The printer does not work, says something about needing more ink. When I open it, the ink cartridges do not move to the middle where I can reach them to replace the ink cartridge. Therefore, I cannot use the printer at all. This is a scanner and copier as well as color and black and white ink jet printer bought in 2004 with the Dell computer.

Unplug the printer for a few moments, plug back in and open the cartridge door. Does that help? Which model do you have?

It is a Dell Photo All-in-One Printer 922. Tried unplugging and replugging and turning on and tried to print and keep getting the same message in a box: Cartridge Stall. It says to turn printer off, see if anything is blocking the cartridge from moving, turn back on. Still, the cartridge is to the left of center, but at least it is now partially visible on the left, not hidden completely. It does not move to center, though.

Thank you.

It sounds like the cartridge is stuck on something (perhaps the locking lever has popped up).

I'm sure this is not a recommended procedure, but see if you can grab onto the cartridge or carrier and pull it toward the middle of the opening (where it should go automatically). It might take a little tugging, but I wouldn't apply too much of a pull on it because things are plastic in there. If you could gently pull up on the cover while doing this it might help (assuming the cartridge is hanging on the underneath side of the cover).

Hopefully, you can get it out to the middle and see what is binding up.

Best of luck,
WallyH

Thank you, WallyHelps. I was able to grab and slide the two cartridges back and forth quite freely. Before, I had thought they were stuck. As soon as I tried to print, it made a clunk sound and said Cartridge Stall again. This time the two cartridges are over to the right, partially covered by the printer structure. So it still does not print and I probably need to take it to a repair shop if I can find one. Thank you for your advice, though. At least it did move.

Carolyne -
I can't say for sure, but there is generally a thin, plastic strip with black vertical lines that is parallel to the shaft that the carrier assembly moves on. The purpose of this strip is to allow the printer to know where the carrier is. If this strip has come loose, it can't know where the carrier is and would probably give the error you are seeing. Knowing this, you might peek in there with a flashlight and see if you can see this strip lying loose on the bottom of the printer.

I would think a good computer shop, or even a very handy person could see if this strip is loose and (assuming it is not actually broken in two) put it back in place.

Best of luck,
WallyH

The average life span of an inkjet printer is 3-5 years. So you have gotten your money's worth from that printer. Dell's are custom made Lexmarks which generally have a high cost per page.

I would recommend replacing it with something like the HP Photosmart 4680