macOS Big Sur and HP Smart with an HP Envy Pro 6420: can't connect to scanner OR Scanning unavailabl

[gavvinti]

I've got a new MacBook Pro with macOS Big Sur and went straight installing HP Smart to configure my printer which has working excellently so fine with the old MacBook Pro with Catalina.

I have a problem with the scanning function from the Mac: I either get the "Couldn't connect to scanner" message or the "Scanning is currently unavailable" one. Either way, I can't scan via HP Smart on the Mac. But here come the quirks:
1) I can scan on the Macbook using the Image Scan standard application

2) I can scan via the web interface (Webscan)
3) I can scan via HP Smart from my Android smartphone.

4) The "Diagnose & Fix" tool on HP Smart is greyed out: I can't run it

So, the printer is definitely on the network (I can also print fine from everywhere), I can see and manage it via HP Smart or Web Interface, I can scan from every other device EXCEPT the MacBook Pro with macOS Big Sur.

I've tried resetting the Print System, uninstalling/re-installing HP Smart, uninstalling/re-installing the printer. Don't know what else to try. Scanning from HP Smart is a need because it has advanced features not available via Image Scan or Webscan.

Any idea/help?

[gavvinti]

Any hint anyone?

[gavvinti]

I'm just wondering: is HP Easy Smart simply broken on macOS Big Sur ? Because as above I can scan from everywhere else, and I could scan from the same printer on the old Mac with macOS Catalina via HP Smart.

Can anyone with macOS Big Sur successfully scan on this class of printers?

[gavvinti]

I also tried HP Easy scan. It works but the results are poor: there are grey streaks that are not present in the paper sheet.

So I still wonder: is it just HP Smart broken on macOS BigSur ? Should I swap out the printer just because I can't properly use it with my Mac?

[gavvinti]

Keeping the attention on this issue which seems to be a long standing one and common to macOS Big Sur users, still with no solution so far.

[Anand_Andy]

Hi @gavvinti,

Welcome to the HP Support Community

I understand you are facing a scan-related issue with your HP ENVY Pro 6420 All-In-One Printer. Not to worry I will help you to get a resolution to resolve the issue.

To assist better:

• Do the lines appear when you make a copy as well?
• If the lines are appearing on the Copy as well then try cleaning the glass with a lint-free cloth and make 5 blank copies using a plain paper and then check.

While you respond to that, please go ahead and uninstall the HP Smart app from your MAC PC.

Steps to uninstall HP Smart and reinstall:

• Click Finder, and then click Applications. In the list of apps, click and drag the HP Smart app to the Trash at the end of the dock.
• Go ahead and Update the software on Mac 
• Restart PC
• Once the PC is turned back and idle, download HP Smart 
• Once installed, check if you are able to access the app and try scaninng.

Update the printer firmware 

• Click here to download and install the latest printer firmware from your product
• Click here to learn different methods of updating printer firmware.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[gavvinti]

Thanks @Anand_Andy for your attention.

I'll go point by point.

The printer is updated to the latest available firmware.

macOS Big Sur is updated to the latest available firmware.

I've tried to uninstall and re-install HP Smart many times. In rare occasions I've had the Diagnose&Fix function available (most of the times it's greyed out) and run it to no avail.

I've tried to add/remove the printer from the system, and resetting macOS Printing Systems many times. I've taken care to reboot at any significant test.

I've reset the printer to its factory settings (temporarily losing its association with my current HP Instant Ink subscription and the re-establishing it).

The streaks in the scan result from HP Easy Scan are not a concern in itself: it's only EasyScan that generates the problem: scanning directly from the printer's admin page, or via HP Smart on my Android smartphone doesn't exhibit the problem which is hence not systematic, hence not a concern.

My biggest concern is that I can't use the scanning function via HP Smart on my MacBook Pro with macOS Big Sur which is my main desktop machine. The solution otherwise provided to use HP Easy Scan or macOS native Scanning utility is not useful: they do not provide any flexibility in scanning multi-page documents and editing/enhancing them (or replacing pages while progressing with the scan) and I often need that flexibility.

So currently for me the printer is in a kind of degraded state in which I can print but I can't scan for my needs and, this is important to be noted, as it allowed to me to do without any troubles until recently.

If helpful, I'm attaching screenshots of the 2 errors that I alternatively get anytime I try to use the scanning function from HP Smart in macOS Big Sur.

[gavvinti]

The scope of the issue seems now a bit restricted. Suggested by HP support, I've created a brand new test user on my MacBook Pro with macOS Big Sur and the new clean user is able to scan as expected via HP Smart.

So we can apparently deduce that the problem arises during the process of upgrading the existing user profile from Catalina to Big Sur: there's something left behind or wrongly modified at that stage that corrupts the ability of the upgraded user to scan properly.

What is that bit of excess/wrong/missing information that gets corrupted during the upgrade process is still unknown (so the existing user still has the problem).

[Anand_Andy]

@gavvinti,

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate your efforts. As the issue still persists, I'm sending out a private message to assist you with the next course of action. 

Please check your Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next, to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!