frustrated.
I was able to run a TEST page; the colors were not as bright or bold as they should be
I was able to send a page to print but I cannot copy or scan from the glass bed of the printer therefore not able to align cartridges.

Hi Angie517,
I would like to help you with the poor print quality you are experiencing. Please use the following document to troubleshoot the issue. This will guide you through the necessary steps; Printed Colors Are Not the Colors Expected.
If the issue persists, I recommend calling HP and letting the know the issue as well as the steps you have already completed. It may be helpful to even let them know you completed all of the steps in HP document #c01481811.
If you are in Canada or US call 800 474 6836, or you can Contact HP Worldwide.
Although the printer may be out of warranty, HP can discuss what options are available, they may even be able to offer you a discount on a newer model.
I hope this helps.
Please click the Thumbs up icon below to thank me for responding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Sunshyn2005 - I work on behalf of HP

Photosmart c4599 is stuck on align cartridge

My Photosmart C4599 is stuck on align cartridges. I've turned it off and unplugged it from the computer and the outlet several times (as the HP print doctor has recommended this). I can't get the display window to move from the screen telling me to load plain paper then hit OK. Nothing on the printer works, including the cancel button and the off button. Is there some way to manually reset the device, other than simply unplugging it? My scanner doesn't work at this point, but the printer does continue to print.

Hi DJFH,
I see that the printer is stuck on the screen for aligning cartridges. I can help you.
I would do a hard reset to see if that will resolve the issue.
Leave the printer on and unplug the power cable from the printer and wall outlet for 60 seconds.
Then reconnect the power cable to the printer and wall outlet rather than a surge protector.
This ensures the printer is receiving full power and may help this situation.
Please check your private messages for additional steps to try.
In the forum beside your handle name just click on the envelope to view it.
Have a nice day!
Thank You.
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos Thumbs Up" on the right to say “Thanks” for helping!
Gemini02
I work on behalf of HP

Align cartridges

i keep getting "align cartridges" -- i've take one out - both out - nothing words -- will not print anything. slap it or kick it or buy another brand??

my hp photosmart c4180 is out of alignment,how do I fix?

How Can I Get my HP1115 to Print with One Cartridge?

I have an HP Photosmart 1115.
The color cartridge ran out so I tossed it in hopes of getting a new one. Then I saw the prices. I CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT pay $40 freaking bucks for a cartridge. That is ridiculous. I do not, in any way, shape or form have that kind of money. I just need to print resumes, which require only black ink.
How do I get my stupid printer to work? I'm about ready to fling it out the window and just write things down old school with a pen and notebook paper. I can afford that.
-Signed, Broke and Irritated.
PS. If anyone knows where I can find an HP 78 cartridge for around $20 or less that would work too.

The short answer is that you cannot print on the Photosmart 1115 without both a color and black cartridge installed. You do not need ink in the #78 cartridge, but it does need to pass an electrical check. You may be able to find expired #78 cartridges on eBay or some similar. Old cartridges will still work in the printer, althoug depending on how they were stored they may not print one or more colors, usually cyan or yellow fail first.
Bob Headrick, HP Expert
I am not an employee of HP, I am a volunteer posting here on my own time.
If your problem is solved please click the "Accept as Solution" button ------------V
If my answer was helpful please click the "Thumbs Up" to say "Thank You"--V

Hp psc 950 printer only prints black and white, no driver for Canon lpb 5000

Hi everyone,
I am trying to install my two printers on mac book pro.
Problem 1.
My HP psc 950 printer is only printing in a bad black and white quality - no color at all?? - any idea where I can download a printerdriver that is actually up to date? The one mac book has preinstalled seems not to be the right one?
Problem 2.
My may can´t find a driver for my other printer Canon LPB 5000 at all. I´ve already downloaded the canon drivers for Mac book - so I see a long list of Canon drivers but the LPB 5000 is not there and I don´t find any download of it in the web. I work with os x 10.7 and there is just an old mac driver for 10.6 to be found on the Canon website. I downloaded it but still does not work.
Hope someone can help. Both printers used to work fine on Windows but I am changing to Mac now and need to get them work.
Thanks,
K.

