Sometimes when you get this error, the carriage cable has a broken wire in it. It will separate when the head travels to the left side of the machine.
Try moving your left pinch roll to the next right position and see if you still get the error message. [head doesn't have to travel as far to the left]
If you don't get the error, more than likley, the cable is bad.
We nursed ours along for about a month before we got a chance to shut the printer down abd change it.
Dave