Dell 922 "cover open" problem / error message

I had that problem too.

Unplug the printer.
Hold the printer cover open while you plug in the printer.
Then close the printer after it powers on.

It worked for me.

I know this answer is to an aged question but I just ran into this with a "cover open" error on my Dell 924 AIO (very similar to the 922 I suspect). When you open the printer to access the cartridges there is tab that sticks down from the cover just behind and to the right of where the hole is where the cartridges are located. This is for a 924, but again it is probably very similar to the 922. If not then look for a tab that trips some sort of switch when the cover is opened or closed. The fix I did will work either way. This tab is what trips a switch and tells the printer when you open and close the cover. I used some electrical tape to fix it but any tape would probably do it (electrical or the tried and true good ole duct tape would probably be the best two options).

Basically what I did was take a small piece of tape and rolled it up. I then taped this piece to the leading edge of the tab so it would trip the switch. Not sure if the switch just gets worn over time and needs to get pressed in further for it to work but this worked for me. Probably not the most eloquent of fixes, but it worked. This fix has not been "battle tested" so it may need to be tweaked some as time goes on. I'm just hoping it gets me through the unused cartridges I have left...

Also after I got the "cover open" message to go away I then got the dreaded "1203 error" message. I popped open the cartridge holders, re-seated the cartridges, and shut the printer off. I turned it back on and it made me print an alignment page. After I printed the page the printer worked again....hope it helps.