Hewlett Packard Printer Ink Cartridge Light Blinking

[MelPhleg]

Printer is Hewlett Packard Deskjet 712C
OS Win 98SE
Color Ink Cartridge is c1823d
Black Ink cartridge is 51645A
 
got a remanufactured black cart. from atlanticinkjet.com.
when printing, error message saying blk crt is not installed properly, but it did print, with alternate light and dark.  no matter what i did and no matter how many times i took the blk cart out and put it back in, still gave same message.  gave up on that and tried something else. it at least printed.  what printed didn't really matter about the alternate light and dark.

1. went to HP troublingshooting that come with printer.
suggesting cleaning cartridges and printer.
did as instructed.
however, now the cartridge light is always blinking.
no matter how many times i take it out and put it back, the light still blinks.

2. removed blk cart. and put in a diff one.
same thing happens.

3. to HP troubleshooting again.
suggested turning puter and print off and on.
still same problem.

4. HP troubleshooting again.
suggested reinstalling software.
i doubt that would help, so not try yet.

5. all cables are connected properly.

6. decided to test the communication.
yeeeeee! told me the puter has lost communication with the printer.

everything worked fine (minus the orginal little problem with the blk cart concerning printing in the last two sentences in the first paragraph.  i could live with that.), before cleaned cart and printer.

but now......looks like got more problems than thought.

anyone with any ideas besides reinstalling printer driver and software, or going to HP manufacture? (warrantee has been up for yrs)

[GX1_Man]

Those are the two things to try first.

[MelPhleg]

well, i don't have any money to go to the HP manufacture, so i guess i gotta try unistall/reinstall.
let you know if it works or not.

[GX1_Man]

We'll leave the light on. 

[MelPhleg]

hoooboy
uninstalled and reinstalled printer software, but that didnt help a thing.
even rechecked the wiring, unplugged it all and reconnected it all. still same problems.
scratching my head on how to unistall and reinstall printer driver. 

[GX1_Man]

You can uninstall in Add and Remove Programs possibly. If not, then you can just load the new drivers on top.

[MelPhleg]

add and remove programs is only for software, not the drivers.  i looked.
i know there is a way to uninstall and reinstall drivers, but dont recall where or how.
anyone else know?

[patio]

add and remove programs is only for software, not the drivers.  i looked.

Not neccessarily.

[MelPhleg]

no, the good number of times i've used 'add/remove programs' it only added/removed software, not drivers.  it may be diff in XP or vista, but i've only an old creaky 98SE. :^p

[GX1_Man]

Melpheg,

It may be that in YOUR experience that is not how it works. You are not correct in your blanket statement however.

[MelPhleg]

hmm, ok. i tried it thru the add/remove programs.
still same problems.
is it possible when i cleaned the cart. and printer (as instructed in the troubleshooting), that i touched something that made it all go haywire?
cuz everything was working properly (except for the printing prob in the first paragraphe in the first post) before i cleaned anything.
if so, what would it be?

[GX1_Man]

I have had some problems with "el cheapo" cartridges or refills. I even ruined one printer before I learned my lesson. Did you reinstall the software? Those printer installation files often have diagnostic programs also.

[MelPhleg]

yes, i reinstalled the software.  once thru the unistall option that comes with the software.  once thru the add/remove programs.
even tried reinstalling the driver thru the add new hardware.  told me that option was only available thru the software cd.
the haywire *only* happened *after* i cleaned the cart. and printer as instructed. no communication, no printing, cartridge unusable.
it was at least printing and had two-way communication, even with the remanufactured black cart. from atlanticinkjet.com.

[MelPhleg]

the troubleshooting that comes with the printer software tells me, after i've tried all suggested (which i did),  the only option left is to go to HP manufacture.  this printer is at least several yrs old, and the cost of calling the 900 hp help # is $2.50 a min.  i dont have it to give.  no job, unemployed, and trying to get disability. so, i'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

[Joe_Flanagan]

add and remove programs is only for software, not the drivers.  i looked.
i know there is a way to uninstall and reinstall drivers, but dont recall where or how.
anyone else know?

OK, I'm going to give you XP navigation...you sound savvy enough to translate it to Win98.
Your printer has to be powered on for this to work:
Start > Control Panel > Admin Tools > Comp Mgmt > Device Manager > View > Show Hidden Devices > Your Printer
So, get to device manager and follow along.
You won't see the driver version, but you will see whether or not Windows thinks the printer is working properly, etc and there is a troubleshooter wizard.

You can also navigate to your printer driver GUI from this approach and go to your printer's properties. You must rightclick on your printer's icon and select properties.
Here you can refresh/update the driver.

To identify your printer driver you can use PC Wizard (freeware) and jot down the driver file name.
Then do a simple search and delete the driver from there.
Then try a reinstall with a fresh driver.

Be sure to backup/set Restore Point before deleting.
Hopefully, refreshing the driver will cure the comm. error.

As far as that inktank goes, it is Atlantic inkjet's responsibility to make sure that the chip on that tank is either new or reset.
Next time stop right there and put the turd in the supplier's pocket.
Let their actions determine if they will keep you as a customer.

If you decide to contact HP, we didn't have this discussion about Atlantic Inkjet and re-man cartridges.