hplip uninstall error

I did the uninstall:

    root@rpiggott-Aspire-5742Z:/home/rpiggott/Downloads/hplip-3.20.6# sudo python3 ./uninstall.py

    HP Linux Imaging and Printing System (ver. 0.0.0)
    HPLIP Uninstaller ver. 1.0

    Copyright (c) 2001-18 HP Development Company, LP
    This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
    This is free software, and you are welcome to distribute it
    under certain conditions. See COPYING file for more details.

    Uninstaller log saved in: /root/.hplip/hplip-uninstall.log

    error: HPLIP is not installed.
    root@rpiggott-Aspire-5742Z:/home/rpiggott/Downloads/hplip-3.20.6#

Then to reinstall using official Ubuntu packages

    rpiggott@rpiggott-Aspire-5742Z:~/Downloads$ sudo apt-get install hplip hplip-gui
    Reading package lists... Done
    Building dependency tree
    Reading state information... Done
    hplip is already the newest version (3.20.3+dfsg0-2).
    hplip-gui is already the newest version (3.20.3+dfsg0-2).
    0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

This is conflicting information with the error saying **HPLIP** is not installed.  So I tried to purge hplip

    rpiggott@rpiggott-Aspire-5742Z:~/Downloads$ sudo apt remove --purge hplip
    Reading package lists... Done
    Building dependency tree
    Reading state information... Done
    The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:
      python3-notify2
    Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove it.
    The following packages will be REMOVED:
      hplip* hplip-gui*
    0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 2 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
    After this operation, 687 kB disk space will be freed.
    Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
    (Reading database ... 314952 files and directories currently installed.)
    Removing hplip-gui (3.20.3+dfsg0-2) ...
    Removing hplip (3.20.3+dfsg0-2) ...
    Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.24-1ubuntu3) ...
    Processing triggers for mime-support (3.64ubuntu1) ...
    Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1ubuntu1) ...
    Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
    Processing triggers for dbus (1.12.16-2ubuntu2.1) ...
    Processing triggers for bamfdaemon (0.5.3+18.04.20180207.2-0ubuntu2) ...
    Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf-2.index...
    (Reading database ... 314850 files and directories currently installed.)
    Purging configuration files for hplip (3.20.3+dfsg0-2) ...
    Purging configuration files for hplip-gui (3.20.3+dfsg0-2) ...
    Processing triggers for dbus (1.12.16-2ubuntu2.1) ...

Then I tried again to do the installation

    rpiggott@rpiggott-Aspire-5742Z:~/Downloads$ sudo apt-get install hplip-gui
    Reading package lists... Done
    Building dependency tree
    Reading state information... Done
    The following additional packages will be installed:
      hplip
    Suggested packages:
      hplip-doc
    The following NEW packages will be installed:
      hplip hplip-gui
    0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
    Need to get 0 B/223 kB of archives.
    After this operation, 687 kB of additional disk space will be used.
    Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
    Selecting previously unselected package hplip.
    (Reading database ... 314849 files and directories currently installed.)
    Preparing to unpack .../hplip_3.20.3+dfsg0-2_amd64.deb ...
    Unpacking hplip (3.20.3+dfsg0-2) ...
    Selecting previously unselected package hplip-gui.
    Preparing to unpack .../hplip-gui_3.20.3+dfsg0-2_all.deb ...
    Unpacking hplip-gui (3.20.3+dfsg0-2) ...
    Setting up hplip (3.20.3+dfsg0-2) ...
    Creating/updating hplip user account...
    Can't open /etc/hp/hplip.conf: No such file or directory.
    Can't open /etc/hp/hplip.conf: No such file or directory.
    Setting up hplip-gui (3.20.3+dfsg0-2) ...
    Processing triggers for bamfdaemon (0.5.3+18.04.20180207.2-0ubuntu2) ...
    Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf-2.index...
    Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils (0.24-1ubuntu3) ...
    Processing triggers for mime-support (3.64ubuntu1) ...
    Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1ubuntu1) ...
    Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.1-1) ...
    Processing triggers for dbus (1.12.16-2ubuntu2.1) ...