Problem
Since Ubuntu 22.04 LTS there is a problem with PC/SC daemon automatic start. pcscd is supposed to start when an application makes the first PC/SC call. See "pcscd auto start using systemd". In some cases pcscd will not start and SCardEstablishContext() will receive the error SCARD_E_NO_SERVICE.
A ticket is opened at Ubuntu with bug #1971984:
pcscd 1.9.5-3 do not start automatically, only manual
The problem is present on some configurations only. I have no idea why on some systems it works fine and on some others we have the problem.
For an unknown reason pcscd.socket is inactive.
$ systemctl status pcscd.socket
○ pcscd.socket - PC/SC Smart Card Daemon Activation Socket
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/pcscd.socket; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: inactive (dead)
Triggers: ● pcscd.service
Listen: /run/pcscd/pcscd.comm (Stream)
Fix
The fix is easy:
sudo systemctl enable pcscd.socket
And reboot.
No problem on Debian
The same pcscd package has no problem on Debian.
I compared the configuration scripts between the Ubutun and Debian packages and they are the same. I guess the problem comes from systemd or dpkg on Ubuntu and the systemd configuration files are not always installed correctly. Again, no idea why.
Conclusion
The bug is opened since 2022-05-06. I don't know if someone at Ubuntu is working on it.
The pcscd package is in the section Universe (Community-Maintained, Open-Source Software) at Ubuntu. It is not in the section Main (Officially Supported, Open-Source Software) so maybe no engineer from Ubuntu is looking at this issue.
The problem may not be fixed until Ubuntu 24.04, the next LTS version.