“How About Standing on One Foot and Hopping?”
I almost had to buy a new printer for my home office this week.
Not because the old one broke (it was working fine).
Not because I got a new PC and it was somehow incompatible (still using the same 4 year-old Mac).
It turns out the reason I almost had to dump my perfectly serviceable printer and get a new one was because the current one detected that I was using an expired printing cartridge, and disabled itself until I cleared the “warning” message.
“Turn Off That %#@% Blinking Light!!”
As with most such things, you’d guess that there’d be a way to override that message — and in fact, there is.
But, it’s not simply pressing “OK” on the printer menu or hitting the “Power” button (I tried both repeatedly).
Rather, the solution — retrieved somehow, somewhere from the bowels of HP’s Web site — is to “press and hold the “Power” button and then press the “Resume” button three times.”
Really, HP. Really??
My next printer — when the time comes — is going to be . . . something else.
*So, what’s the manufacturer’s warning for an expired printer cartridge?
That proceeding to use such a cartridge “will void the (long expired) warranty.”
Funny, I didn’t think inert printer cartridges expired like milk or eggs.
