Printer sat unused for one year while my husband and I were both away on military duty. Returned to find that despite replacing all of the ink cartridges the black ink will not work. I performed self cleaning function but no luck.

Midway between the two holes that plug into the printer, there's an opening. evidently, the printer senses ink level thru the little piece of plastic.

with printer OFF, take all ink cartridges out. cut small pieces of duct tape, small enough to cover the hole but not pass the catridge edge. use a small screwdriver or tip of a knife blade to work the edges of the tape into the slot, covering the little plastic window.

insert back into printer. worked for me. it's simpler than it sounds.