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I have an HP ScanJet 4890 connected via USB to my desktop Mac Mini running Lion. Recently, HP finally! updated scanner drivers and my scanner is recognized and works on that machine (connected to a powered USB hub). But I unable to set up scanner sharing. There are two related problems:

  1. When I open Print & Scan system prefs and and click the '+' to add the scanner, the scanner does not appear. I tried first starting the HP scanner app, but the scanner still doesn't show up in Print & Scan prefs. I also plugged the scanner's USB cable directly into the Mini instead of the powered USB hub, with no change.

  2. Probably due to #1, if I enable Scanner Sharing under Sharing prefs, the scanner does not show up for selection.

FYI, I do have other devices - a fax modem and a printer - connected via USB to the Mini, and both are recognized and shared over my LAN.

I've searched through Apple StackExchange, but haven't found anything addressing this problem.

Suggestions?

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  • I mistakenly rejected your edit. Sorry. I upvoted your question to give you the reputation gain you would have gotten.
    – Daniel ♦
    Jan 23, 2012 at 19:17

2 Answers 2

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I also have a HP ScanJet 4890 and it has never worked natively with neither Snow Leopard nor Lion. The fixed communication to the HP software seems to be by design. As @kremalicious says, that also makes it not work with built-in tools as Image Capture or Scanner Sharing.

While I can live with that, it's quite annoying to wait more than a few months for new working HP drivers and software after a new OS X version is released.

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  • Thanks @LapplandsCohan. It's reassuring that it's not just my setup, but my sympathies in our shared annoyance :-).
    – Bruce Van Allen
    Aug 25, 2012 at 19:48
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This looks like there isn't a correct driver installed for your scanner. This means the scanner can only communicate with the provided software but not with the system and its built in tools like Image Capture or Scanner Sharing.

A basic rule of thumb: if the scanner doesn't show up in Print & Fax, all else won't work. Did you check all the downloads on HP's driver page for your scanner? You should download the Scanjet software (NOT Photosmart, that's for older systems) and the update at the bottom for Lion, this should include the driver.

There's of course the possibility HP doesn't provide a correct driver so that communicating with the vendor software only could be by design.

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  • Thanks @kremalicious. Unfortunately I had already upgraded my HP drivers, as mentioned in the opening sentence of my question. I just now checked them again, and reinstalled, going back to earlier ScanJet sw for OS X 10.6 and then installing their Lion updater from last Sept. Restarted, fiddled with USB cables & powered hub, etc. No luck -- the scanner doesn't show up when I attempt to add it via Print & Scan prefs.
    – Bruce Van Allen
    Jun 18, 2012 at 16:00
  • Sorry to hear that. All resources on HPs site say it works in Lion with that procedure, like that support document. Did you have this working with Snow Leopard before?
    – kremalicious
    Jun 25, 2012 at 13:44

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