Table of contents

Introduction
Installation and Removal Instructions
Accessing the Activity Log
Authenticating Printer Setup Repair
File Permission Verification and Repair
Reset the Printing System
Backup and Restore the Printing System
System User Verification and Repair
CUPS Tools
Temporary & Preference File Management
Printer Driver Removal
PPD Tools
    PPD Installation
    PPD Inspection, Relocation & Removal
Classic Mode Management
Printer Setup Repair Preferences
Recreate the temporary directory
Registration
Troubleshooting
Version History
System Requirements
Legal Statement

Introduction

What is Printer Setup Repair?

Printer Setup Repair is the only utility in the world designed to diagnose and repair problems that can occur with the Mac OS X printing system. These problems include, but are not limited to, the inability to open the Printer Setup Utility, unable to add printers, disappearing print jobs, corrupted preference files, and inability to create PDF files. Printer Setup Repair also includes some useful tools for deleting extra printer drivers, installing or deleting PPD files, deleting old spool files, to name a few.

It is important to read these instructions carefully before attempting to use Printer Setup Repair. Please note that Printer Setup Repair will not function correctly if you have moved/renamed the Printer Setup Utility, you do not have administrator privileges or your root user is set up incorrectly.

See the Troubleshooting section for more information.

What version do I need?

Version Name & Number	Mac OS X
Print Therapy 6.x	10.5.x
Printer Setup Repair 5.x	10.4.x
Printer Setup Repair 4.x	10.3 to 10.3.9
Print Center Repair 3.x	10.2 to 10.2.8
Print Center Repair 1.x	10.1.2 to 10.1.5

There are currently 6 versions of Print Therapy / Printer Setup Repair / Print Center Repair available for download. The versions are listed below along with the OS that they are designed to support:

Version Name & Number	Mac OS X
Print Therapy 7.x	10.6.x
Print Therapy 6.x	10.5.x
Printer Setup Repair 5.x	10.4.x
Printer Setup Repair 4.x	10.3.x
Print Center Repair 3.x	10.2.x
Print Center Repair 1.x	10.1.2 to 10.1.5

Installation and Removal Instructions

Printer Setup Repair can be run from almost any location. We recommend placing it into your /Applications/Utilities directory so that it can be conveniently found right next to the Printer Setup Utility - or better still, place a copy in your dock for quick access. You must be booted into the version of Mac OS X that you wish to repair.

Printer Setup Repair can be removed by simply dragging it to the trash. The preference file com.fixamac.psr5.plist can be located in the /Users/<your user name>/Library/Preferences directory.

Accessing the Activity Log

Printer Setup Repair creates an activity log that records all repair activity, including error messages. The automatic activity logging can be enabled and disabled in the Printer Setup Repair preferences. See Printer Setup Repair Preferences for more information.

You can view the log from the Printer Setup Repair menu by choosing: Printer Setup Repair -->Log-->Open log (or Command-Shift-L). The log, called psr5logfile.log, will open up in the Console and may be viewed dynamically. The log may be cleared or deleted by using either the “Clear log...” (Command-Shift-C) or “Delete log...” (Command-Shift-X) options also under the Printer Setup Repair -->Log menu.

If you are experiencing difficulties with Printer Setup Repair, and are requesting tech support, please email the activity log to the Fixamac Software technical support department for analysis. The file is located in the /Users/<your user name>/Library/Logs directory.

Authenticating Printer Setup Repair

What is authentication?

Printer Setup Repair must be run with administrator privileges. This means that the user who enters a user name and password must be a member of the sudoers database. The sudoers database keeps a record of all users who have administrator privileges and will only grant those users the ability to perform administrative tasks.

Any administrator user name and password combination can be entered. This means that it can be run in a non-administrative environment by a user who does have administrative privileges.

When Printer Setup Repair first launches you will be presented with the authentication dialog. By default, Printer Setup Repair automatically enters the short name of the current user; regardless of administrative rights. Change the user name, if necessary, enter your administrator password and click “Continue...”. Your administrator password is your normal login password. If you do not use a password, simply leave the password field blank. Printer Setup Repair will verify your user name and password combination and, if they are verified correctly, continue to launch. If you wish, you can save your user name and password for use in administrator-free mode. See "What is administrator-free mode?" below for more information.

Am I an administrator?

