My black ink cartridge does not appear to be working after I have installed it. Neither my printer nor my computer seems to think that there is a problem, but when I print my alignment page there is no black - only colour and grey! I've already tried realigning the paper, taking out the cartridges to clean them and so on, but still nothing. What should I do?

On the inside of the cartridge door is the number of the cartridge you must use in your printer. If you put in another number, the electronic chip on the cartridge will tell the printer what type it is and the printer does not want to work with the cartridge. In the chip the printer also keeps track about the uses of the ink.
If number 56 is allowed too, perhaps another cartridge is empty too.
I think you did remove the pink label from the cartridge before you inserted it. because that label will block the electronic connection between the cartridge and the printer.
The manual explains how you can see what cartridge is causing trouble. When the printer is connected to a computer you also can use the computer to find out.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IS GO TO THE PROPERTIES AND CLICK ON THAT. A BOX SHOULD APPEAR AND HAVE A MAINTENANCE TAB CLICK ON THAT. WHEN THAT BOX OPENS GO DOWN TO WHERE IT SAYS INK CARTRIDGE CLICK ON THAT AND IT WILL OPEN A BOX THAT SHOULD SAY USE BLACK CARTRIDGE ONLY OR USE BOTH CARTRIDGES OR COLOR ONLY. CLICK ON THE BLACK INK ONLY AND THAT WILL FIX YOUR PROBLEM.
GOOD LUCK
LET ME KNOW IF IT WORKED [email protected]
DAN

Yes. You cannot use the printer even in black and white, until the color cartridge is replaced. They are designed to check the levels of the both black and color cartridges.

the printer only prints with all ink cartridge inside, back and color (use only original ink spares)

If cleaning doesn't work you should talk to your retailer or Brothers support. Don't think they can expect you to use up all ink cleaning cartridges when the machine is straight out of the box..

It seems that the printer computer is not getting the signal from the new cartridge. Try looking at the place where the cartridge contacts touch the printer cartridge socket. If nothing is bent out of place try rubbing the contacts a little with a paper towel

To run a nozzle clean, perform the following steps:

1. Verify the All-In-One Printer 924 is powered on and connected to a computer.
2. Verify that the paper support (input tray) has clean, plain white paper loaded.
3. Press the Menu button.
4. Press the Down button until Mode: Maintenance appears on the LCD screen.
5. Press the Menu button.
   The Dell 924 Maintenance Menu appears on the LCD screen.
6. Press the Down button until Clean Cartridges appears on the LCD screen.
7. Press the Start button.
   The AIO 924 prints the cleaning page. This process cleans the ink cartridges and resolves many print quality issues.

Wicking the cartridges and cleaning the contacts on the back of the cartridge should be performed if the nozzle clean was performed and the quality was not satisfactory.
Wicking the Cartridge

1. Ensure the printer is powered on.
   
2. Lift the scanner unit.
   
3. Open the cartridge latches and remove the cartridges from the carrier
   
4. Take a clean, damp cloth and wipe the nozzle of the print cartridge from front to back
   

Cleaning the Contacts

1. Turn the cartridge so that you are looking at the contacts on the back side of the cartridge
   
2. Using a clean dry cloth, wipe the contacts in the direction, so that no dust or other contaminants are visible.
3. Clean the contact inside the printer with the dry cloth used to clean the cartridge contacts.
4. Replace the cartridges in the carrier and close the scanner unit.
5. Print the document again.
6. If the print quality does not improve, repeat the steps for cleaning the nozzles and contacts up to two more times as needed.

Verify the Ink Cartridges Are Installed in the Proper Slot

1. Remove the ink cartridges from the printer.
   
2. Read the label on the side of both cartridges to identify which is color and which is black.
   
3. Install the black cartridge in the slot on the left and the color cartridge in the slot on the right
4. Close the ink cartridge lids and make sure they lock in place.

I hope it helps!!!

Usually black is provided by the black cartridge only. You might be able to setup the printer through the control panel using black and white printing until the color cartridge is replaced. That might turn the color cartridge off allowing you to print.

go to the control panel for your printer and disable mixing colors for "black" ink

well, what i did, and it seemed to work, in the short run anyway. i took and threw my hp in the back of a waste management truck,  then i called amazon.com and i ordered a new epson printer,