Skip to content

Instruction Sheet: Installing Epson L6160 on Modern Linux Mint/Ubuntu

This guide provides the definitive steps to manually install your Epson L6160 network printer when the standard automatic setup fails.

Prerequisites: You need your printer's IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.100).

Step 1: Prepare the Drivers 🔧

First, we will install the correct official driver and remove the conflicting system driver.

  1. Download the Official Driver:

    • Search online for "Epson L6160 driver linux".
    • From the official Epson support site, download the printer driver file that ends in .deb.

  2. Install the Official Driver:

    • Go to your Downloads folder.
    • Double-click the downloaded .deb file to install it with the GDebi Package Installer.

  3. Remove the Conflicting Driver:

    • Open a terminal and run the following command to remove the old, problematic system driver: 
      sudo apt-get remove printer-driver-escpr

Step 2: Prepare the System

Next, we will disable the faulty automatic discovery service that interferes with the setup.

  1. Disable the cups-browsed Service:
    • In the terminal, run these two commands to stop and permanently disable the service: 
      sudo systemctl stop cups-browsed
sudo systemctl disable cups-browsed

Step 3: Manually Create the Printer 🖨️

Finally, we will use the command line to manually create the printer queue with the correct driver and settings.

  1. Find the Driver File (PPD) Path:

    • In the terminal, run this command to find the exact location of the driver file: 
      find /opt/epson-inkjet-printer-escpr2 -name "*L6160*.ppd.gz"
    • Copy the full path that the command outputs.

  2. Place the Driver File in the System Folder:

    • Use the path you just copied in the following command. Replace [PASTE THE FULL PATH HERE] with the path you copied. 
      sudo gunzip -c /opt/epson-inkjet-printer-escpr2/ppds/Epson/Epson-L6160_Series-epson-inkjet-printer-escpr2.ppd.gz | sudo tee /usr/share/cups/model/Epson-L6160.ppd > /dev/null

  3. Create the Printer Queue:

    • Run this final command in the terminal. Note the use of the -P flag. 
      sudo lpadmin -p Epson_L6160 -E -v socket://192.168.1.100:9100 -P /usr/share/cups/model/Epson-L6160.ppd

Step 4: Verification ✅

  • Go to System Settings > Printers. You should see a single printer named "Epson_L6160".
  • Right-click on the printer and print a test page to confirm everything is working.