Device names: a moving target

Hi

I have the following device:
HP Neverstop Laser MFP 120x, driverless, cups-filters 1.27.4

On one Linux system with hplip 3.21.2, I can:
- print over USB connection, but not scan
- scan over network using the following device URI: hpaio:/net/HP_Neverstop_Laser_MFP_120x?ip=192.168.99.90

Other newly installed Linux Mint system, hplip 3.21.12, trying to scan using the same URI, gives the following:

$ hp-scan -d 'hpaio:/net/HP_Neverstop_Laser_MFP_120x?ip=192.168.99.90' --dest file file1.jpg
error: 'hpaio:/net/HP_Neverstop_Laser_MFP_120x?ip=192.168.99.90' device doesn't support this feature (or) Invalid device URI

So, let us see what scan devices I have:
$ hp-scan
[snip]
  Num Scan device URI
  -------- -------------------------------------------------------------------
  0 escl:https://192.168.99.90:443
  1 hpaio:/net/HP_Neverstop_Laser_MFP_120x?hostname=NPI6E1B6A.local
  2 hpaio:/net/hp_neverstop_laser_mfp_120x?ip=192.168.99.90&queue=false
  3 airscan:e0:HP Neverstop Laser MFP 1200w (6E1B6A)

Enter number 0...3 for device (q=quit) ?2
warning: No destinations specified. Adding 'file' destination by default.
Using device hpaio:/net/hp_neverstop_laser_mfp_120x?ip=192.168.99.90&queue=false
Opening connection to device...
error: SANE: Error during device I/O (code=9)

A pop-up appears: "Driver Plug-in Installation is required".
Then comes google translated from xxx to English: Your HP Device requires to install HP proprietary plugin.
Don't remember to be asked to install this neither on the other system nor on another one belonging to my wife.

Why all this has to be so complicated?
Why I cannot scan over USB?
$ hp-scan
Num Scan device URI
  -------- --------------------------------------------------------
  0 hpaio:/usb/HP_Neverstop_Laser_MFP_120x?serial=CNBRP5R5F3
  1* hpaio:/net/HP_Neverstop_Laser_MFP_120x?ip=192.168.99.90
  2 escl:https://192.168.99.90:443
  3 escl:http://192.168.99.90:8080
  4 escl:http://127.0.0.1:60000

Enter number 0...4 for device (q=quit, <enter>=default: 1*) ?0
warning: No destinations specified. Adding 'file' destination by default.
Using device hpaio:/usb/HP_Neverstop_Laser_MFP_120x?serial=CNBRP5R5F3
Opening connection to device...
error: SANE: Error during device I/O (code=9)
<rant>
Every new system I install, having a working printing/scanning is like an adventure game. Unfortunately I'm to old fog gaming ;-)
And it is a HP software to drive a HP device, nothing more.
To give us more fun, URIs are sometimes lower sometimes upper case, see hp-scan output.
</rant>
One question still remains: why USB scanning doesn't work?

Thank and regards,
Marc