Missing backends and devices

[Anonymous]

> > I have an AMD64 system running 64-bit Debian, with kernel 2.6.8-10-amd64-k8, which I think arrived by automatic update about a week ago. At roughly the same time, the usb connected Epson CX5400 stopped working.
> >
> > When I try to add a printer with the web interface, only the SMB (windows) and Other backends are selectable, though there are about eleven files in the backends .../lib/cups/backends directory
> >
> > lpinfo -v reveals only direct canon, epson and cups-pdf devices. I tried temporarily hiding these backends but then there are no devices (Duh)
> >
> > The logs are unhelpful, even when turned up to debug (haven't tried debug2). So I guess my question would be; is this a hardware discovery issue from boot time, or does some other magic happen to populate the output of lpinfo -v and the backend selection?
> >
>
> Following myself up; eventually I have inspected the backend file permissions. None of the missing ones are executable (permission denied). I guess that would explain why they are unavailable.
>
> Any suggestions as to how this curious state of affairs came about?
>
> FWIW, my CUPS version is 1.1.23.
>
> Angus Mackenzie
>

Um.. It happened again. Most of the backends (including usb) lost their execute bits whilst I was sleeping last night. I have taken a quick look at the cron scripts in /etc; does anyone have any other suggestions?