Need help with scanning!

So I’m messing around with my Epson EcoTank All-in-One.
Everything was running smooth as silk until recently.
But for the last few days, the scanner just decided to quit on me—it's the only thing acting up, since everything else works fine.
It keeps throwing this error at me saying there's no connection to my computer 😕
I already tried the whole restart thing, and even though the diagnostic test says everything is totally fine, it still won't scan for the life out of me.

Anyone here happen to know what's going on?

Double-check that all the cables are seated properly at both ends—the PC and the printer/scanner. If they're tight and it’s still acting up... try a clean reinstall of the drivers. 🤷

As far as I know, I haven't messed with any of the cables at all, other than just unplugging and plugging things back in exactly how HP's help guides suggested 😕
I can't quite remember if this happened before, but lately, whenever I fire up the printer on my PC, that "safely remove hardware" icon pops up on my screen. Is that actually normal?