Printers disappear at reboot

jtrainsputers · 12-19-2005, 05:54 PM

I am a newbie to Linux but not to computers or networking. I installed Fedora Core 4 with KDE last week. I have the system up and running. I can install printers using the browser based install method and they work fine but when I reboot the system they are gone. I am sure there is a configuration I am missing but have not found anything on it yet (

have browsed dozens of sites and documentations). Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

PTrenholme · 12-19-2005, 07:36 PM

How, exactly, did you do the "install?"

CUPS provides a nice printing system, and I'd recommend that you install it, if you haven't already done so.

In any case, the printer daemon(s) need to be running, and so you need to tell your system to start the service at boot time. If your using KDE, look under System Settings->Server Settings. (I've not run GNOME for some time, but I think there's a similar menu item.)

jtrainsputers · 12-22-2005, 03:37 PM

I did a hard drive based install booting from the boot CD Got all ISOs from internet. The install was server type. I am running cups and it starts at the system start up. I will check on the printer daemon. I am on vacation but will look into this after the holidays when I return to the office. Thanks for the info.

PTrenholme · 12-23-2005, 08:41 AM

Edit: If CUPS starts during the boot sequence, it (CUPS is the print daemon if you use CUPS) should be running. Perhaps it starts but later fails -- look in /var/log/cups/error_log to see if there's some clue in it.

When you say "browser based," (in your first post) do you mean that you're using your browser to connect to localhost:631? If not, try it -- it should work if CUPS is running.

In any case, it could be a permission problem in /etc/cups or a subdirectory. Not likely, since all those files should be owned by root and either in the "root" or "sys" group. Here's what my /etc/cups directoy structure looks like. Yours should, I expect, be almost identical.

Code:

$ sudo ls -l /etc/cups/*
Password:
-rw-r-----  1 root sys       98 Aug 22 12:34 /etc/cups/classes.conf
-rw-r-----  1 root sys       98 Aug  8 15:27 /etc/cups/classes.conf.O
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    2328 Dec 14 10:39 /etc/cups/client.conf
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    1215 May  5  2005 /etc/cups/command.types
-rw-r-----  1 root sys    22226 Aug 22 07:51 /etc/cups/cupsd.conf
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   21934 Aug  3 11:40 /etc/cups/cupsd.conf.save
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    9839 Aug  8 15:04 /etc/cups/lp0.ppd
-rw-r--r--  1 root root     118 Aug 22 07:51 /etc/cups/lpoptions
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    4582 Dec 14 10:39 /etc/cups/mime.convs
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    5920 Dec 14 10:39 /etc/cups/mime.types
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 2772912 Dec 15 14:36 /etc/cups/ppds.dat
-rw-r-----  1 root sys      506 Aug 22 12:39 /etc/cups/printers.conf
-rw-r-----  1 root root     510 Aug  8 08:09 /etc/cups/printers.conf.O
-rw-r--r--  1 root root     947 Dec 14 10:39 /etc/cups/pstoraster.convs

/etc/cups/certs:
total 8
-r--r-----  1 root sys 32 Dec 23 07:31 0

/etc/cups/interfaces:
total 0

/etc/cups/ppd:
total 40
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 19353 Aug 22 12:39 HPOffice.ppd
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  9839 Aug  8 15:26 lp.ppd

jtrainsputers · 01-03-2006, 04:31 PM

Well once again the great computer magician has arrived to amaze and confuse me. I got back to the office today and checked the suggestions you sent me. Everything looked Ok so I added the printer again and rebooted, shut down and even ran Gates world and the printer is still there.
Thanks for the assistance.