Solution
There are several reasons why the HP All-in-One may fail to align the cartridges. The most common reason is an ink cartridge that has one of the following problems:
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One of the ink cartridges is low or out of ink. Black and all three colors must be available.
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The paper has already been printed on or is colored paper.
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Protective tape on a new ink cartridge has not been removed.
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Contacts on the ink cartridge are not meeting the contacts in the carriage correctly.
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Cartridge is remanufactured or refilled. Refilled or remanufactured ink cartridges may have been damaged during the refilling process or have clogged ink nozzles.
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The ink cartridge is defective.
Follow the steps below to resolve the problem
Step one: Examine the paper the alignment page was printed on
The alignment page must be printed on clean plain paper of either letter or A4-size and that has a brightness level (as printed on the paper package) of at least 85. Colored papers or paper that already has printing on it will cause the alignment to fail.
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Step two: Does the alignment page print correctly
For the HP PSC 900 series, if the page ejects immediately or a
Paper mismatch or
Paper too narrow message is displayed, the 4 x 6 paper tray selector located on the paper output tray is pushed forward. Move the selector all the way toward the front of the product.
Look at the alignment pages that the product printed. Compare the alignment page to those that are included in the
"Examples of alignment pages" section in this document.
If any of the colors or the black is missing from your alignment page, a cartridge-related problem exists.
Click here for information about troubleshooting ink- and cartridge-related problems (buu02176) (in English).
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Step three: Perform an print cartridge cleaning procedure
The product can perform an print cartridge cleaning procedure even after the alignment message has displayed. Follow these steps to perform an print cartridge cleaning procedure at the front panel:
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On the front panel, press the Menu or Setup button (depending on the model).
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Press the right arrow button (>) until Maintenance or Tools is displayed, and then press the OK or Enter button (depending on the model).
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The Clean Print Cartridges message should display on the front panel. Press Enter or OK to begin the cartridge cleaning process.
A page will be printed during the cleaning process with all of the colors on it. If any of the colors (including black) are missing, faded, or streaked on the alignment page, there is a ink cartridge problem.
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Step four: Try to align the page again
HP products have two methods for aligning the ink cartridges, fully-automatic and semi-automatic. The steps are different for each type. Refer to the information below to determine which alignment method your product uses.
Automatic cartridge alignment
Perform the following steps to align the ink cartridges:
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Disconnect the power cord from the unit, wait five seconds, and then plug it back in. This will reinitialize the unit.
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Print another alignment test page. If the Press Enter to align message is not currently on the front panel display, complete the following steps to print an alignment page:
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Press Setup or Menu on the front panel (depending on the model).
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Press the right arrow button (>) until Maintenance or Tools is displayed, and then press Enter or OK (depending on the model).
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Press the right arrow button (>) until Align Print Cartridges is displayed, and then press Enter or OK (depending on the model).
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To determine if the automatic alignment is functioning correctly, look into the output tray as the alignment page is printing; a blue light should be visible periodically on the page as the cartridges move back and forth. If this light is not visible, the product will not be able to align the cartridges and will require service. Service the product.
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If the blue light is visible and the alignment pages are printing correctly, but the alignment pages still fails, there still may be a hardware problem with the unit.
Aligning an Ink Cartridge
You may need to align the ink cartridge when characters are not properly
formed or are not aligned at the left margin, or when vertical or straight lines
appear wavy.
The page is scanned. When the scan is complete, the cartridge is
aligned. You may discard the alignment page when the alignment is complete.
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