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AmericanPsych0 · Jan 25, 2005, 09:06 PM

... it isn't registering with the computer.

I bought a refill kit with which I manually refilled my black in cartridge. I've been doing it with my other printers--albeit, ones hooked up to PCs--without a hitch, but now, on the only printer hooked up to a Mac, the ink estimates say it's out and it therefore won't let me print. Anything. Even thought requesting test pages show that there's plenty of black ink.

It's an HP printer, and I did email them, but they gave me the old "we don't condone the use of refill kits" and left it at that. I could try to pressure 'em a bit more, but I just want to make sure that this Mac/PC coincidance is just that, or whether it's something with OS X that I need to tinker with.

Thanks in advance.

im_noahselby · 12:19 AM

Originally posted by AmericanPsych0:
It's an HP printer, and I did email them, but they gave me the old "we don't condone the use of refill kits" and left it at that. I could try to pressure 'em a bit more, but I just want to make sure that this Mac/PC coincidance is just that, or whether it's something with OS X that I need to tinker with.

Thanks in advance.

-It is true. HP wont come to your rescue when it comes to issues that arrise when using those self fill ink kits or unofficial ink in general.
-I believe Canon's & Epson's have a higher "ink refill" success rate, but I could be wrong.
-It all comes down to your values: Which is more important to you: your time (dealing with printer issues) or your money? If you damage your printer, you throw away your time and your money. Is this a risk you are willing to take?

My personal stance: The savings involved in using unofficial inks isn't worth the hassle or the risk of damage to my printer. For most people I would advise them to play it safe and just buy the real inks.

Noah

tooki · Jan 26, 2005, 12:51 AM

It has nothing to do with the computer it's hooked up to, and all to do with the model of printer.

All the recent HP printers remember the serial numbers (and in some cases, the country of sale) of the last 3 print cartridges. After it senses that a cartridge has gone empty, it won't recognize it again.

What you can do is keep 3 empty cartridges around, swap in each one (so that the one you want to put in has been forgotten), and then you should be able to run the refilled cartridge.

Most Epson printers since about 1999 have a chip in the cartridge to prevent refilling.

Most Canon cartridges do not have any chips, and can be refilled -- but Canon cartridges are almost as cheap as refill ink.

tooki

Spheric Harlot · Jan 26, 2005, 04:39 AM

HP has announced that it's starting to REGION-CODE their ink cartridges now!

Ink Nazis.

Avoid them.

Athens · Jan 27, 2005, 03:19 AM

Originally posted by tooki:
It has nothing to do with the computer it's hooked up to, and all to do with the model of printer.

All the recent HP printers remember the serial numbers (and in some cases, the country of sale) of the last 3 print cartridges. After it senses that a cartridge has gone empty, it won't recognize it again.

What you can do is keep 3 empty cartridges around, swap in each one (so that the one you want to put in has been forgotten), and then you should be able to run the refilled cartridge.

Most Epson printers since about 1999 have a chip in the cartridge to prevent refilling.

Most Canon cartridges do not have any chips, and can be refilled -- but Canon cartridges are almost as cheap as refill ink.

tooki

easy way past that is to unplug your printer from USB and Power for 30 minutes, I found that got past it on the Photosmart 1XXX series.

drews85 · Jan 27, 2005, 08:07 PM

do these chips interfere with people using non brand ink cartridges? i use a canon i850 with a non brand ink cartirdge and it works great and i print tons of pictures regularly but im thinking of a new printer, and would like to continue to use these inks, as i get the cartridges for a buck or two a piece.

tooki · Jan 28, 2005, 01:18 AM

The chips were designed precisely to prevent the use of non-original cartridges, both third-party and refilled ones.

All of Canon's inkjet printers use ink tanks with no chips.

Spheric Harlot: i mentioned the region coding in my post above yours. I am surprised about it though, since the EU is requiring printer manufacturers to cease using chips in 2006 (I think, it could be 2007).

tooki

voteforpedro68 · Jan 28, 2005, 04:03 AM

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
HP has announced that it's starting to REGION-CODE their ink cartridges now!

Ink Nazis.

Avoid them.

Along with HP's "STELLAR" osx support... I had photosmart 7550, a top of hte line HP with the little LCD screen and everything, ... "SUPPORTS OSX", yeah, except the card reader didn't work and it only printed half the time. I called their tech support many times. Their advice? Buy the newer model.

What a bunch of jackasses. I'll never own an HP again.

Spheric Harlot · Jan 28, 2005, 06:20 AM

Originally posted by tooki:
Spheric Harlot: i mentioned the region coding in my post above yours. I am surprised about it though, since the EU is requiring printer manufacturers to cease using chips in 2006 (I think, it could be 2007).

Nothing surprises me wrt HP anymore.

I know you'd mentioned it, but you only said "in some cases", while recent announcements indicate that it will become HP standard policy, worldwide.

tooki · Jan 28, 2005, 12:20 PM

"In some cases" because not every HP printer and cartridge on the market uses the codes. It may be true of all future models, but certainly not true of all current ones.

I'm curious as to how HP's gonna pull this off with the EU though!

tooki

chabig · Jan 28, 2005, 01:40 PM

I refilled my HP ink cartridges and the instruction that came with the refill kit told me how to get the printer to recognize the refilled cartridge. Didn't yours? What model is your printer and cartridge?

Chris

im_noahselby · Jan 29, 2005, 01:15 AM

Originally posted by voteforpedro68:
Along with HP's "STELLAR" osx support... I had photosmart 7550, a top of hte line HP with the little LCD screen and everything, ... "SUPPORTS OSX", yeah, except the card reader didn't work and it only printed half the time. I called their tech support many times. Their advice? Buy the newer model.

What a bunch of jackasses. I'll never own an HP again.

I've never had a single problem with Mac OS X and the many HP printers I have used over the years. I currently have a HP Photosmart 7660. Works like a champ and is the best printer I've ever owned. To each his own.

Noah

AmericanPsych0 · Jan 30, 2005, 12:08 AM

Originally posted by chabig:
I refilled my HP ink cartridges and the instruction that came with the refill kit told me how to get the printer to recognize the refilled cartridge. Didn't yours? What model is your printer and cartridge?

Chris

I looked back at the instruction guide and it gives a link to the troubleshooting portion of their site, and that explains everything. Thanks.

But it was sorta weird. After I updated the driver from 2.1.3 to 2.5 (I have an HP DeskJet 3650) it let me print, even though it still says the cartridge is empty. *Shrugs*