Photo 820 quit printing black - what now?

["Philip D. Nelson" <pnelson@znet.com>]

 Right in the middle of a long printout, the black text tailed off to
nothing. I emailed Epson from their web page, after wasting another 5
minutes with "Epson ER". They advised me to run the nozzle check from
the Windows driver, which I can't do easily, since I run GIMP-print
drivers on a linux box. I responded that I had already run the printer
self-test and observed that 5 colors are stil there, but the black is
missing. I also noted that this is the original (made in China) ink
cartridge that came in the box. I suggested that it probably ran out
of ink, with no low ink warning whatever. I am waiting for a reply.

Can anyone advise:

 Is this the right way to deal with Epson?

 Is the print-head drying out and being irreparably harmed while the
 negotiation with Epson drags on?

 Should I do something about the head, or just follow Epson procedure
 and expect them to deal with the fallout, if any?

 Is the fact that the ink cartridges what came with the printer were
 marked: "Made in China" vs. cartridges on the shelf at Fry's marked
 "Made in Japan" significant?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

   Phil Nelson

--
Phil Nelson - unemployed person


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