HP Scanner Not Working with Snow Leopard
After installing the new OS X Snow Leopard on my Macbook Pro, I encountered some incompatibilities with some software. All of these incompatibilities were easily fixed by updating the software except for one: my HP printer/scanner/copier software.
The printer was working fine as a printer but I was not able to scan anything. I would press the soft keys on the printer to scan and it would give an error message (see the image below). For a while I thought this was a driver issue and so I went to the HP site and looked for updated Snow Leopard drivers but found none. I then Googled my problem to see if anyone had a solution but I found none.
It wasn’t until last night that I decided to Google my problem once more but with different words and I found a solution! Turns out that because Snow Leopard now comes with printer drivers installed in the OS, the HP software I had installed prior to my OS update was useless now. So I uninstalled the the HP software using App Cleaner and then went to HP’s website on how to use the new Snow Leopard compatible printers in Snow Leopard (mine was on the list of compatible printers). This website basically says that the Scan to PC button on the printer itself is not compatible with Snow Leopard and therefore you need to tell the printer to scan using one of three options:
- Scan from the Preview application
- Scan from the Image Capture application
- Scan from Print & Fax > Printer browser
Using this, I was able to scan just fine. Problem solved! I just wish it wasn’t so hard to find this site or the information contained therein which is why I am posting it here in my blog. Hopefully it will help someone.
17 Responses to “HP Scanner Not Working with Snow Leopard”
September 17th, 2009 saat: 1:42 am
Thanks!!! Worked first go. You have been a great help. Far more useful than the Apple site!!
Cheers.
September 17th, 2009 saat: 1:51 am
I am glad this article was of help Gareth. Thank you for the comment.
November 16th, 2009 saat: 4:03 am
I am so grateful that you posted this because I just couldn’t understand what was wrong even after having the later driver installed. You have made my life a lot easier
November 18th, 2009 saat: 8:03 pm
so where do you find the list of compatible printers cause mine still aint printing…
November 18th, 2009 saat: 8:52 pm
It is in that HP website that I linked to in the post. Scroll down to the bottom.
January 4th, 2010 saat: 11:59 pm
Do I uninstall all HP software first??
January 5th, 2010 saat: 1:44 pm
Yes. Just uninstall all of the HP software. You don’t need it. Snow leopard will automatically download the drivers for you.
February 12th, 2010 saat: 2:51 pm
Very informative text. I’ve found your site via Yahoo and I’m really glad about the information you provide in your posts. Btw your blogs layout is really messed up on the Chrome browser. Would be cool if you could fix that. Anyhow keep up the good work!
February 13th, 2010 saat: 12:03 am
Thank you. I am glad you find the information I post useful/interesting. As for the layout being messed up on the Chrome browser, what exactly is messed up? I opened my site on my Chrome browser and everything seems to be fine. Let me know so I can address the issue.
May 19th, 2010 saat: 10:07 am
so where do you find the list of compatible printers cause mine still aint printing…
June 10th, 2010 saat: 5:24 pm
I really want to thank you, because I could not find an answer to this anywhere. I googled it many times since I upgraded and could not find it anywhere. With the release of Safari 5, I changed my default browser to Bing (Which I love much more then Google, go figure) and low and behold your entry was the first one to pop up. Again, thank you so much.
June 10th, 2010 saat: 6:11 pm
You are very welcome Thomas. Comments like yours are what make it worthwhile to make these posts
September 29th, 2010 saat: 9:28 am
Good to know I am not the only one with this problem…..
Pictures scan fine using image capture or preview but when I do documents, if there is any portion of it that is ‘blocked off’ or in a box, only the portion of the document in the box ends up in the file. It scans the whole page, but when you open the file to email it, only the small part is in the file. Any suggestions? thanks!
November 5th, 2010 saat: 9:06 am
We’re having the same issue as Jane. If we use the “SCAN TO” feature, and have a document scanned to our computers, it will crop the document to a small portion instead of scanning the whole sheet of paper. What’s the deal?
November 19th, 2010 saat: 2:28 am
Thank you! I’ve had this problem for most of the year, and since I’m not tech savvy (and busy with little ones) I just didn’t have the patience. Wasn’t until I did some serious time researching, that I found your link. Very clear and simple– I was able to follow your instructions while my toddler & preschooler were napping. I did have a small glitch: after all the steps, I was finally able to see image on computer but then got disconnected (WTF). However, I just restarted my computer and VOILA! Your efforts are appreciated.
November 19th, 2010 saat: 10:46 pm
Thank you for your comment Maria. It’s comments like these that make it worth the time and effort I put into my site.
May 7th, 2011 saat: 1:07 am
Software or product? I have a HP F370 all in one but I can only print the other function don’t work. I tried HP help no good. The printer is 5 years old, New PC runing windows XP home edition. Tried to reinstall but cd out of date downloaded photoshop and photo smart no good. it worked great in my old pc. I tried downloading Hp quick fixes and bypass still not working> Shoud I buy a new printer (not a HP maybe other brand?)
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