TeX Live and MacTeX ⇒ Problem with TexLive2007 (can't find latex.fmt)

[waxranger]

I have installed TexLive2007 on Ubuntu Hardy Heron but can't manage to fix this compiling problem

when I run latex I get this:

This is pdfTeXk, Version 3.141592-1.40.3 (Web2C 7.5.6)
%&-line parsing enabled.
kpathsea: Running mktexfmt latex.fmt
I can't find the format file `latex.fmt'!

now, I googled this and there's a lot of stuff found on this topic but none of that really helped me.

I have installed the same software on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon and it worked fine

can somebody give me a hint?
(PATH variable to the binaries is set though)

regards
Fab

[localghost]

The latex format is missing for some reason. Try to build the formats on your own. Open a terminal window as root user and type in the command to build all format files.

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fmtutil-sys --all

This should build all necessary formats and make the system running.


Best regards
Thorsten¹

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi Fab,

did you install the texlive-latex package?
If fmtutil-sys --all doesn't help, check if the TEXINPUTS environment variable has been set, it should be empty during installation I think.

Stefan

[waxranger]

fmtutil did not work..

I think the TEXINPUTS variable is not set. I'm not sure to which directories this variable have to point?

It's a bit confusing because I didn't have to set this variable after the installation on Ubuntu Gutsy and TexLive worked on that system.

thank you guys for helping me out so far!

regards
Fab

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi Fab,

just type

Code: Select all

echo $TEXINPUTS

at the command line and check the output. I would not use this variable, I just remember that it could cause a problem if it was set. If the output of the command above is empty we have to look for another cause.

Stefan

[waxranger]

yes, I echoed the variable and the output is empty.

The only difference between the two systems is the installation path. TexLive on the system where it's not working right now is not installed to the default path. I think the cause must be somewhere there. I might take TexLive off the hard drive again and reinstall it to the default path if this takes no end.

thanks
Fab

[Ted]

This is pdfTeXk, Version 3.141592-1.40.3 (Web2C 7.5.6)
%&-line parsing enabled.
kpathsea: Running mktexfmt latex.fmt
I can't find the format file `latex.fmt'!

now, I googled this and there's a lot of stuff found on this topic but none of that really helped me.

Did you Google the error message in quotes? I did that and found this:

• Latex error: I can't find the format file `latex.fmt'!

That thread ends in the person fixing their problem. Fix for you?

[waxranger]

Ted, thanks for the link. I did google this one before I posted the problem, didn't help me to fix it.

But I made TexLive work. The problem probably was AUCTeX. I did check apt-get for any TexLive binaries, because I've downloaded my TeXLive version from CTAN and installed off the cd media and not via aptitude. So there is a package called TexLive-base-bin which comes with AUCTeX. I think because I've installed the AUCTeX package before I did TeXLive off the CD, my system pointed to the wrong binary location?! (Although I did set the $PATH variable up to date right after the installation) Anyway, removed AUCTeX with apt-get remove and reinstalled it right after and now TeXLive is compiling fine.


Since that solved my problem, I'd like to ask for help on another..
when I want to create .dvi output, I get a .pdf. So I checked the binaries of TeXLive where the latex executable is symbolic linked to the pdftex executable. Is this the reason for my wrong output format? Never had this problem before

thank you guys for the support!!

regards
Fab

[Ted]

when I want to create .dvi output, I get a .pdf. So I checked the binaries of TeXLive where the latex executable is symbolic linked to the pdftex executable. Is this the reason for my wrong output format? Never had this problem before

No, that's not exactly the problem.

As of the latest version of TeXLive, all TeX is PDFTeX, but that name is deceiving. PDFTeX is just a TeX that can produce PDF's. You can use the --output-format switch to specify which format you want. For example

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latex --output-format=dvi myfile.tex

or

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latex --output-format=pdf

However, IIRC, PDFTeX will use whatever name its symlinked to to figure out what default output format it should use. That way if you call latex you should get a DVI and if you call pdflatex you should get a PDF (unless you force a change in format with --output-format).

Check your compiler configuration and add the switch if necessary.

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi Fab,

check your document if you have a pdftex option set, for instance to graphicx like

Code: Select all

\usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx}

or somewhere else. If you use \pdfoutput=1 or the pdftex option for example to graphicx, color, xcolor or hyperref then pdf output will be produced, even if the output-format is set to dvi.

Stefan