Mac os Monterey, Epson printer driver UNinstall

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Level 1

4 points

Mac os Monterey, Epson printer driver UNinstall

I have just upgraded my 2014 MacMini (Intel) to Monterey and my Epson R2400 printer (USB only) will no longer work properly.

I have downloaded from the Epson website the following -

an apparently compatible driver, Legacy_StylusPhotoR_1262_AM.dmg ,

an Uninstaller, Uninstaller_132.dmg ,

and something called Common Updater for Apple Software Update v2.18 , which has EPIJPrinterPatch_P204.dmg inside the folder.

I have not yet installed any of these.

First question - Do I need all of these, or only the driver?

Second question below. I believe I should uninstall the present printer.

I've read a lot about how to delete a printer. I believe you should

1 - unplug the cables, power and USB.

2 - remove the printer via System Preferences - Printers and Scanners

3 - find the driver in MacHD - Library - PPDs - Contents - Resources . It is called EpsonStylusPhotoR2400.gz

4 - I also read that you should find all traces of Epson stuff in various folders in ~Library,and trash them ie -

~/Library/Cache

~/Library/Preferences

~/Library/Logs

~/Library/Application Support

~/Library/Containers

~/Library/Printers

5 Empty the Trash

Now, please can I ask,

A) is it necessary to do all that?

B) if it is, or if it is advisable, then this question. - I believe it is possible to alter the names of the things you want to remove, rather than removing them. Something like adding 'old' to the name, or a dot . in front of the name. I read this ages ago and can't remember exactly what you do.

Why I'm asking is that once I have really deleted everything, they're gone for ever.

The only other way I can think of not losing them is a very laborious copying to an external drive with clear annotation of where they came from in case I need to put them back.

I'm sorry this is long-winded. I hope you can understand what I'm asking and my reasons.

Thanks.

Posted on Feb 5, 2023 10:15 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

steve626

Level 6

11,225 points

Feb 5, 2023 10:39 AM in response to Ruth N

I don't think you need to do all that. I think you are over thinking this. It is very common after a MacOS upgrade to remove the printer from System Preferences Printers & Scanners and then to simply reinstall. That's all most people need. Since the printer isn't working with your latest MacOS, you don't need to worry about renaming old files, they aren't working for you anyway.

I have an Epson XP-820 printer/scanner and a Canon printer/scanner and have never done anything more than Step #2 in your list followed by installing the latest driver(s).

To be extra thorough, you can first remove the device from Printers and Scanners, then run the uninstaller provided by Epson also before running the latest installer.

I recommend NOT going through all those other folders and deleting or renaming things. You may inadvertently cause some harm to your system.

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Answer 2

MartinR

Level 7

21,491 points

Feb 5, 2023 11:52 AM in response to Ruth N

Follow the advice already given by @steve626.

You really only need the driver and the uninstaller. But if you are going to use Epson papers, it would be advisable to also install the ICC profiles for at least the glossy & matte papers.

And there is no need to uninstall or delete old(er) files, in fact it would be inadvisable to go poking around in ~/Library at all.

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