HP Laserjet 3015 All-In One Scanner not detected

Glad to see someone else is having this same problem. Also kinda bummed to see nobody has responded in almost 2 months. Hope this gives the thread a bump.

I found that I can either use the 3015 scanner or the printer, but not both when running 10.5.8 on my MacBook. Downloading and installing the "print only" driver from hp.com allows me to print through either USB or AirPort Express. However, I can't reach the 3015 as a scanner or fax. If I install the CDs that came with the printer, I can connect to it through USB and scan (and probably fax too), but it's a useless brick when I need it to be a printer.

To complicate things further: after I installed the software and drivers from the CD's, I started getting a blank TextEdit doc called "HP Communications" opening every time I start the computer. The alias seems to link back to a file and what looks like an old school OS 9 system extension in \Library\Printers\HP. Deleting or moving these files completely incapacitates the printer, I have to reinstall either from the CD or from hp.com. Now, even when I install a fresh print driver only from hp.com, I still get that text doc on start-up, but my printer works. Still no scanner.

I'm not even going to consider upgrading to Snow Leopard. According to the hp forums, other (newer) all-in-ones suffer a similar fate in 10.6- although I haven't heard anyone else got the weird text doc yet. The is also the first time in about 5 years I've actually tried to scan with the thing, so I don't really see a need to update my choice in printers.

Jon - for what it's worth I've had the same issues you describe. I'm running snow leopard. Similar to you I've found that when the scanning function is working I cannot print (and vice versa). The print queue shows the job is scheduled but it says printer error. If I unplug the usb cable from the laptop and plug it back in it miraculously prints. But that is not consistent and doesn't always work. It's frustrating enough that I've uninstalled all HP software and just left the printer so that I could print with ease. I do need to somehow scan but I've yet to figure out how I'm going to do that....hopefully I'll find some kind of software to allow me to do that.

Regarding your open text box (HP Communications) upon bootup I have had the exact same issue. The way I fixed that was to go to System Preferences, Accounts, Login Items. It was in the list and I removed it from there. Not sure if that would mess up the HP software from running but since I'm only printing at this point it doesn't really affect me.

FOLLOW-UP (Clarification) - I have an update I wanted to share in case anyone is having similar problems.

My setup: Macbook Pro, running snow leopard (10.6.3), HP Laserjet 3015 (connected via USB), I've installed the HP Laserjet All-In-One Software (v 5.9.5) that I found here: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareIndex.jsp?lang=en&cc=us &prodNameId=378050&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=378048&swLang=8&taskId=135&swEn vOID=219

As I mentioned in my prior post I could not reliably print and scan. When the printer was working fine the scanner wasn't. When the scanning function was working fine the print jobs would not print.

I have just discovered the problem (and the fix). When the HP Communications App is running the scanning function works fine. Meaning, when HP Comm is running and I put a document into the document feeder on the laserjet, HP Director launches and from there I can run HP Scan perfectly. If HP Communications is not running then nothing happens when I put a doc into the feeder. To know if this App is running I simply looked at the Activity Monitor. What I also discovered is that when HP Comm is running I cannot print. I send a print job to the printer and it puts the print job into the printer queue but it just sits there. The status says "Waiting for printer to become available". For some reason the HP Communications App will not let the job be sent over to the printer. To get that job to print I just go back to the Activity Monitor, select the HP Communications App from the list and hit "Quit Process" and then "Quit" from the next pop-up. And voila the job gets printed.

When you install the HP Laserjet All-in-one software, it forces HP Communications to launch on startup. For me, I print 99.99% of the time and scan .01%. So to make things easier I had to prevent HP Communications from launching every time I reboot the computer. I did this by going to System Preferences, Accounts, pick my name, click Login Items, and delete HP Communications from the list. Oh, once I did that, the annoying Text Edit box called "HP Communications" no longer pops up when rebooting. Now, whenever I want to scan, I manually launch the HP Communications App (found at [Macintosh HD]>Library>Printers>hp). To make it even easier I just put an Alias to the HP Communications App down in my Dock. Once I'm done scanning I just Quit that process in the Activity Monitor so I can resume normal printing.

It's somewhat of a pain in the butt, however, until HP (or Apple) fixes the bug, at least I can fully utilize the HP Laserjet 3015.