Officejet 6500 won't scan with Mac OS 10.6

[55steve]

Thanks, I had a ? about how to scan into iPhoto from a PS 5510 and the image capture answer works for me too.

[alanreinke]

Only one computer uses this printer.  It is connected to my iMac via USB cable.  Not connected to the wireless router.

[jkhw59]

My new Officejet 6500A Plus wont scan with my MacBook Air OS 10.6.8.  In fact, I can't get the wireless to work, either.  I had thought I could just do without wireless, but the scanning thing is a dealbreaker.

I followed the instructions on this forum to reset the print queue and did that, but it still won't scan.  I got these three error messages when I tried three different ways:

Task Not Availalbe -- "Save as JPEG" task found on your device is not available on your system.  Please sleect antoher task.

And the same thing with "Save as PDF."

And the same thaning with "Everyday Scan."

It prints fine.

Any help you can give, both on the all-critical scanning and the less critical wireless, would help.

[alanreinke]

This is not quite the same as my problem, but sometimes my 6500 wouldn't scan, but it would print.   Disconnect the 6500 by unplugging the USB cable.  Then go to System Preferences > Printers and drag all the HP drivers to the trash.  They don't disappear, but drag away.    Restart the computer.  Plug in the 6500.  It should work.

The "permanent" fix seems to be to completely uninstall all the HP software.  Restart the computer.  Download and reinstall the latest drivers from the HP website.  This has worked for me for several weeks now.  Fingers crossed.

[jkhw59]

Alas, this didn't work.  I originally loaded my software from a disk that came with the printer.  Is it better to go by internet, and if so, what's the URL?

Or is this printer just a lemon and I should just return it?

[alanreinke]

I did the same.  Used the disc which came with the printer.  No good.  Months of issues.  Erase all of the HP software and try downloading from the website and installing that.  For me, that finally did the trick.  I like HP printers, but I am getting sick of their lack of support for the Mac OS.

[PrintDoc]

You can always try to reset the printing system:

- Go to System Preferences > Print & Scan
- Right (or control) click in the rectangle listing your printers and select Reset Printing System.
WARNING - this will delete ALL of your printers!
- Select the plus sign to re-add a printer. Select the Defualt tab on the top of the window. Look for the printer, select it and wait until the "Add" button becomes available. Click it.

However, if you have any HP software meant for pre 10.6 on your Snow Leopard or Lion Mac it will likely not scan and may not print.

[alanreinke]

Tried that. Twice. No luck. I finally uninstalled every bit of HP software I could find then reinstalled from the HP website. That worked.

[jkhw59]

I'm afraid I tried that and it didn't work.  Any other ideas, or should I take it back?

[alanreinke]

No point paying for a machine that doesn't work. Curse you, HP.