The first user account created under Mac OS X ALWAYS has administrative privileges. To verify your administrative status, open the System Preferences and click on the Accounts preference pane. If you have administrative rights, you will see the word “Admin” below your user name. If it says “Standard”, you do not have administrative rights and will need to use a user name and password of a user who does. If you are using a computer that is managed by a System Administrator, you may have to ask them to run Printer Setup Repair for you. Alternatively, the administrator can save their user name and password for use in administrator-free mode.

To remove administrator authentication from Printer Setup Repair, simply quit the application. To disable administrator-free mode, see below.

File Permission Verification and Repair

Incorrectly configured permissions are one of the biggest problems encountered with Mac OS X. There have been several applications written, including Printer Setup Repair, that address this issue. Apple includes a permission repair option in the Disk Utility application. It does a very good job of repairing file permissions across an entire volume. Where it fails, however, is in the treatment of user directories. Basically, Disk Utility ignores these directories, their contents, and their permissions which leaves a potential problem without a resolution. Printer Setup Repair does examine and repair the permission for all user directory files associated with the printing system, as well as the files that Disk Utility does see. Also, since Printer Setup Repair only concentrates on the printing system, verification and repairs are carried out in very little time.

File Permission Verification and Repair - This option will affect all users. If running, the Printer Setup Utility and any Proxy Printers will be quit.

In order to run verification and repair, you will need to specify which directories to examine by checking the boxes next to the options you specify. The various options are explained below:

Printer Setup Utility.app

If the permissions of the Printer Setup Utility are incorrect, you may have difficulty opening the application, adding printers, or creating desktop (proxy) printers. Selecting this option will ensure that the permissions are correct. The Printer Setup Utility application must be located in the /Applications/Utilities directory.

/System/Library Directories

The /System/Library directory contains the majority of the files used by the printing system. They are located in three areas:

• /System/Library/Printers
• /System/Library/StartupItems/PrintingServices (Not available if you have CUPS 1.2 through 1.2.9 installed)
• /System/Library/SystemConfiguration/PrinterNotifications

If the permissions are incorrect, you may experience errors while trying to print.

CUPS Host Directories (supports CUPS 1.1.23 through CUPS 1.2.11)

CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) utilizes several directories for its normal operations, including the storing of its spool and temporary files. If the permissions for any of these directories and files contained within are incorrect, you may not be able to print or even add printers with the Printer Setup Utility. Another potential issue that is addressed by this option is the inability to start CUPS. CUPS relies on a background process called cupsd - a daemon process that must also have correct permissions in order to run. The permissions of the cupsd process are verified and, if necessary, repaired. In turn, the cupsd background process depends upon a configuration file called cupsd.conf. The /private/var/spool directory is used by the printing system to store spool files. If the permissions for this directory are incorrect, you may see errors while attempting to print.

/Library/Printers Directory

The /Library/Printers directory contains the majority of the pre-installed printer drivers and PPD files. While Printer Setup Repair currently does not verify and repair permissions of the pre-installed printer drivers, it does support the main directory structure. If you have a large number of PPD files installed, having this option selected can significantly increase the time the permission repairs take to complete.

Home Library Directories

Each user account has a Library folder where printing preferences and proxy printers are stored. Printer Setup Repair will examine these files and repair the permissions if required. This option includes the ability to examine the Library directory for all user accounts. User accounts that are locked by FileVault will not be checked by Printer Setup Repair.

Print & Fax Preference Pane

The Print & Fax Preference Pane was introduced in Mac OS X 10.3. It handles some of the features that used to be handled by Print Center and introduces some new ones. If the permissions for the Print & Fax Preference Pane are incorrect, you may not be able to access it in the System Preferences.

/usr/libexec/cups/backend/fax
/usr/libexec/cups/backend/http
/usr/libexec/cups/backend/smb
/usr/libexec/cups/filter/pdftopm
/usr/sbin/reject

Reset the Printing System

This option will affect all users.

In many cases, the errors that can occur with the Printer Setup Utility are a combination of problems. Resetting the printing system is a way to rectify most of the common errors with one simple step. When used, it will do the following:

• Quit the Printer Setup Utility application (if running)
• Quit all Proxy Printers (if any are running)
• Stop the cupsd background process (Not performed under CUPS 1.2.x)
• Delete the printers.conf and printers.conf.O files from the /private/etc/cups directory
• Recreate the printers.conf file
• Delete the printcap file from the /private/etc directory
• Recreate the printcap file
• Delete the CUPS spool files from the /private/var/spool/cups directory
• Recreate the /private/var/spool/cups/tmp directory
• Delete the following preference files from the Users/<usernames>/Library/Preferences directories:
  • com.apple.print.PrintCenter.plist
  • com.apple.print.PrintingPrefs.plist
  • com.apple.print.custompresets.plist
  • com.apple.print.custompapers.plist
  • com.apple.print.favorites.plist
  • com.apple.print.PrinterProxy.plist (for each Proxy Printer)
• Delete the cache files
• Delete Proxy Printers from the Users/<usernames>/Library/Printers directories
• Delete the AdobePDF application from the /Library/Application Support/Adobe directory (if it exists)
• Delete Acrobat preference files (if found)
• Start the cupsd background process (Restart the cupsd background process under CUPS 1.2.x)

