HP Uninstaller and EasyStart fail on MacBook Air

[CaptainModerate]

To resolve a problem (the "___ will damage your computer" issue)  with HP Printer drivers for OSX, I found this guide under HP support:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06960563

It recommends downloading and running HP Uninstall, and then HP Easy Start.  Following this process, including a firmware update to my printer, worked fine on one of our Apple computers -- an iMac running OS 10.15.7 (Catalina).  What a relief!  We attempted to repeat the procedure on another computer -- a MacBook Air running exactly the same OS.  Both utilities (Uninstaller and EasyStart) seemed to download OK, but neither would run on the MacBook.  The app icon bounces in the dock for more than a minute and then stops.  At that point, for both utilities, the app becomes unresponsive.  

For both computers, we have updated the operating system to the latest version of Catalina (OS 10.15.7).  On the iMac we have tried turning off the firewall, repeating the downloads, restarting, using the Uninstaller and EasyStart download to a different computer.  Still the Uninstaller and EasyStart both fail to operate.  We have been unable to use this printer for over 3 weeks, and now still cannot access it using the MacBook Air.

Can HP fix this, please?  And can anyone suggest a work-around to get the non-functional drivers out of my MacBook Air, and install the correct ones?

[ShlomiL]

Hi,

Please uninstall any current HP software by following below steps:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06960563

Once the uninstall completes, restart your Mac and then download and reinstall the latest drivers below:

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1888?locale=en_US

Once completing the installation, open System Preferences > Printers & Scanners, click the plus sign and add the printer, be sure to select the HP Officejet Pro 8600 option within the Use drop-down menu and then press Add.

Now try printing and check for any difference, also install the latest HP Easy Scan below:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hp-easy-scan/id967004861?mt=12

Shlomi

[CaptainModerate]

Thank you for your attention Shlomi,

If you look carefully at our original question, you may note that your first suggestion is exactly where we encounter the problem:  https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06960563

The HP Uninstaller fails.  It does not run on our MacBook Air, even after restarting the computer and downloading again.

Please let us know if you have any other suggestions.

[ShlomiL]

What happens when you launch the HP Uninstaller?

What exact error or behavior is shown?

[CaptainModerate]

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06960563

Following the process described in your link,  worked fine on one of our Apple computers -- an iMac running OS 10.15.7 (Catalina).  We attempted to repeat the procedure on another computer -- a MacBook Air running exactly the same OS.  Both utilities (Uninstaller and EasyStart) seemed to download OK, but neither would run on the MacBook.  The download process puts the HP Uninstaller app directly into the downloads folder (no Zip file).  Double clicking on the downloaded app causes the app icon to bounce in the dock for more than a minute and then stop.  At that point, for both utilities, the app becomes unresponsive.  After at least 10 minutes of no action, we force quit HP Uninstaller and then delete it from the downloads folder before making another attempt.

For both computers, we have updated the operating system to the latest version of Catalina (OS 10.15.7).  On the MacBook Air, where the problems arose, we have tried turning off the firewall, repeating the downloads, restarting, using the Uninstaller and EasyStart download to a different computer.  Still the Uninstaller and EasyStart both fail to operate.

[ShlomiL]

Please try downloading the programs using another browser (e.g. via Safari if you currently tried using Google Chrome, vice verse) and check if you may see any difference then.

If the same persists, also try running First Aid for the active boot and check if that may make any difference:

https://support.apple.com/en-il/guide/disk-utility/dskutl1040/mac

Please let me know if that may help,

Shlomi

[CaptainModerate]

Thank you for sticking with this Shlomi,

We followed your advice:

1. Shut down all applications and restarted computer.
2. Ran First Aid on the main drive (a bit more complicated than we anticipated, but done).  All green checks.  No issues identified.
3. Attempted to download and run the HP Uninstall utility using Chrome and then Safari.

In both cases, the download was successful but HP Uninstaller acted as before -- the icon bouncing in the dock for a long period, but nothing happening.  In both cases the HP Uninstaller was flagged as unresponsive and we forced quit to continue.

Do you have any other suggestions?