There could be three or four causes to the problem, all of which would
cost more to repair than buying a new cheapo printer, except for one.

1) one of the ribbon cable from the controler board to the cartridge
carrier has become loose in it's socket at the board end. This is the
cheapest to fix, just shove it back in.

2) the controler board is fried. Too expensive to replace.

3) the ribbon cable is broken in places, Again, too expensive to fix.

4 As you suggested in your post, if at one time the printer printed
color but no longer does, the cartridge contacts may be bad. This may
be caused by ink build up on the contacts or they are simply worn out.
I kind of doubt that that is the case though. My bet is the board or
the ribbon cable itself.

Frank


Thanks for the quick reply! I checked the ribbon cable and it seemed
firmly in place. If it was out of place, it isn't now (and I'm fairly
sure it was plugged in). I tried printing and produced the same result
as before. My next step will be to take the printer cartridges out of
this printer and put them in my mother's HP930c (from what I hear
they're practically identical). If hers prints the same way as mine,
I'll narrow it down to the cartridges. I might use my parallel cable
on her printer so that the only real variable is the cartridge...then
try her cable if the print job is the same. I really hope it's just
the parallel cable or the cartridges because I can't afford to buy a
new printer. Thanks, again, Frank. I'll keep everyone posted since
I know someone else might run into the same problem. I've always been
a pathfinder in fixing computer problems because the most strange and
rare ones land in my lap.

James