If you have Adobe Acrobat 6, 7 or 8 installed, you will need to launch it in order to add the Adobe PDF printer back into the Printer Setup Utility list. Acrobat will ask you to enter your administrator password and will then recreate the AdobePDF application in the /Library/Application Support/Adobe directory. If the Adobe PDF printer fails to show up in the printers list, you may need to add it manually by holding down the option key while clicking the "More Printers..." button in the Printer Setup Utility. This will enable an advanced menu where the Adobe PDF option should be available to use. You may need to restart your computer in order to successfully add printers.

A note about the new Printer Setup Utility reset feature:

With the release of Mac OS X 10.4, Apple have added a reset option to the Printer Setup Utility. This new feature will delete all printers from the printers list, delete all preference files, and delete the Proxy Printers from the users home library. However, it does not delete spool files and cache files. Printer Setup Repair performs a deeper reset of the printing system and now, beginning with version 5.0, you have the option to perform a backup of the printing system files before wiping it clean and starting again. For more details, see the “Backup and Restore the Printing System” section.

Backup and Restore the Printing System

Printer Setup Repair will allow you to backup your printing system files and restore them in the event of a printing system failure. You may also backup you printing system files before performing a reset of the printing system - either with Printer Setup Repair, or the Printer Setup Utility.

The backup procedure explained:

When you choose to backup the printing system files, Printer Setup Repair will do the following:

• Quit the Printer Setup Utility (if running)
• Quit Proxy Printers (if running)
• Quit the cupsd background process (Not performed under CUPS 1.2.x)
• Create a new backup folder in the location specified in the Printer Setup Repair preferences (see Printer Setup Repair Preferences for more information).
• Copy the following system files to the new backup folder:
  • printers.conf (and backup files)
  • classes.conf (and backup files)
  • cupsd.conf (and backup files)
  • ppds.dat
  • ppd directory (including contents)
  • printcap
• Copy the following user files to the new backup directory:
  • com.apple.print.PrintCenter.plist
  • com.apple.print.PrintingPrefs.plist
  • com.apple.print.custompresets.plist
  • com.apple.print.custompapers.plist
  • com.apple.print.favorites.plist
  • com.apple.print.PrinterProxy.plist
  • .lpoptions
• Start the cupsd background process. (Restart the cupsd background process under CUPS 1.2.x)
  

Printer Setup Repair will backup the user printing files for every user on the computer. Their files will be placed into individual folders named after their user ID (501, 502, etc.).

Note: The Printer Setup Utility and Proxy Printer preference files are only saved when they are quit normally. If you want to keep the most current changes to your configuration (mainly window positions and customized tool bars), be sure to quit the Printer Setup Utility and any Proxy Printers before proceeding with the backup.

The restoration process explained:

When you choose to restore your printing system files, Printer Setup Repair will ask you to identify a backup folder. The folder will be verified to make sure that it is a valid backup. Once the folder is verified, Printer Setup Repair will do the following:

• Quit the Printer Setup Utility (if running)
• Quit Proxy Printers (if running)
• Quit the cupsd background process (Not performed under CUPS 1.2.x)
• Delete the existing printing system files and replace them with the files located within the backup folder.
• Delete the existing user files and replace them with the files located within the backup folder.
• Restore the correct file permission to all replaced files.
• Start the cupsd background process. (Restart the cupsd background process under CUPS 1.2.x)Restore the correct file permission to all replaced files.
  

Printer Setup Repair will only restore the user printing files for current users on the computer. If a user was deleted after a backup, their files will not be restored.

Note: It is a good idea to perform a reset of the printing system before you restore the printing system files. This will ensure that you do not have any unwanted print cache or spool files that could cause printing problems after the restoration process is complete.

Create configuration sets.

While the backup and restore feature was originally intended to do just that, it can also be used to create configuration sets.

