[OS X TeX] MacTex and teminal

[Jonathan Kew]

On 21 Aug 2007, at 1:15 pm, adam Fenn wrote:

> I have just installed the MacTeX-2007 package but when I run
> latex from the terminal I get the following message;
>
> warning: Could not open char translation file `cp8bit.tcx'.
> This is e-TeX, Version 3.141592-2.1 (Web2C 7.5.2)
> kpathsea: Running mktexfmt latex.efmt
> fmtutil: unknown format type: latex.efmt.
> I can't find the format file `latex.efmt'!
>
> Have I neglected to do something important during the installation?
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>


You've got obsolete files from an old TeX installation somewhere,  
perhaps within your home directory (or maybe a Fink installation?),  
and those are being found and used. Two clues: the Web2C version  
shown is old (it's 7.5.6 in the current TeX Live programs), which  
indicates that you're not running the newly-installed MacTeX stuff  
but older versions; and the extension ".efmt" was discarded a couple  
of years ago, so that implies an old copy of fmtutil.cnf is being used.

Commands such as

    which pdftex
    kpsewhich fmtutil.cnf

may help you locate and eradicate them, if you're not sure where to  
look.

Or it may be that you can modify your PATH so that the old stuff is  
not found (e.g., if it's a Fink package under /sw/...)

JK



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