Mac Error message while trying to add device "unable to communicated with the printer at this time'

[Lolliegoogle]

The printer is no longer printing and there is an exclamation point on the printer that is solid. When I try to add the printer I get a prompt that states" An Error occurred while trying to add the selected device. Unable to communicate with the printer at this time."

I have looked at the wifi, run the diagnostics, even plugged the computer in via USB nothing seems to be working. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[BryanCustomPure · Accepted solution]

The solution is to download (and install) this package which will update drivers AND THE CERTIFICATE:
HP Customer Support - Software and Driver Downloads

If the link comes up blank, try right clicking and saving it. If you install this and still have issues, try uninstalling and reinstalling your printer.

Easy Admin did nothing. Easy Startup did nothing. 5.1 drivers did nothing. This worked for me!

If this solved your issue, please thumbs up and mark as solved!

[Lolliegoogle]

Thank you! That first part at least got the mac and the printer somewhat friendly. Now when I go to print I get this message:

Printing - Can't open '/private/var/spool/cups/tmp/0536f5f99ff0a9."

???

[BryanCustomPure]

Try removing your erroring device in System Preferences/Printers & Scanners. Then install the package. Then reinstall your device in the Printers & Scanners menu using the drivers it automatically selects.

[Lolliegoogle]

You are awesome! Thank you. I did all of that and then, then restarted both the computer and the printer. Computer detected some malware that I also got rid of. That did it. Thanks so much for your help. 

[Printhr]

Hi, I have exactly the same problem with my HP Deskjet 2420 on my MacBook, since MacOS Catalina 10.15.7. Tried to download the package you mentioned, but 'unknown error' occurred. Any solutions here?

[Printhr]

I'm a bit further in the rabbit hole, seems the printer is responding to the utilities program, but the message now is: Waiting for printer to become available...

[BryanCustomPure]

Please start your own thread, and reply with the link here

[Printhr]

Hi, since installing Catalina 10.15.7 my USB deskjet printer F2420 doesn't work due to 'damaged software'. Following guidelines on this Forum I have deleted the printer from the system preferences printer list, downloaded hp-printer-essentials-S-5_14_8_4.pkg and added the printer again through the system preferences panel. The printer still does't work and has as message: 'waiting for printer to become available'. What can I do to solve this? Should I need to download another package from   

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software12/HP_Quick_Start/osx/Installations/Essentials?

[BryanCustomPure]

Did you run the package after downloading?

Please start your own post and send me the link to it, and I will help you there. I will no longer be following this thread.