officejet j4680 all-in-one error mssg - scanner failure. unable to scan, copy or send a fax. ans

[ckvatx]

HP Officejet J4680 Installed on WIN 10, 64 bit, Sony Vaio, 8MB RAM, AMD Processor. 

I received the same error message as listed above. Followed every possible solution to the letter and I am still unable to access my scanner through the HP Solution Center. Resorted to uninstalling 285 MB of pure crap! Everytime I uninstall, I clean the registry of leftover artifacts, delete junk files, etc. Restart the computer prior to installation to clear any other artifacts, etc. and reinstall.

I finally acquiesced and downloaded their print and scan troubleshooter and also the HP Easy Start program to see if it would actually download appropriate software and drivers to fix the issue. Absolutely no luck at all. There is no logic, because I now have two instances of the printer installed, by total surprise, and I am able to use one for printing and the other for scanning! I was just curious if I could get a work-around. 

This is the last ditch effort to find a solution. I am totally embarrassed by the time I've spent trying to recover this ^#%$^%! Please let me know if there is a better approach!!

[Dvortex]

Hello, @ ckvatx – Hope you are well 🙂

Thanks for reaching out. This is a great place to find the help you need, from other users, HP experts, and other support personnel. 

Going through your post, it looks like a scanner issue with your printer. To confirm, I need to know whether the printer can make a "Photocopy" or not.
Place a document face down on the scanner glass and press the copy option on the printer control panel. Let me know if it makes a good copy or not.

If the copy also fails, then it could be a scanner failure. This happens when the printer gets insufficient power to the scanner or when there is a mechanical issue with the printer scanner mechanism. Try the steps mentioned below to try and fix the issue:

• Remove the cartridges from the printer.
• With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer and also unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.
• Remove USB cable, if present.
• Wait for 2-3 minutes, press and hold the power button on your printer for about 30 seconds to remove any additional charge.
• Now plug back the power cable straight to a wall outlet without any surge protector or an extension cord (This is important) and then plug back the power cord to the printer.
• Turn on the printer and wait till warm-up period finishes and the printer is idle.

If the steps mentioned in the document fails to resolve the issue, I am afraid the issue could be with the printer hardware. I would suggest you contact HP phone support to set up a service for the printer.

You can visit http://www.support.hp.com/contact-hp and fill in your product details to get the tech support number.

If you have any troubles, let me know and I will do my best to help!

Cheers 🙂

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