A:Answer The water filter that is required is the RPWFE, which has a "chip" on it. The chip tells the refrigerator when to signal a change for the filter - every 6 months or 170 gallons of water and detects leaks. There is a filter without the chip, RPWF. Some refrigerators can take either filter. I believe that this GE model only takes the chipped one, RPWFE. I thought about switching to the cheaper filter, without the chip because the water line going to the fridge comes from my Reverse Osmosis water system, already highly purified. I think the unchipped filter will shut the water and ice functions down, like it did for you. Check your cartridge for the correct model, if it is fine, call GE support.