How to delete a printer if cups server is down?

[Paulo Cavalcanti]

Hi,

how can I delete a printer if its cups server is down?

This is specially annoying with laptops, which may
have several printers visible in system-config-printer,
but none of them will be ever used again.

I tried deleting /var/cache/cups/remote.cache,
but it is always created again, with all the unusable printers in there.

This is a Fedora 10.

Thanks.

-- 
Paulo Roma Cavalcanti
LCG - UFRJ

[Tim Waugh]

Paulo Cavalcanti wrote:
>  I tried deleting /var/cache/cups/remote.cache,
>  but it is always created again, with all the unusable printers in there. 
..then those printers aren't coming from where you think they are coming 
from.

Tim.
*/

[Paulo Cavalcanti]

2009/4/1 Tim Waugh <twaugh(a)redhat.com&gt;

>  Paulo Cavalcanti wrote:
>
> > I tried deleting /var/cache/cups/remote.cache,
> > but it is always created again, with all the unusable printers in there.
> >
>
>  ..then those printers aren't coming from where you think they are coming
>  from.
>
>  Tim.
>  */
>
>  
What I realized is that if the printer is connected to a computer via USB,
it goes away. However, if it is a network printer, with its own IP,
then it sticks.

-- 
Paulo Roma Cavalcanti
LCG - UFRJ

[Aaron Konstam]

On Wed, 2009-04-01 at 07:14 -0300, Paulo Cavalcanti wrote:
>  
>  
>  2009/4/1 Tim Waugh <twaugh(a)redhat.com&gt;
>          Paulo Cavalcanti wrote:
>                  I tried deleting /var/cache/cups/remote.cache,
>                  but it is always created again, with all the unusable
>                  printers in there.
>          
>          
>          ..then those printers aren't coming from where you think they
>          are coming from.
>          
>          Tim.
>          */
>          
>  
>  What I realized is that if the printer is connected to a computer via
>  USB,
>  it goes away. However, if it is a network printer, with its own IP,
>  then it sticks. 
>   
I suspect what you say is true since network printers would be picked up
through cups browsing from the printer server.
--
=======================================================================
Congratulations are in order for Tom Reid. He says he just found out he
is the winner of the 2021 Psychic of the Year award.
=======================================================================
Aaron Konstam telephone: [phone] e-mail: akonstam(a)sbcglobal.net

[Paulo Cavalcanti]

On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 10:04 AM, Aaron Konstam <akonstam(a)sbcglobal.net&gt;wrote:

>  On Wed, 2009-04-01 at 07:14 -0300, Paulo Cavalcanti wrote:
>  >
>  >
>  > 2009/4/1 Tim Waugh <twaugh(a)redhat.com&gt;
>  >         Paulo Cavalcanti wrote:
>  >                 I tried deleting /var/cache/cups/remote.cache,
>  >                 but it is always created again, with all the unusable
>  >                 printers in there.
>  >
>  >
>  >         ..then those printers aren't coming from where you think they
>  >         are coming from.
>  >
>  >         Tim.
>  >         */
>  >
>  >
>  > What I realized is that if the printer is connected to a computer via
>  > USB,
>  > it goes away. However, if it is a network printer, with its own IP,
>  > then it sticks.
>  >
>  I suspect what you say is true since network printers would be picked up
>  through cups browsing from the printer server.
>  

The solution is really to delete  /var/cache/cups/remote.cache
but the cups process has to be stopped, first. Otherwise,
the same cache is recreated if cups is just restarted.
This cache contains all of the network printers.

Therefore, the solution is:
1) stop cups
2) delete cache
3) start cups

Finally, I got rid of all these ghost printers...

-- 
Paulo Roma Cavalcanti
LCG - UFRJ

[Tim]

On Wed, 2009-04-01 at 08:04 -0500, Aaron Konstam wrote:
>  I suspect what you say is true since network printers would be
> picked
>  up through cups browsing from the printer server. 
You'd hope unavailable remote printers would eventually be automatically
culled.  You'd want some threshold, so that printers that went down for
half an hour, didn't disappear.  Or the office printers you've specially
set options for, but aren't available at home, stay on the system,
albeit in a "currently unavailable" status.  But anything that hadn't
been seen for days or weeks, and/or had no non-default options, could be
erased and left to be rediscovered, later on, if they ever became
available again.

-- 
[tim@localhost ~]$ uname -r
2.6.27.19-78.2.30.fc9.i686

Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored.  I
read messages from the public lists.

[Aaron Konstam]

On Thu, 2009-04-02 at 02:43 +1030, Tim wrote:
>  On Wed, 2009-04-01 at 08:04 -0500, Aaron Konstam wrote:
>  > I suspect what you say is true since network printers would be picked
>  > up through cups browsing from the printer server.
>  
>  You'd hope unavailable remote printers would eventually be automatically
>  culled.  You'd want some threshold, so that printers that went down for
>  half an hour, didn't disappear.  Or the office printers you've specially
>  set options for, but aren't available at home, stay on the system,
>  albeit in a "currently unavailable" status.  But anything that hadn't
>  been seen for days or weeks, and/or had no non-default options, could be
>  erased and left to be rediscovered, later on, if they ever became
>  available again.
>   
In my experience if the print server is not distributing browsing
packets the printers on that server disappear immediately.  If the
server is not there at all likewise.
--
=======================================================================
Now there's a violent movie titled, "The Croquet Homicide," or "Murder
With Mallets Aforethought." -- Shelby Friedman, WSJ.
=======================================================================
Aaron Konstam telephone: [phone] e-mail: akonstam(a)sbcglobal.net

[potat0]

Final solution:
As root, 

1) edit /etc/cups/cupds.conf
2) search for line "Browsing On" and change to "Browsing Off"
3) $> service cups stop
4) $> rm /var/cache/cups/remote.cache
5) $> service cups start

"Browsing Off" will prevent the printer server to update the printer list with
those pesky ghost printers.


-- 
This is an email sent via The Fedora Community Portal https://fcp.surfsite.org
https://fcp.surfsite.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=357616&t...
If you think, this is spam, please report this to webmaster(a)fcp.surfsite.org and/or blame
jose(a)borreguero.com.

[Aaron Konstam]

On Tue, 2009-07-14 at 10:43 +0200, jmborr wrote:
>  Final solution:
>  As root, 
>  
>  1) edit /etc/cups/cupds.conf
>  2) search for line "Browsing On" and change to "Browsing Off"
>  3) $> service cups stop
>  4) $> rm /var/cache/cups/remote.cache
>  5) $> service cups start
>  
>  "Browsing Off" will prevent the printer server to update the printer list with
> those pesky ghost printers.
>   
The real solution is to configure printers only on the server. The if
the server is down there will be no printers available.
-- 
Aaron Konstam <akonstam(a)sbcglobal.net&gt;