For example: you can create a list of printers that only print black and white, name the backup set “Black and White Printers”, perform a backup, reset the printing system, create a list of printers that print in color, name the backup set “Color Printers” and perform a backup. You can then restore each set as needed. While this may not benefit users who do not have many printers, if may be a benefit to larger companies that manage a substantial number of printers on a network.

CUPS Tools

Cups Daemon Process (cupsd) - Adjust the status as necessary. This option will affect all users. If running, the Printer Setup Utility and any Proxy Printers will be quit.

The Printer Setup Utility relies on a background process called “cupsd” to display the current list of printers and handle many CUPS printing tasks. Printer Setup Repair automatically checks the status of the cupsd process and offers options to either, stop, start, or restart it as necessary. The currently installed version of CUPS is show in the title of this window.

If the cupsd process is not starting up, it may have a permissions related problem, the hostconfig file may be configured in such a way that CUPS is not loaded during system startup, or you may have a corrupted, missing, or badly configured cupsd.conf file. Look at the CUPS status message in the middle of the CUPS Tools window. If it reads “The hostconfig file is currently configured to load CUPS at system startup” or “The hostconfig file is currently configured to load CUPS when required” then the problem is likely to be permissions related. Verify the permissions of the CUPS Host Directories of the File Permissions Verification & Repair section to make sure that the permissions of the cupsd process are correct. If the permissions were repaired, return to the CUPS Tools section and click the start button.

If the CUPS status message reads “The hostconfig file is currently configured NOT to load CUPS at system startup” then the problem is likely to be a badly configured hostconfig file. Use the “CUPS startup options” popup menu in the CUPS Tools section to select “CUPS=-AUTOMATIC-” and click the “Go” button. The next time you restart your computer, the cupsd process will launch. Meanwhile, to launch the cupsd process immediately, click on the “Start” button. If the cupsd process refuses to start, the problem may be related to a missing or badly configured cupsd.conf file. To correct this, see the “Replace cupsd.conf File” section below.

Please note: If you have installed CUPS 1.2.x, the cupsd process cannot be stopped. Therefore, the "Start" and "Stop" buttons will not be available. Printer Setup Repair 5.1.x is CUPS version aware and will restart the cupsd background process instead of stopping and starting it when performing certain functions.

If you have installed CUPS 1.2.9 and above, you will not be able to control Printer Sharing in the System Preferences Sharing pane. This is a known issue. All printer sharing configurations must be performed in the CUPS Administration interface (see below.)

CUPS Administration

Mac OS X 10.4 has a built-in CUPS administration interface. This option opens the interface in your default web browser. (FYI, the default address is http://127.0.0.1:631.) Printer Setup Repair provides the option to open the interface on a different port number in case you have changed the default port assignment. The default port number can be changed in the Printer Setup Repair preferences. If you haven't change the port assignment, you do not need to specify an alternative port number. Full instructions for using the CUPS administration interface can be found at http://www.cups.org/documentation.php. This link is provided in the CUPS Tools window for your convenience. You will need to be connected to the internet to use the link.

CUPS Configuration in hostconfig File

Every version of Mac OS X 10.4 has a hostconfig file located in the /private/etc directory. This file is read by the OS at startup to determine which services to activate and which to ignore. CUPS is one of the services listed in the hostconfig file and will have either a YES, NO, or AUTOMATIC designation. The cupsd process activates if the CUPS entry in the hostconfig file is CUPS=-YES-, or CUPS=-AUTOMATIC-. Printer Setup Repair can examine your hostconfig file and report whether or not CUPS is set to run when you start your Mac. After learning this, you can turn CUPS on or off with the click of a button. The hostconfig file is also examined when Printer Setup Repair is launched and a relevant status message is displayed in the CUPS Tools window. The message “The hostconfig file is currently configured to load CUPS at system startup” will be displayed if the line CUPS=-YES- is found in the hostconfig file. The message “The hostconfig file is currently configured to load CUPS when required” will be displayed if the line CUPS=-AUTOMATIC- is found in the hostconfig file.

If required, use the “CUPS startup options” popup menu to change the line CUPS=-YES- or CUPS=-AUTOMATIC- to CUPS=-NO-.

The message “The hostconfig file is currently configured NOT to load CUPS at system startup” will be displayed if the line CUPS=-NO- is found in the hostconfig file. The cupsd process will not be running and the Printer Setup Utility will not be able to display a list of the current printers, or allow the addition of new ones. Use the “CUPS startup options” popup menu to change the line CUPS=-NO- to CUPS=-YES- or CUPS=-AUTOMATIC-.