Canon LPB5000 driver for 10.7 is at http://support-au.canon.com.au/P/search?model=LASER+SHOT+LBP5000&menu=download&f ilter=0&tagname=g_os&g_os=Mac%20OS%20X%20v10%2E7
There is also this note: When using with OS X Lion, install this printer driver, and then register the printer. For information on how to register ... support-au.canon.com.au/contents/AU/EN/0100359005.html

How do I get the little screen back, that tells me how much ink I have left in my print cartridges?

How do I get the little screen back, that tells me how much ink I have left in my print cartridges? It used to show up whenever I would print something, now it doesn't and I have no idea how much ink is left in the cartridges. I have a HP Photosmart C4180 All in One Printer. I recently purchased new computer, a HP Pavilion P7-1254 AMD Vision, which runs Windows 7. I just want to know how to get the screen back that tells me how much ink I have left. Thanks.

Hi there pyesangel,
Open the Printer Toolbox . There are two ways to do this:
Open HP Solution Center , select the Settings menu, then the Print Settings submenu, and finally the Printer Toolbox .
Open Printers and Faxes in the Windows Control Panel , then right-click your printer icon and choose Properties . Click Printing Preferences . Click the Features tab, then click the Printer Services button.
The Printer Toolbox opens. Click the Estimated Ink Level tab. A cartridge may be running out of ink even if the graphic shows ink remaining (see the note at the start of this section). Lines or streaks always appear in printouts when the cartridges begin to run out of ink. Replace print cartridges that are out of ink or low on ink.
Figure 1: Estimated ink levels
Give it a shot and let us know if it helps.
Best of Luck!
You can say thanks by clicking the Kudos Star in my post. If my post resolves your problem, please mark it as Accepted Solution so others can benefit too.

Printer not priting black....just put in new cartridge. As if not getting Command.

printer not priting black....just put in new cartridge. As if not getting Command

I would like to assist. What printer do you have?

How can I get my HP DeskJet 6540 to recognize the new ink cartridges I installed?

Hi everyone. I have an HP DeskJet 6540 printer and I replaced the ink cartridges. After I replaced the cartridges, I aligned them and then did a test print. I noticed that the blank ink didn't print. I opened system preferences, and then I opened the printer utility. It says, "Device Status : Pen Failure." Current Supplies Levels says, "The current levels for the selected printer are shown below...Cartridge on the left (tri-color 97) is unknown and the the cartridge on the right (black 96) is missing." Oh, I forgot to mention that the print cartridge light on the left side is flashing. I went to the HP support website and it says that the problem could be an incorrect print cartridge, incompatible print cartridge, or problem with the (left/right) print cartridge. The solution they offered was to remove, inspect and reseat the problem cartidge. It also said to clean the problem cartridge contacts. I did that and it still gives me the same results. I even reset the printer but still got the same results...
So the next thing I try is the OTHER cartridges listed as compatible with my printer which is 94 (black) and 95 (tri-color). I bought the new cartridges, placed them in the printer and I still got the same message from the print utility. I took the latter cartridges back and got a refund and explained that none of the compatible cartridges are working with my printer. I kept the 96 and 97 cartridges in the printer and the light on the left continues to flash so now I'm here asking if anyone knows how I can get my printer to recognize the new ink cartridges I installed? Are there any other solutions that I have besides throwing the printer out of the window? :-)
Thanks everyone ;-)

With all that you have done it does sound like the printer has a fault. If you haven't tried turning off the printer for several minutes, then this would be worth trying (maybe you have done this when you say reset the printer?).
If the cartridge light on the printer flashes when you turn the printer back on then it sounds like a hardware fault - not the driver or the operating system. And this is not usually something a user can resolve so it would need repair. And for the cost of a new printer, why would you bother.
If you plan of sticking with HP and getting another model that can use the 96 & 97 cartridges (let's face it, they often cost more than the new printer), then take the two existing cartridges to the store and see if they will let you check they are okay. No point throwing them out also if they still have a fair bit of ink still in them.

I just changed my ink cartridge and now I keep getting "paper mismatch" errors. How do I fix this? T

All in one C4280
Windows Vista 32 bit
Just replaced the HP 74 print cartridge
This question was solved.
View Solution.

