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macOS: Troubleshooting the Print Client

Introduction

The macOS Print Client is currently in beta. As such, it has a couple of known issues:

  • The print client will not run if certain USB storage devices are plugged into the Mac
  • The print client does not support Printronix printers via USB; use a network connection

Troubleshooting

The following commands will take action on the print client.

These commands require Administrator access to the Mac. When using sudo, you'll periodically be prompted for your password in order to escalate your privileges. These commands can also be used in a root shell by omitting sudo.

Refresh Print Client
sudo launchctl kickstart -k system/com.simplerfid.printclient

The print client (and its updater) are handled as services by launchd in macOS. The above command instructs launchd to refresh the print client by "kickstarting" the process, with "-k" indicating that the process should be killed if it is already running.

Disable Print Client
sudo launchctl bootout system/com.simplerfid.printclient
sudo launchctl bootout system/com.simplerfid.printclient.update
sudo launchctl bootout system/com.simplerfid.printclient.updater.selfupdate

These three commands stop the print client and its updater processes, and unload the services from the system domain. This will prevent the print client from starting or updating automatically.

While not recommended, these commands can also be used independently of each other to control specific components.

Re-enable Print Client
sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.simplerfid.printclient.plist
sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.simplerfid.printclient.update.plist
sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.simplerfid.printclient.updater.selfupdate.plist

These three commands load the print client and updater services back into the system domain, effectively re-enabling them all. Since these services are not currently in the domain, we provide the full path to each service's plist.

After this is complete, launchd will continue launching these services automatically on their respective intervals.

Uninstall Print Client
# Unload the services from the system domain
sudo launchctl bootout system/com.simplerfid.printclient
sudo launchctl bootout system/com.simplerfid.printclient.update
sudo launchctl bootout system/com.simplerfid.printclient.updater.selfupdate

# Delete the plist files defining the services
sudo rm -f /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.simplerfid.printclient.plist
sudo rm -f /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.simplerfid.printclient.update.plist
sudo rm -f /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.simplerfid.printclient.updater.selfupdate.plist

# Delete the SimpleRfid folder in /Applications containing the print client and updater
sudo rm -rf /Applications/SimpleRfid

# OPTIONAL: Delete the Application Support data for the print client
### This will require you to contact support to re-attach the station to your
## account if you reinstall the print client in the future.
rm -rf "/var/root/Library/Application Support/Simple RFID"
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