Replace cupsd.conf File

The cupsd.conf file, located in the /private/etc/cups directory, is vital to the Mac OS X printing system. It is read by the cupsd background process after the boot sequence is complete. If the file is missing, damaged, or badly configured, the cupsd process will not launch and printing will not be possible — even if the hostconfig file is configured to load CUPS during the boot sequence (see above.)

A popup menu in the CUPS Tools section will automatically show all of the available cupsd.conf file backup options available. The option to create a new cupsd.conf file is also available from this menu. If no valid cupsd.conf file backups are available, the option to create a new file will be the only item in the list.

Note: Printer Setup Repair checks the contents of the cupsd.conf file and associated backups to make sure you are working with current versions. If you upgraded from to Mac OS X 10.2 or 10.3 to 10.4, the cupsd.conf file may be an older version that will need to be replaced.

To replace the current cupsd.conf file, choose an option from the popup menu and click the “Go” button. The Replace cupsd.conf option will, if possible, move and rename the current cupsd.conf file to cupsd.conf.old.psr and replace it with the selected copy. The new copy is created from either a backup file (chosen from the popup menu) or a new file. In order to replace the cupsd.conf file, the cupsd process, if running, is stopped. Once the replacement process is complete, the cupsd process is started up and should read the new file. It is recommended that you restart the computer once the cupsd.conf file has been replaced. For your convenience, Printer Setup Repair will offer you this option at that time.

If you are still experiencing problem with CUPS, you should try a different backup file or create a new cupsd.conf file. It is recommended that you use the Revert button between each attempt.

The Revert button is provided in order to allow the reversal of the above process, if you decide to revert to the previous cupsd.conf file. Clicking the Revert button will stop the cupsd process, remove the current cupsd.conf file, and rename the cupsd.conf.old.psr file to cupsd.conf. The cupsd process will then be started up. Again, it is recommended that you restart the computer once the cupsd.conf file has been replaced.

Note: The Revert button will only be available once you have used the Replace cupsd.conf File option. It will remain active for as long as the cupsd.conf.old.psr backup file exists on your computer.

Warning: If you use the Replace cupsd.conf File option a second time without first clicking Revert, the previous cupsd.conf.old.psr backup file will be overwritten and cannot be recovered.

Temporary & Preference File Management

During the normal use, the Mac OS X printing system generates temporary and preference files along the way. These files can become corrupted and cause numerous printing problems, such as issues with print job spooling, and opening and using the Printer Setup Utility, among others. Also, temporary files generated by the printing system can build up over time. Use Printer Setup Repair as a general maintenance tool to clean out these files periodically.

Delete Preference Files - Includes the option to delete the preference files for the current user only or all users. If running, the Printer Setup Utility and any Proxy Printers will be quit.

Simply check any combination of the check boxes next to the names of the preference file that you wish to delete. You can also control whether or not you wish to delete the selected files for the current user or for all users. Once you have chosen the files that you wish to delete, click the Delete Preference Files button. The ability to select all options has been provided.

Printer Driver Removal

Printer Driver Removal - These options will delete the selected print drivers in the /Library/Printers directory.

The default installation of Mac OS X 10.4 will include many additional printer drivers. This can be a benefit as it may remove the necessity to install the drivers that come with your printer. However, you may not need all of these drivers — which take up hundreds of megabytes of hard drive space (just under 2GB with a full installation of Mac OS X 10.4). Additionally, the pre-installed printer drivers may conflict with user-installed printer drivers. The printer driver removal options gives you the ability to remove either the Brother, Canon, EFI, Epson, Fuji Xerox, Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Oce, Ricoh, Sharp, Toshiba, or Xerox drivers from the /Library/Printers directory. The entire directory for each printer that you choose will be deleted so you will need to reinstall any drivers that may have been added after the initial Mac OS X 10.4 installation. Printer Setup Repair checks the existence of the driver directories at startup and only the directories found will be available.

If you choose to delete these drivers, you have two options:

• Reinstall only the specific drivers you need for your printer(s) from the Mac OS X 10.4 Install DVD.
  or
• Download and install the latest printer driver from your printer manufacturers web site.
  

The Gimp-Print drivers can be deleted by downloading the Gimp-Print Uninstaller. A link to the download page is provided as a courtesy in the Printer Driver Removal section of Printer Setup Repair.

Important note: If you have installed additional Brother, Canon, EFI, Epson, Fuji Xerox, Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Oce, Ricoh, Sharp, Toshiba, or Xerox drivers, they will also be deleted and must be reinstalled.

