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I previously had issues with printing with my printer on Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS Unable to use my HP 4520 All-In-One

After solving that problem with @Waltinator 's & other's help, I still am unable to scan using the scanner. I tried to understand the group permissions instructions on the above link but wasn't able to figure them out. For example, when I checked ls -l, it didn't show anything that appeared to be permissions for the printer or scanner. Is that "snap"?

When I use the application called "hp-uiscan" it claims "No Device Connected" When I press scan on my HP4520, it says "No computer found" make sure it is turned on. The inbuilt HP Device manager doesn't seem to have any scanner options.

I also used the instructions found here: But sudo apt-get install hplip-gui did not work after I went through the GUI because it did not give any options related to a printer or for the driver.

Please advise. Thanks.

216ann
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  • USB? You could try the Answer at https://askubuntu.com/questions/1366428/ubuntu-18-simple-scan-no-detect-scanner-cannner-lide300-please-help – brian_p Oct 05 '21 at 14:49
  • Have you tried to install hp-plugin. As per hplip docs is not marked as needed, but you have to try. – N0rbert Oct 05 '21 at 16:47
  • @brian_p I tried the instructions there such as those on: https://software.opensuse.org//download.html?project=home%3Apzz&package=sane-airscan But after running add repository manually for 20.04, it came back as "Unable to locate package sane-airscan". I see the repositories at: https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/pzz/xUbuntu_20.04/ But am not sure which ones to install or even how to install them. I am a newbie. Please advise. – 216ann Oct 05 '21 at 23:40
  • @N0rbert I ran "dpkg -l hplip" which returned: 3.20.3+dfsg0-2 amd64 So unless i am mistaken, I have it installed. Did you mean something else? – 216ann Oct 05 '21 at 23:42
  • Run hp-plugin command, follow its wizard and wait it to complete. Then try to scan. – N0rbert Oct 06 '21 at 04:56
  • @N0rbert I ran the cmd sudo, I seemed to be able to download with a few apparently minor errors (eg, returned non-zero exit status; AttributeError: module 'platform' has no attribute 'dist'). But ultimately, both pressing scan on the device as well as using the hp-uiscan app failed the same way as described above. Was I supposed to install the plugin after? I couldn't find anything downloaded. Or perhaps there is a different way to scan? Please advise. – 216ann Oct 06 '21 at 07:29
  • @216ann Forget about a repository . Just download and install ipp-usb and sane-airscan. Right-clicking on a file might help. Re-plug the device into USB afterwards. – brian_p Oct 06 '21 at 10:09
  • @N0rbert I have ipp-usb installed: rc ipp-usb 0.9.19-1+50.1 amd64 Daemon for IPP over USB printer support BUT I get "E: Unable to locate package sane-airscan" when I follow the instructions at: https://software.opensuse.org//download.html?project=home%3Apzz&package=sane-airscan I avoided the "Grab binary packages directly" option because of the recommendations at: https://github.com/alexpevzner/sane-airscan – 216ann Oct 06 '21 at 19:11
  • @N0rbert Using "sudo apt list --installed" returned "sane-airscan/now 0.99.27-1+87.1 amd64 [installed,local] sane-utils/focal-updates,now 1.0.29-0ubuntu5.2 amd64 [installed,automatic]" However, using "scan-airscan" says cmd not found whether I use man or anything behind it. using the "scan" button as well as hp-uiscan returns the same errors as before. Please advise – 216ann Oct 10 '21 at 20:38
  • @brian_p I have still been unable to scan. Feel like I have tried everything. – 216ann Oct 11 '21 at 23:29
  • @N0rbert I still can't scan. Please assist. I am unsure if I am allowed to reask the question if this question remains unanswered. Thanks. – 216ann Jan 14 '22 at 20:09
  • @brian_p I have still been unable to scan and need to scan impt documents for legal reasons. Please help me. Thanks. – 216ann Jan 14 '22 at 20:10

2 Answers2

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I found out that hp-uiscan does not support MFP (Multi Function Printers) devices. There is only a limited device list of supported scanners. MFP printers are disabled programmatically by a filter list.

Btw, scanning only works if the sane backend is installed. ;-)

If you want to use the scan button on your printer I can recommend the Scan2Folder tool. You can download it at https://github.com/AlfredoCubitos/Scan2Folder

Alfredo cubitos
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  • @Afredo cubitos So is that why I have had so much trouble with it? How would I install the "sane backend" & use it to scan? Also, I am a newbie so I go to the GitHub link you provided & only see "sudo pip3 install -r deps/dependency.txt". I must be doing something wrong or missed (several) steps because that doesn't seem to work. At least by itself. – 216ann Jan 22 '22 at 01:51
  • there is a good article all about scanning at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ScanningHowTo. It also explains howto install sane and how to use it. I assumed that your scanner is connected to your network, or? The tool is for scanners connected over a network. – Alfredo cubitos Jan 22 '22 at 12:16
  • Thanks for the assist. Actually no, my printer is connected directly through USB to my desktop because I thought it would be easier with a physical connection. Did I make a mistake? I looked at this page which purportedly shows the HP scanners that work with Ubuntu and shockingly 4520 (which is a very, very common all-in-one) is not on there (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupportComponentsScannersHp). Does that mean I am out of luck? I look a the wall of instruction on your article and I am rather intimidated as I am a newbie. – 216ann Jan 25 '22 at 00:09
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    Have you ever tried hp-setup? – Alfredo cubitos Jan 25 '22 at 08:30
  • I tried it before but for some reason following the instructions here (https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to-install-networked-hp-printer-and-scanner-on-ubuntu-linux/) worked for me. Now I am able to scan. Strangely however, I can only scan the very top portion of any page. Now I have to figure out why that is. But at least I can scan. BTW, I am using the usb and not the network. Thanks again. – 216ann Jan 25 '22 at 23:35
  • did you define your page size settings in your scan tool? Can you please check if he Scan2Folder tool works also? Thanks in advance :-) – Alfredo cubitos Jan 26 '22 at 14:50
  • Yes, that was the first thing that I checked. The page size was fine but for some reason, it continued only scanning the very top portion of any page. I could not get the Scan2Folder tool to work. – 216ann Jan 30 '22 at 23:23
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So finally to solve this issue, I used the hp-setup per instructions here: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to-install-networked-hp-printer-and-scanner-on-ubuntu-linux/
I used the usb connection.
I could not get the toolbox to work (it strangely scanned only the top of each page even though the settings showed that it was set to scan the entire page) so I had to use Simple Scan app that is already built into Gnome.
I never thought it would be this simple especially since I had asked this question before & got really complicated answers. Hope this helps newbies like myself. Thanks to all the folks who gave me pointers along the way. I was able to get my impt docs scanned & sent.

216ann
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