Although there are numerous ways to deal with this problem, most of the solution lies on your ink cartridges. And more often than not, the problems are easy and require simple fixes that you can do independently. Try following any of the three potential solutions to common ink cartridge problems below.
Clean the ink cartridge contacts. One of the common causes of a “Cartridge Problem” message is a dirty or damaged gold contact on the cartridge’s electronic chip. First, to remedy this problem, remove the problematic ink cartridge from the printer and find its chip. Please make sure the gold contacts on the chip are clean by wiping them down with a lint-free cloth. Try using an alcohol-based cleaning solution or cartridge flush to remove any dirt or residue trapped in the contacts.
Clean the contacts inside the printer. If the problem persists even after cleaning the ink cartridge contacts, then you may need to clean the contacts inside the printer as well. Open your HP printer, find the contacts inside and then with a clean lint-free cloth. Some of the contacts are facing upward or pointing up, so I recommend that you be careful to ensure that there are no bits of cloth left on the contacts after cleaning.
Try using another cartridge. There’s a chance that the ink cartridge itself has some electronic problem that’s invisible to the naked eye. If this is the case, the only option is to try using another ink cartridge. Install a new ink cartridge, or an old one that you know has been working properly and see if it works.
If you’re using a compatible or remanufactured HP ink cartridge, you can sometimes fix this problem with a simple firmware update. If you have tried all of the suggestions mentioned above and have done a firmware update but to no avail, then you may need the help of an expert. It may be best to contact an HP or printer technician to get some answers about how you can deal with the issue.