Printer displays "align cartridges" but every time I try to align the cartridges, it starts printing and then says printing cancelled and it stops aligning/printing. how do I fix this?

This happened to me. I just hit the "x" cancel button and it stopped. It tried to do this for several weeks. I just continued to hit cancel on the printer or the check button. When I replaced the ink cartridge the problem went away. Possibly there was a defect in the cartridge that the printer could not complete a sucessful alignment.

ALL cartridges must have ink to complete the alignment.

Have you tried removing/re-inserting the ink cartridges??

The only way to stop this is to press the cancel button, just as it tries to print the test page.

Various people have said the printer won't align (calibrate) successfully unless both ink cartridges are more than 50% full, and until it aligns successfully, it will continue to print the test page on start-up.

It is a total waste of ink and paper, so remember to hit the cancel button when you turn it on.

HP PSC 1200 and 1300 series:

1. Turn on the HP PSC 1200 or 1300 series product.
2. Disconnect the USB cable from the all-in-one.
3. Press the sequence of front panel buttons below to start the print cartridge alignment process. The button-press sequence must be completed within ten seconds. It might take several tries to complete the sequence within ten seconds.
   1. Press and hold Cancel .
   2. While holding Cancel , press On .
   3. When the Check Paper and Check Print Cartridge lights begin to blink simultaneously, release both buttons.
   4. Press Cancel again.
   5. Press Copies .
   6. Press Paper Type .
   7. Press Color Start Copy . The alignment page will begin printing. If the alignment page does not print, repeat the button-press sequence in this step.
4. When the alignment page has printed, place the page face down on the scanner glass and press Scan . The alignment is complete when the On light stops blinking.
5. Reconnect the USB cable.

after each alignment you press enter key or start key not cancel key,

Alignment:

1. Turn on the HP DeskJet.
2. Disconnect the USB cable from the all-in-one.
3. Press the sequence of front panel buttons below to start the print cartridge alignment process.
The button-press sequence must be completed within ten seconds. It might take several tries to complete the sequence within ten seconds.
1. Press and hold Cancel .
2. While holding Cancel , press On .
3. When the Check Paper and Check Print Cartridge lights begin to blink simultaneously, release both buttons.
4. Press Cancel again.
5. Press Copies .
6. Press Paper Type .
7. Press Color Start Copy .
The alignment page will begin printing.
If the alignment page does not print, repeat the button-press sequence in this step.
4. When the alignment page has printed, place the page face down on the scanner glass and press Scan .
The alignment is complete when the On light stops blinking.
5. Reconnect the USB cable.

A lot of HP printers print a page to enable the print head alignment and calabration. This normally orcurs when a cartridge has been changed. If the alignment page fails then it will reprint alignment page until it can align.

So, you need to get that page it prints and place it on the glass and press scan, then it will complete alignment and be ready to rock.

See Here

Cheers

SOLUTION: Start the cartridge alignment by performing a series of button presses from the front panel of the product.

• HP PSC 1200 and 1300 series:
  1. Turn on the HP PSC 1200 or 1300 series product.
  2. Disconnect the USB cable from the all-in-one.
  3. Press the sequence of front panel buttons below to start the print cartridge alignment process. The button-press sequence must be completed within ten seconds. It might take several tries to complete the sequence within ten seconds.
     1. Press and hold Cancel .
     2. While holding Cancel , press On .
     3. When the Check Paper and Check Print Cartridge lights begin to blink simultaneously, release both buttons.
     4. Press Cancel again.
     5. Press Copies .
     6. Press Paper Type .
     7. Press Color Start Copy . The alignment page will begin printing. If the alignment page does not print, repeat the button-press sequence in this step.
  4. When the alignment page has printed, place the page face down on the scanner glass and press Scan . The alignment is complete when the On light stops blinking.
  5. Reconnect the USB cable.

CAUSE: This can occur if the cartridge alignment is canceled or times out without a valid print cartridge alignment stored in memory.

Could be a number of things. I would try looking in printer settings first. Click on your printer, go to properties and check all settings, it may be set to do this or similar. If no go, try uninstalling and reinstalling it, or just turning it off and unplugging, replugging and turn on again can often reset irregulariites. Also try resetting default printer settings too.