I have an Epson printer, albeit a different model to yours - mine is an Epson Stylus Photo R300 - but I do occasionally have the same problem where the printer will tell me the installed cartridges are empty. The way I solve this is to go through the motions of replacing the cartridges, where in fact I'm merely removing and reinstalling the old ones. If I remember rightly, the first time I did this it took me a couple of attempts before it worked. Hope it works for you too.