[Techtalk] Cups weirdness

[David Sumbler]

I had a problem printing something earlier today - basically, a script
was trying to print something as root - please don't ask why! - but
nothing printed.

I soon discovered that the problem was that the output was being sent
to printer PSC, my inkjet printer which was not switched on.  I wanted
it sent to HP4, which is set as my default printer.

Investigating further, I find that /etc/cups/printers.conf correctly
defines HP4 as the default printer, and that if I am logged in as a
user, this works fine.  And when, as a user, I execute the command
'lpstat -d', the response is, as expected, "system default
destination: HP4"

But if, as root, I do 'lpstat -d', I get "system default destination:
PSC", and even after doing 'lpadmin -d HP4', I still get told that PSC
is the default, so I don't even seem to be able to change it.

I've looked in root's .bash_profile and .bashrc, and there's nothing
there to explain it.

I'm mystified.  Does anyone have any ideas where else should I look to
find out why root has PSC set as the default printer?

David

-- 

david at aeolia.co.uk