When you say you can't do the alignment, what happens? Do you get an error message, flashing lights, or no response? The good news is the problems you're describing typically don't indicate a hardware issue that would warrant getting a new printer. Go ahead and try the steps in this document. I'd also recommend unplugging the printer after you've removed the cartridges (per the steps in the document) and gently clean the contacts in the carriage that holds the cartridges.
Let me know if that helps.
Say Thanks by clicking the Kudos thumbs up. Please mark the post that solves your problem as an Accepted Solution so other forum users can utilize the solution.
I am an HP employee.

How can I get my network printer to print in color?

I have a Dell 3110cn color printer on my network. Since I did the Maverick update the printer will no longer print in color only b&w. It's using a generic printer driver. I had no problems before the update. It's a great workhorse printer. How can I get this connected properly?

Bruce777 solved this for me, thank you Bruce! My printer now works perfectly on my new wifi network!
Bruce's instructions, for anyone else having the same issue:
- delete any previously set up printers
- scrub old hp software and update software to get the hp 2.8 drivers
- remove the usb cable from the printer if you have one connected
- reset the printer network to hpsetup (hold down the power button and press network button 2x and then cancel 3x, release power button.)
- print out the wireless network test report (hold down the network button and press the update button 2x). verify the network name / ssid is hsetup
- got to sys prefs > network and change the mac wireless network to hpsetup
- go to the sys pref > print scan
- add the HP 8000 printer
- click on the options and supplies button and click on the Show Printer Webpage
- click on the networking tab > wireless in the left pane > start network wizard and change the network from hpsetup to your network
- finish (this page may freeze up. close the browser)
- go back to the sys prefs and change the wireless network back to your networt
- go to the printer and print out the wireless network test report (press network button and update button 2x). Check that the SSID is your network
- go to sys prefs > print scan > select your printer > options & supplies > show printer webpage > network info (check ssid and compare to wireless network test report)
- try printing something to your printer. It might take a little time the first print.

I am trying to print a pdf document from an electronic journal at my school, and i can only get it to print what is on the screen at the time i hit print. How do i get it to print the whole document?

how do i get it to print the whole article? i don't seem to have a problem printing from my old windows laptop

melbaby_3 wrote:
when I clicked on your link and hit print, all pages were there!
That suggests there's no problem with Safari or Quartz, the PDF rendering engine used by Safari, Preview, and other Mac applications.
When I'm in the database and have the article open that I want to print, I click on the "full text in pdf" link and it opens in another safari window.
Does the PDF in this other Safari window have all the pages? If yes, why don't you print from this window?
It's very difficult to tell what might be going on if you don't give very specific details.
For instance, in many reference databases, full-text articles are not free. You have to pay to view them, either article by article, or by subscription. Your school may have such a subscription, but, if it does, you probably need to access the database through the portal, web site, or facility provided by your school (your school's librarian should be able to help you with that). If you don't, the database has no way of knowing you have a right to view the full text, and may give you just a preview or the article's first page.
Another possibility is that the database provides full-text PDFs in a format not compatible with Quartz, which may be able to render only the first page. But, in such a case, I'd expect Safari to print blank pages. If that's the case, you need to save the PDF on your hard disk and open it with Adobe Reader (Preview wouldn't work).
There are other possibilities, but these two seem to me the most likely.
Would I have to save it in preview first
You should save the PDF on your hard disk from Safari. (I think you should do this anyway, just in case you need to refer to the article again later.) Instead of just clicking the "'full text in pdf' link", press and hold Control, then click. This should give you a contextual menu; if the link points to a PDF file, you should see the commans "Save Linked File to 'Downloads'" and "Save Linked File As…". Use either, save the file, then, in Finder, double-click on it. Preview should open it.
It is possible that the link is not to a PDF file, but to a script which fetches that PDF file for you. In that case, it's pointless to download it. Click on it, and then, if the PDF viewing window opens in Safari, move the cursor towards the centre of the bottom of the window. A bar with commands should appear; one of them will download the file to your Downloads folder.

How do I get iCal to print the calender just as it appears on the screen, not as lines down the side to indicate length of event? I like the whole bubble of time approach as it is on the screen.

How do I get iCal to print my calendar just as it appears on the screen? I like the whole block-out method rather than just a line down the side indicating the time devoted to an event. Is there any way to change the style of how it' sprinted?

View > Sidebar > Bookmarks (Ctrl+B)
Press F10 or tap the Alt key to bring up the "Menu Bar" temporarily.

HP HSC 950 Printer "Press to Align Cartridges" loop - how do I get it to print?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for