Is my printer pooped ?

Dazstoke · 26 Mar 2026 at 12:10

I have an Epson xp-3100 which I only use occasionally,it was working ok about 2 weeks ago.
I've come to print off a delivery label today and I'm seeing an error on the display " ink cartridges not recognised, magenta and cyan"
I've taken all 4 cartridges out and reinstalled them 1 at a time and it recognises every one has been installed but then the same error comes up.
If they were empty I'd get a different message wouldn't I.
I've powered it off and on,makes no difference.
The thing is I really only use the black cartridge, I wish there was a way to ignore the others but there doesn't appear to be.
Any thoughts ?

Armageus · 26 Mar 2026 at 12:13

Genuine carts or 3rd party?

If 3rd party then it could have been a firmware update or driver update has locked out the 3rd party cartridges

Dazstoke · 26 Mar 2026 at 12:34

You might be right, I think there was a firmware update the last time I used it.
There's no way around that then other than using Epson cartridges ?

joey1211 · 26 Mar 2026 at 12:38

Rollback the firmware update?

Dazstoke · 26 Mar 2026 at 12:46

joey1211 said:
Rollback the firmware update?

Apparently that can be done via usb but I've had a quick Google and can't find any information on what is the current version or the older versions and I can't bring it up on the display screen either, it's stuck on the cartridge messages

Dazstoke · 26 Mar 2026 at 12:55

Epson software updater utility is downloaded on my pc but doesn't appear to be installed , could the printer firmware have updated without this running ?
I could be wrong about it updating a couple of weeks ago in this case

nade · 27 Mar 2026 at 08:06

Is this the first time you're using 3rd party ink with your printer?

It's a fairly old post/page, but I did find something online which suggested disabling "Epson Status Monitor". Page I found was here, but there are comments from people which suggest this is no longer a fix:

Epson Printers: How to use third party or cloned ink cartridges?

No other printer type can be at par with an inkjet when it comes to print quality, but it comes with a price. Epson ink cartridges are so expensive, and in selected instances some cartridges are even expensive than the upfront cost of the Epson printer. Due to this pricing anomaly, most users...

lasertekservices.com

Dazstoke · 29 Mar 2026 at 11:46

nade said:
Is this the first time you're using 3rd party ink with your printer?

It's a fairly old post/page, but I did find something online which suggested disabling "Epson Status Monitor". Page I found was here, but there are comments from people which suggest this is no longer a fix:

Epson Printers: How to use third party or cloned ink cartridges?

No other printer type can be at par with an inkjet when it comes to print quality, but it comes with a price. Epson ink cartridges are so expensive, and in selected instances some cartridges are even expensive than the upfront cost of the Epson printer. Due to this pricing anomaly, most users...

lasertekservices.com

No,the cartridges have been in use for ages,in fact they are all running very low

Dazstoke · 7 Apr 2026 at 11:56

Update,decided to try some new cartridges,the cheapest set on eBay for a fiver and lo and behold it's working again.
I've turned off updates now so hopefully will be ok going forward

MeatLoaf · 14 Apr 2026 at 13:22

Dazstoke said:
Update,decided to try some new cartridges,the cheapest set on eBay for a fiver and lo and behold it's working again.
I've turned off updates now so hopefully will be ok going forward

Glad you got it working again. One of the reasons i switched to a laser is the faff of getting the printer to work with 3rd party ink carts

nade · 14 Apr 2026 at 14:40

MeatLoaf said:
Glad you got it working again. One of the reasons i switched to a laser is the faff of getting the printer to work with 3rd party ink carts

I would have expected laser cartridges to be setup the same way with the manufacturers, quite surprised if that's the case.

Armageus · 14 Apr 2026 at 15:10

nade said:
I would have expected laser cartridges to be setup the same way with the manufacturers, quite surprised if that's the case.

In my experience they are - the only way to avoid issues is to prevent firmware updates, but that's not always possible, especially with home/small business printers that install software that auto updates as part of the driver package.

MeatLoaf · 14 Apr 2026 at 15:31

nade said:
I would have expected laser cartridges to be setup the same way with the manufacturers, quite surprised if that's the case.

Never had an issue with the laser, bnut its a brother machine rather than the epson or hp inkjets i had

Grimley · 14 Apr 2026 at 15:45

MeatLoaf said:
One of the reasons i switched to a laser is the faff of getting the printer to work with 3rd party ink carts.

This and the fact that my old Inket printer used more ink cleaning itself than printing on paper. It stopped printing yellow at the start of the year and no amount of cleaning sorted it. I thought about getting an inktank printer but dad has has problems with his which put me off hence the decision to go back to a laser. I did have a Samsung laser printer that served me well for a fair few years, I gave that to my sister and when she gave said printer back to me a couple of years ago it was on its last legs, took ages to heat up or print anything & the quality was not good so it got tipped. The HP laser one I bought has been good so far, Its networked to my linux rig, so AFAIK there's no OEM spyware/DRM drivers to worry about.