Printer has PEN ERROR

[TS Knox]

Hi- I have a 6 yr old HP DeskJet 542c and after changing bothg the blak and color cartridges I got half a page of printing with the printer error of 1517 and a pop up messge that said Pen Failure. :eek: What does that mean? Can it be fixed? Thank you for any help.

[Big Al]

HP calls the ink cartridges "pens" and this error means the firmware thinks there is something wrong. Try cleaning the contacts that mate with the cartridges. If that does not do it there is a broken ribbon cable or a problem with the electronics. If cleaning does not do it then recycle the printer.

Al