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I'm trying to install a printer driver (from Epson if it matters) but when I try to unpack the .tar.gz file I'm getting a directory called epsonscan2-bundle-6.6.42.0.x86_64.deb instead of a file.

I tried just installing with dpkg or apt as per How do I install a .deb file via the command line? however apt reasonably responds E: Read error - read (21: Is a directory) -- dpkg's objection is that the directory is not a Debian format archive

There are a dozen different questions about installing .deb files in general, but none that I can find that address a file that is actually a directory.

Amanda
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1 Answers1

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This is really weird how Epson packs this driver.

It is really a directory, not a deb file. The directory contains other directories with real deb files and an install.sh script.

The script installs required dependencies and the debs.

Start install.sh script from that directory to install the driver.

So copy that epsonscan2-bundle-6.6.42.0.x86_64.deb to your Home and run:

cd epsonscan2-bundle-6.6.42.0.x86_64.deb
sudo ./install.sh
Pilot6
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    This offends me, just on principle. But I believe you. – Amanda Jul 18 '22 at 22:04
  • As it turns out there are just two directories in here, core and plugins in addition to the install.sh script. And each of those includes an actual .deb file. So I'm going to try installing those directly. – Amanda Jul 18 '22 at 23:04
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    @Amanda if you look through the install.sh script it just runs dpkg --install for the .deb files in the subdirectories. – John Rennie Jul 19 '22 at 04:57
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    .x86_64.deb is their platform ID (64-bit Debian-ish), it just happens to look a lot like the filename of a deb package. – hobbs Jul 19 '22 at 06:29
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    Appending a filename extension (or something that looks alike) to a directory name is really confusing, shame on Epson who did this. – rexkogitans Jul 19 '22 at 09:12