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Some people obtain a corrupted MacTeX.mpkg.zip file after downloading the large file. This is almost never due to a bad file on the server because we test after uploading new versions. One exception occurs if you are running system OS X 10.2. Note that MacTeX will not run on that system.
In case of trouble, we recommend downloading from an alternate CTAN site. To do this, click on one of the links in the mirror page.
If you are at an institution with a large body of TeX users, a support person could put MacTeX-2008 on the DVD and loan you the DVD.
A final solution, if all else fails, is to go to http://www.tug.org/mactex/2008/morepackages.html and download BasicTeX-2008; this distribution is still quite complete and serviceable. The smaller download may cause fewer problems. You will also need the front ends and utilities in MacTeXAdditions.mpkg.zip.
For a small number of users, rebooting does not solve the problem. In that case you can obtain the correct version of Onyx for your OS version from http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/download.html and clean the font cache. Then reboot.
"/usr/texbin/altpdflatex does not exist.
Perhaps teTeX was not installed or was removed during a system upgrade."
Make sure you are using the latest version (2.18) of TeXShop with MacOS X 10.4.x (Tiger) or MacOS X 10.5.x (Leopard).
Move the downloaded file MacTeX.mpkg.zip to your desktop. Then open Terminal in /Applications/Utilities, and issue the following commands. Push the return key after each line:
cd desktop
unzip MacTeX.mpkg.zip
For more information about other Frequently asked Questions please
If you still have problems with the MacTeX Installer, you may contact us via the mactex-support webpage.