Scanner in use error

Problem

I connected a HP DeskJet 2130 printer-scanner to my Windows 10 computer and installed its driver. I opened the HP Printer Assistant application and tried to scan a page and got this error:

The scanner is currently in use. Please wait until your previous task is complete and then try scanning again.

The error would not go away even if I restarted Windows or restarted the printer-scanner.

Solution

This error is extremely misleading because the scanner was not in use. After some trial and error I figured out the real cause of the error: the door to load the printer cartridge was open. I closed that, restarted Windows and restarted the device. I was able to scan without a problem after that.