To verify the size of any of the printer driver directories, simply click on the “?” button that corresponds to each manufacturer name. The actual size will be shown in megabytes (MB).

PPD Tools

In order for the Printer Setup Utility to successfully recognize and use third party PPD files, they need to be installed in either the /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources or /System/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources directories. Also, the permissions for the PPD file need to be set for the root user and admin group. To use PPD files in Classic mode, they also need to be installed in the /System Folder/Extensions/Printer Descriptions/ directory since Classic mode will not search any of the Mac OS X system directories. Printer Setup Repair will allow you to complete this process very quickly and easily by using the Install PPD Files option.

PPD Installation

Starting in Printer Setup Repair 5.1, the PPD installation process has been made as easy to use as possible. Simply drag and drop single or multiple PPD files or folders of PPD files onto the table area. Printer Setup Repair will then begin to scan the files and/or folders for valid PPD information. When the scan is complete, all valid PPD files will be displayed in the table. Examine the details to make sure that you have the correct version and language for each PPD. You can remove single or multiple PPD files from the list by highlighting them and clicking the "Remove Selected" button. Once you are happy with your PPD file list, verify that you have the correct OS check box(es) checked, click the "Install PPDs" button and you will be presented with the following window:

Select the languages and the Library directory that you wish to install the PPDs files into and click "Continue...". Printer Setup Repair will quit the Printer Setup Utility and Proxy Printers (if running), perform the installation and restart the cupsd background process – ensuring that the new PPD files are available to the Printer Setup Utility. The PPD list is not cleared after the installation has completed in case you need to perform additional installations into other language directories.

Note: The OS 9 check box will not be available if there is no Classic System Folder selected or installed. Also, not all PPD files designed for Mac OS X are compatible with Mac OS 9. You may need to download a compatible PPD file from your printer manufacturer's web site.To install the PPD file, you must choose a destination directory and a selection of languages. Printer Setup Repair will present you with an installation options dialog. Choose either the /System/Library/Printers or /Library/Printers directory, check the languages you require, and click continue. Printer Setup Repair will copy the file and set the permissions. Once the process is complete, you may install another file or quit Printer Setup Repair. If the Printer Setup Utility and/or any desktop printers are open, Printer Setup Repair will quit them for you.

Note: PPD files located inside System directories cannot be dragged and dropped into the PPD installation area. Certain PPD files require additional support files and may need to be installed by using the installer package that was supplied by the printer manufacturer. Not all PPD files installed with installer packages have the correct permissions set. You may need to perform a PPD permission repair after the installation. PPD files installed using Printer Setup Repair always have the correct permissions set.

Tip: To identify what the language abbreviations mean, move the mouse pointer over any language check box and the full name will appear in a floating box.

PPD Inspection, Relocation & Removal

Printer Setup Repair gives you the tools you need to manage existing PPD files. The default Mac OS X installation provides many thousands of PPD files across multiple language directories and locations. To view the contents of a PPD language directory, first select the System Printer Directory from the top list. The options will be /Library/Printers, /System/Library/Printers and /System Folder/Extension/Printer Descriptions (only available if a Classic System Folder is selection or installed). PPD language directories, if any, will be displayed in the left hand list (this is skipped for Classic), and selecting any one of them will display the contents in the right hand list.

PPD Inspection

To view the contents of a PPD file, highlight it and click the "Inspect PPD" check box. The contents of the PPD file will be displayed in the readout area on the right of the window. Alternatively, you can drag and drop individual PPD files from the Finder onto the readout area and Printer Setup Repair will display its contents. This is for inspection only. You cannot edit the contents of a PPD file using Printer Setup Repair.

Classic Management

Although Printer Setup Repair was initially designed to repair the printing system for Mac OS X, several issues can arise with the Classic printing system that might need to be addressed. Printer Setup Repair now includes several tools to help maintain a healthy Classic mode printing environment. This section will not be available if Printer Setup Repair was unable to locate a valid Classic System Folder upon launch. The Classic System Folder may be unavailable if the file permissions are incorrect. If you know the location of the current Classic System Folder, you can select it manually in the Printer Setup Repair preferences. See “Printer Setup Repair Preferences” for more information. Even if the permissions are incorrect and you have no access to the Classic System Folder, Printer Setup Repair will still be able to verify the file path and allow you to perform the permissions repairs.

Note: If you do not have a classic System Folder installed, this toolbar item will not be visible.

