Black lines interferring with printouts

Black printer ink in HP Photosmart may fail to be recognized by the printer. Most times an error message will be sent indicating that something is wrong with the black print cartridge. Sometimes the printer may accept to print with the black ink, but the printouts may have horizontal lines and very illegible letters. In such a case a manual cleaning of the print head should be carried out. In doing the manual cleaning, one should spray Windex heavily on paper towel and wipe off the surface of the print head.

Print in grayscale (black area streaking only) If the streaks are in a black area of a black and white printout, change to grayscale printing.
NOTE: This step does not apply to color printouts.

1. In the application you are printing from, click File , and then click Print .
2. Make sure the printer is selected and click Properties .
3. Click the Color tab, and select Print Grayscale and High Quality .

You can't bypass it. It need in in all cartridges, even though you are just printing black n white.

Weird eh?
Good Luck :0)

Always try replacing the ink cartridges first.

It sounds like the print heads in the 7780 are bad. Don't confuse the ink cartridges with print heads. The cartridges fit inside the print heads. You will need to change the heads. Here is a link to HP's how-to.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00841890&tmp_track_link=ot_faqs/top_issues/en_us/c00841890/loc:1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=2512010

Could have the same problem with the Dell.

i think your color cartridge are not jetting fully..other nozzles are not jetting ..the main reason for this is low ink level and clog nozzles..

you need to replace your cartridge if you satisfies with your ink ...try to wipe the cartridge in a wet cloth ...

In this case what i would request u to do is....... Take out both the catridges from the Printer......... Take 2 Paper Towels one should be wet with Luke warm water and the other one should be dry........... Take the Colour catridge first turn it upside down and u will see a small copper plate on the catridge from where the ink comes out....... Place the wet paper towel using ur thumb on the Copper plate and press it a lit bit for 10 Seconds...... Now remove it and see whether u see any ink on the paper towel.......... U should see some ink on it now place the dry paper towel on the ink catridge in the same way........ Now do the same procedure again.......... Do the same procedure twice on the Black Catridge................. Now take the dry paper towel and turn the direction of the cartridge so that u can see a Copper plate on it with small boxes just clean that copper plate with the Dry Paper Towel.......... Now try to Print it should work fine.......... Still same Problem Catridges Defective......... Good Luck...........

Hi-

Sorry to say but NO you can't print if there are other inks which ae empty, thats one safety features of epson printers to prevent nozzle clogging. change the other ink carts as well for you to continue printing.

See my previous posts about intensive cleaning and you should be good to go again: http://www.fixya.com/support/t138226-printer_not_printing

I would try changing the ink cartridges and if you don't have a new set at least take out the ones you have and reseat. Also check Epson's site for new drivers. Try printing from a different program.

Before taking out a new ink cartridge from its package, shake it four to five times. Are you sure you have the proper ink replacement cartridge.The following Epson ink cartridges should be used in your device: * Black: T0431 (high capacity cartridge) or T0441 (standard capacity cartridge) * Cyan: T0442 * Magenta: T0443 * Yellow: T0444 How did you discover the ink was low? Did the machine prompt you or was the printer not printing properly? The other colors should blend together to give you atleast some form of black. If the printer alerted you to change the cartridge...Go back through the procedure to install a new cartrige. Follow the steps below to replace ink cartridges. Make sure the CX6600 is on. When the ink is empty: Refer to the LCD panel message to see which ink cartridge is empty, then press the Color button. When the ink is low: Press the Setup Mode button to enter the Setup Mode and press the A button repeatedly until 5.Ink cartridge appears on the LCD panel, then press the Color button. The ink cartridges move to the replacement position. Make sure that the document cover is closed, then open the scanner unit. Open the cartridge cover. Pinch the sides of the ink cartridge that you want to replace. Lift the cartridge out of the CX6600. reinstall the same cartridge. (Try shaking it a few times again) If none of the above works uninstall the printer. Download the newest drivers from epson and the should straighten it out. Good Luck. Tim