epson c80 quit printing

Night before last my Epson Stylus C80 quit printing. I'm running W2k with SP4 and all my drivers are as current as this morning. Power light is on constant. Ink light is not on. My daughter can't remember her error message but mine, from Word 97 was something to the effect of :

There was an error found in printing <filename> to Epson C80 [or LPT1, can't remember which].

So here are the steps I've taken. With the power off:
disconnected parallel cable at both ends, examined contacts, reconnected.
disconnected power cord at both ends, examined contacts, reconnected.

Wiht power on:
checked device manager, LPT1 shows functional
updated driver
ran troubleshooter at epson.com; no answers
ran printer troubleshooter in W2k; no answers
uninstalled printer in hardware manager, uninstalled printer driver; reinstalled both.

I cannot print a test page from the windows troubleshooter, from the Epson Print Utility dialog box, or from a command line.

Am I looking at service time? Does anyone know how to troubleshoot Epson hardware for replacements?

 

Try removing the cartridge and putting back in.
Also, using parallel cables are horrible, if you can upgrade the printer and use a usb cable you'll experience very few problems.

 

I'll try the cartridge thing, but upgrading the printer is not an option right now. Besides, except for the fact that it's not working, it's really a fine printer. I haven't had any problems before now with parallel printers, but then my first computer was a timex and I remember vinyl records. Fixing the thing is the first priority; replacing it is a last resort.