Repair Classic Permissions

This option will allow you to repair the permissions for the Classic System Folder that is located on the current boot volume. If the permissions of the System Folder are incorrect, you may have difficulty printing - as well as launching Classic Mode. Use this option to return the Classic System Folder permissions to their default values.


The following options use the Classic System Folder specified in the System Folder path box in the lower portion of the Classic Mode Management section. The path to the current Classic System Folder can be changed in the Printer Setup Repair preferences.

Delete PrintMonitor Spool Files

PrintMonitor is the OS 9 equivalent to the desktop printers created by the Printer Setup Utility in Mac OS X. PrintMonitor spool files can sometimes become corrupted and sit in the print queue effectively disabling printing from Classic mode. Use this option to delete any spool files that my be stuck in the PrintMonitor Documents folder.

Delete Printing Preferences

Occasionally, PrintMonitor will be unable to process print jobs or Classic applications will throw up an error when you try to print. These errors are normally caused by a corrupted preference file. Use this option to delete the current Classic printing preferences. You will need to open the Chooser from the Classic mode Apple Menu and configure your printers again before you can print.

Delete Classic PPD Files

Starting with Printer Setup Repair 5.1, OS 9 PPD file removal is handled in the PPD Tools section.

Printer Setup Repair Preferences

Printer Setup Repair can store specific preferences between uses. These options are described in detail below.

Printer Setup Repair automatic activity logging feature:

Use this option to enable or disable the activity log. The activity log provides detailed information about every function performed by Printer Setup Repair. This can prove useful if you need assistance with a printing problem and request our help. By sending us the activity log for examination, we can provide more insight into your particular issue. The psr5logfile.log file can be found in the /Users/<your_user_name>/Library/Logs directory.

Example of the Update window.

Classic System Folder Path:

The path to the Classic System Folder (if available) is noted here. Use the “Change...” button to manually select another System Folder. Use the “Use active System Folder” button to change the path to the Classic System folder defined in the Classic preference pane of the System Preferences. The System Folder specified here is used for OS 9 PPD installation and deletion, as well as the removal of preference and spool files.

Path to printing system backups:

This is the path to the backups used by the Backup and Restore feature. Use the “Change...” button to manually select another location for the printing system backup files. Use the “Use default location” button to set the path to /Users/<current user>/Library/Application Support/PSR5_PS_Backups.

Port number to use for the web based CUPS Administration:

You can specify the port number that is used to connect to the locally hosted web browser based CUPS administration page. You should only change this number if you have specified a different port number in the cupsd.conf file. Printer Setup Repair provides the option to change the port number as a convenience to those users who need to do so. Click the “Use default port number” to set the port number to 631.

Launch the Terminal application (located in /Application/Utilities)
Type the following command, followed by the return key: sudo -s
Enter your administrator password. You should now be at a root prompt which looks like this "root#"
Type the following command, followed by the return key: mkdir -m 1777 /private/tmp
Type the following command, followed by the return key: ln -s /private/tmp /tmp
Type the following command, followed by the return key: exit
Quit the Terminal application and restart the computer.

Registration

Printer Setup Repair is shareware. That means you can download it and try it out for free, but if you use it you should register your copy. A single user license for Printer Setup Repair is $24.95 (USD). Other licensing options are available. An unregistered copy of Printer Setup Repair will run as an unrestricted trial version for 7 days. After the 7 days, you will no longer be able to use Printer Setup Repair unless you register. You will be reminded of the number of days remaining each time the application is used.

To purchase a license, please visit the registrations page or click the “Purchase License...” button on the trial version startup panel. Once your payment is received, Fixamac Software, Inc. will send your registration code via email within 48 hours.

To enter the registration code, launch Printer Setup Repair and click the “Enter Code...” button on the trial version startup panel. You will be presented with three text fields. Enter the user name, email address, and registration code information at it appears in the registration confirmation email. When you have entered the appropriate information, click the “Submit Code” button.

Previous registered users of Printer Setup Repair 4.x will need to purchase an upgrade license for Printer Setup Repair 5.x. The registration code system has changed and the old codes will not work with the latest version. Please visit the registrations page for upgrade options.

A great deal of time and trouble went into the research and construction of this application. Your support will help the continued development of this and other useful Mac OS X applications and utilities. Please visit the Printer Setup Repair page for up to date product information.

Please keep shareware alive!

Thank you.

John Goodchild
President of Fixamac Software, Inc.

