Scan to Network Folder Mac; Network Folder path; MF3301 Laser Multifunction Printer; Quick Settings

[sandman_1979]

If you are a Mac user wanting to scan directly from the HP device to a folder on a computer on your network, and frustrated with setting up a network folder under the Quick Sets, then look no further.

If this solution helped you then please post a thumbs up &/or reply letting myself and others know if this solution worked for you.

Thanks and cheers.

BACKGROUND:

I recently purchased the HP MF3301 b/c Canon would not consistently stay connected to the network. At least the the HP3301 stays connected and performs the function of printing; however, I really wanted the option to scan directly from the printer into a network folder b/c I now keep most everything in e-format. Despite countless hours scouring the HP knowledge base and internet and trying to find a solution; nothing. I called HP support --> useless despite an hour on the phone.

So I continued to play around with settings and experiment with folder paths until I found something that actually worked. 
I am sharing b/c if you are like me, I was ready to return the printer, but really like all the other HP features.

Here is the solution (I have also included screenshots for step-by-step follow along; I have CAPPED areas that were critical to the success of the folder path mapping and folder set up on the MAC)

FIRST you need to set up your Mac folder to receive a scan from the HP

Find the IP address for your Mac, and make sure if you have a DHCP router, that you set an address reservation on the router for the IP address. This is what will map your scan to your computer, and if the IP address changes, then the file path you put in will not be valid.

In the example I am giving, let's use the following assumptions:

a. My computer IP address is: "192.168.1.201"

b. Name of my HD is "Macintosh HD"

c. Using an iMac in this example

c. User is "Pat"

d. Password is “password”

e. Destination folder is the Drop Box folder within the Public folder under user - Pat

f. Navigating to this particular destination folder, highlighting the folder and then right clicking on the “Drop Box” folder and holding the “option” key then copying the file path name, it will show:

/Users/PatiMac/Public/Drop Box

(This information will be needed later and repeated later in the instructions)

Setting up the Mac folder for sharing:

1. Select your desired folder on the Mac,  in this case Drop Box located in the Public folder of User Pat

2. Go to the Settings on the Mac and select general and set the file sharing for your destination folder --> see pictorials below; OF NOTE YOU NEED TO SET THE FOLDER FOR EVERYONE AND STAFF to have READ & WRITE

3. Using your computer finder, navigate to Drop Box folder and highlight, then hold "command and I" to get the folder information; confirm at the bottom of the information screen that your folder settings are correct.

Next you need to set up the file path on the HP

First some background: to guide the scan to the desired computer on the network, you need to tell the printer where to send the scan to; usually this is done on other printers in a field called the HOST NAME; however, HP has chosen not to include this, and instead only offers the option to enter a file path that starts with double back slash \\. Normally on a Mac you can find your host name by going into the "settings, general, sharing, and find your local host name at the bottom of the menu list. HOWEVER, this is the key to making this work --> the local host name DOES NOT WORK. Instead, you need to find the IP address for your host computer and input that in place of the hostname.local). The other thing you need to know: in Mac language, folder paths are represented with a forward slash "/" this is not the case for talking with Windows, instead you need to convert to using back slashes "\"

With this background,

1. Open the the HP EWS (embedded web server), you can connect directly to this by opening the HP Smart App and going to "Advanced" settings; you will need to input the PIN # for your printer.

2. With access to the EWS select Quick Sets --> enter PIN for printer --> select Network Folder as the quick set type

3. Name your desired quick set Name (I called it MAC SCAN FOLDER); and I selected the next option for this to automatically start when selected from the Home screen

Next is the key part, the HP EWS NETWORK FOLDER PATH.

4. On your computer open finder and navigate to the folder path of the destination folder on your computer (STEP “f” above)

⏩  Find that folder and right click on it; hold the "option" key and it will convert the "copy" to "copy "folder " as pathname"

⏩ Copy the path name

Reminder, in our example:

a. Computer IP address is: "192.168.1.201"

b. Name of HD is "Macintosh HD"

c. Using an iMac in this example

c. User is "Pat"

d. Password is “password”

e. Destination folder is the Public and Drop Box within;

f. Navigating to this particular destination folder, highlighting the folder and then right clicking on the “Drop Box” folder and holding the “option” key then copying the file path name, it will show:

/Users/PatiMac/Public/Drop Box

5. Now return to your HP EWS Network Folder Path

Entering information into the HP EWS Network folder path:

THIS IS THE KEY TO SUCCESSFULLY SETTING THIS UP, enter the IP address for your computer right after the \\IP ADDRESS FOR YOUR COMPUTER (NOT THE LOCAL HOST NAME):

⏩Behind the 2 backslashes, enter the IP address for your computer 

⏩Enter back slash “\” after the IP address and the name of your HD

⏩Paste the copied pathname into the window

In our example it will look like this:

\\192.168.1.201\Macintosh HD/Users/Patimac/Public/Drop Box

You must now convert the forward slashes “/“ in Mac copied path to backslashes “\”

The final path in our example set up is:

\\192.168.1.201\Macintosh HD\Users\Patimac\Public\Drop Box

For Sign-In Method select:

Use the following credentials

6. Enter User Name: Pat

7. Password - password

8. Leave PIN option blank 

Click VERIFY ACCESS and it should work

Click ok to move to next step after verifying and complete the set up with the desired scan output settings.

Best of luck and l took painstaking detail to explain this with an example and detailed instructions and pictorial, since there is nothing I could find that offered this, and I hope this saves others hours of frustration.

HP EWS SCREENSHOTS

MAC SCREENSHOTS

SETTING THE FILE SHARING ON MAC & DESTINATION FOLDER SETTINGS

VERIFYING THE SETTINGS FOR THE DESTINATION FOLDER

GETTING THE FILE PATH NAME FOR THE DESTINATION FOLDER