Troubleshooting

Errors can occur for many reasons. The following is a breakdown of the most common ones with an explanation:

During Authentication:

Unable to authenticate Printer Setup Repair. When you attempt to authenticate Printer Setup Repair, the password you enter should be your normal login password NOT the root password (unless they are the same). It is possible that the permissions for enabling root access are incorrect. Printer Setup Repair will only accept an administrator user name and password combination. However, you can run Printer Setup Repair in a non-administrator account.

During Repairs:

Error type 1 - This usually means that the file or directory that the application is looking for is either missing or not in the expected location. For example, if you use the Delete Preference Files option and then try the same option again, you will see this error. The error will also occur if the Printer Setup Utility is not in the /Applications/Utilities directory on the boot volume.

Security API failed with error -60008 - This error can occur if the /private/tmp directory is missing or has badly configured permissions. While you will not normally see this error while running Printer Setup Repair, it is possible that another application might change the permissions of the /private/tmp directory or delete it entirely. If this happens, Printer Setup Repair will not be able to perform any additional functions until the /private/tmp directory is repaired or recreated.

For an explanation of other errors, please email the Fixamac Software, Inc. technical support department with details of the error number and any accompanying message. We will assist you with the steps necessary to remedy the error. You may also attach the psr5logfile.log document located in the /User/<your user name>/Library/Logs directory. This will provide additional information about the error.

There are also other circumstances under which Printer Setup Repair will not function. Some of these are as follows:

Printer Setup Repair will not open. The cursor becomes a spinning beach ball indefinitely requiring a force quit. This occurs if you downloaded Printer Setup Repair while logged in as one user and are trying to run it while logged in as another. The permissions for any file/application copied in OS X are set to the user who copies the file/application and Printer Setup Repair is no exception. The work around is to download Printer Setup Repair while logged in as the admin user who will be doing the repairs.

Other circumstances in which printing can be problematic:

You receive communication errors while printing. Under certain conditions, printing will fail if the Classic environment is running. Usually, stopping Classic (from the Classic System Preferences pane) allows normal printing.

You are unable to see Epson printers under the EpsonUSB option in the Printer Setup Utility. There is a problem with USB to Parallel adapters and OS X. If possible, switching to a standard USB to USB cable will resolve this issue in most cases.
You are unable to see USB printers under the USB option in the Printer Setup Utility. In most cases, this can be rectified by doing the following:

1. Power off the computer and printer.
2. Disconnect the printer from the computer.
3. Power on the computer and wait for it to boot fully. Log into Mac OS X if you have auto-login disabled.
4. Power on the printer and re-connect the USB cable.
5. Open the Printer Setup Utility and if you do not already see the printer in the list, click Add and select the printer from the USB option.

For Printer Setup Repair support, please email our technical support department.

Version History

Version 5.1 - 05/29/07

• Redesigned the interface. A toolbar has replaced the options menu.
• Redesigned the backup and restore feature. Users can now manage the backup files easily.
• Redesigned the PPD installation and removal section. Now, PPD files can be batch installed, moved or removed, and the contents of individual PPD files can be examined.
• Added support for .gz compressed PPD files.
• Added the ability to stop permission repairs while the file permission data is being loaded.
• Added the option to automatically backup and restore the printing system when performing a printing system reset.
• Added full support for CUPS versions 1.2 to 1.2.11 to the permission repairs and CUPS Tools sections.
• Added an administrator-free mode.
• Added support for Acrobat .joboption files to the permission repairs.
• Added support for PPD files to the permission repairs.
• Added automatic update checking.
• Added the ability to delete temporary spool files from the tmp directory located inside the /private/var/spool/cups/ directory.
• Fixed a bug that left the "for all users" checkbox checked if the Acrobat permissions option was unchecked.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the CUPS log files from opening.
• Identified the cause of the "Security API -60008" error. Printer Setup Repair now offers repair options and advice if it occurs during authentication.

System Requirements:

• Mac OS X version 10.4.x
• Monitor resolution of 800 x 600 and above.
  
  

Legal Statement

Printer Setup Repair is shareware and cannot be distributed via any means without prior authorization from Fixamac Software, Inc.
Please contact Leigh-ann Danner or John Goodchild for more information.

Fixamac Software, Inc. cannot be held responsible for any accidental data loss or other damages incurred through the use of Printer Setup Repair. Please make sure you back up important files before using.

Apple, AppleCare, AppleScript, Macintosh, Mac OS, Mac OS X, Printer Setup Utility, and Print Center are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. Adobe and Acrobat are copyright of Adobe Systems Inc. CUPS is copyright of Easy Software Products. All rights reserved and respected.