miktex-makefmt: command not found

[clemekay]

• [x] I have read and acknowledged this HOWTO article:
  Submitting a MiKTeX problem report I'm using MiKTeX Console 4.6 on macOS Monterey 12.3.1. Not sure if it's relevant, but I am using a proxy to update.

I believe the issue (maybe just one of a few issues?) is that, even after a few different un-installs and re-installs, the miktex-makefmt command isn't included in the installation. This issue occurs with any tex file I have, including the simplest possible example. When I attempt to run pdflatex I always get the following error:

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.24 (MiKTeX 22.1) (preloaded format=pdflatex.fmt)
 restricted \write18 enabled.

Sorry, but pdflatex did not succeed.

The log file hopefully contains the information to get MiKTeX going again:

  /Users/kbcleme/Library/Application Support/MiKTeX/texmfs/data/miktex/log/pdflatex.log

The full pdflatex.log is included, but the first error is:

2022-06-22 13:53:08,375-0600 INFO  pdflatex - this is MiKTeX-PDFTEX 4.10.0 (1.40.24) (MiKTeX 22.1)
2022-06-22 13:53:08,375-0600 INFO  pdflatex - allowing known shell commands
2022-06-22 13:53:08,379-0600 INFO  pdflatex - going to create file: pdflatex.fmt
2022-06-22 13:53:08,393-0600 INFO  pdflatex.core - forking...
2022-06-22 13:53:08,744-0600 ERROR pdflatex - /Users/kbcleme/bin/miktex did not succeed; exitCode: 1
2022-06-22 13:53:08,744-0600 ERROR pdflatex - output:
2022-06-22 13:53:08,744-0600 ERROR pdflatex -
Sorry, but: The executed process did not succeed.

The full miktex.log is included. There are a few warnings, but the first error is

2022-06-22 13:53:08,740-0600 ERROR miktex - sub-process error output has been saved to '/Users/kbcleme/Library/Application Support/MiKTeX/texmfs/data/miktex/log/miktex-makefmt_2022-06-22-135308.out'

miktex-makefmt_2022-06-22-135308.out indicates that miktex-makefmt did not succeed:

Sorry, but miktex-makefmt did not succeed.

The log file hopefully contains the information to get MiKTeX going again:

  /Users/kbcleme/Library/Application Support/MiKTeX/texmfs/data/miktex/log/miktex-makefmt.log

The full miktex-makefmt.log is included. The first line is 2022-06-22 13:53:08,720-0600 INFO miktex-makefmt - this process (13908) started by miktex in directory /Users/kbcleme/olsonanswinter2022 with command line: miktex-makefmt --engine=pdftex --dest-name=pdflatex --no-dump pdflatex.ini --disable-installer --miktex-disable-maintenance --miktex-disable-diagnose

Since the process starts with a command, I tried that command on the command line, returning -bash: miktex-makefmt: command not found

After checking $HOME/bin, I confirmed that miktex-makefmt is not there, so I'm not sure where to go from here and appreciate any help! miktex-report.txt pdflatex.log miktex.log miktex-makefmt.log

[edocevoli]

miktex-makefmt is an internal (hidden) utility. You cannot invoke it directly.

The actual error seems to be:

2022-06-22 13:53:08,720-0600 INFO  miktex-makefmt - this process (13908) started by miktex in directory /Users/kbcleme/olsonanswinter2022 with command line: miktex-makefmt --engine=pdftex --dest-name=pdflatex --no-dump pdflatex.ini --disable-installer --miktex-disable-maintenance --miktex-disable-diagnose
2022-06-22 13:53:08,720-0600 FATAL miktex-makefmt - The required TeX input file pdflatex.ini could not be found.
2022-06-22 13:53:08,721-0600 FATAL miktex-makefmt - The required TeX input file pdflatex.ini could not be found.

Try refreshing the file name database, then run kpsewhich pdflatex.ini in order to verify that pdflatex.ini exists.

[clemekay]

kpsewhich pdflatex.ini returned

======================================================================
starting package maintenance...
installation directory: "/Users/kbcleme/Library/Application Support/MiKTeX/texmfs/install"
package repository: https://ctan.math.utah.edu/ctan/tex-archive/systems/win32/miktex/tm/packages/
package repository digest: b5774742ea2888e1892f2db7b171668e
going to download 1262 bytes
going to install 4 file(s) (1 package(s))
downloading https://ctan.math.utah.edu/ctan/tex-archive/systems/win32/miktex/tm/packages/miktex-latex.tar.lzma...
0.00 MB, 0.59 Mbit/s
extracting files from miktex-latex.tar.lzma...
======================================================================
/Users/kbcleme/Library/Application Support/MiKTeX/texmfs/install/tex/latex/00miktex/pdflatex.ini

So it didn't exist. kpsewhich pdflatex.ini now returns /Users/kbcleme/Library/Application Support/MiKTeX/texmfs/install/tex/latex/00miktex/pdflatex.ini

After refreshing the file name database again, pdflatex does not succeed. miktex-makefmt.log is included, but pdflatex.ini still cannot be found. miktex-makefmt.log

[edocevoli]

pdflatex.ini can be found. Now it is pdftex.cfg which is missing. I wonder what happened to your MiKTeX setup. Seems that some essential files are missing...

[clemekay]

I was wondering the same thing, because I'm downloading and installing directly from the miktex website, and didn't have these issues when building it on a previous MacBook. Not sure if this would be relevant, but I am on a newer 2021 MacBook, so maybe the structure of things would've changed?

[clemekay]

I ran kpsewhich pdftex.cfg which did install it as well. pdflatex filename.tex just seems to infinitely hang now.

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[BizarrePenguin]

@clemekay Did you manage to solve the problem? I have the same issue and ran the commands suggested. Now I am stuck at pdflatex infinitely hanging too.

[clemekay]

I did not! I could not find anything explicitly wrong and did not know where to go next.

On Oct 18, 2022, at 1:30 PM, Joran Schneyer @.***> wrote:

 @clemekay Did you manage to solve the problem? I have the same issue and ran the commands suggested. Now I am stuck at pdflatex infinitely hanging too.

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.

[BizarrePenguin]

@clemekay I finally solved it for me by upgrading to a standard tex installation in Miktex instead of trying to use the “Just enough TeX” approach. Maybe there is something wrong with the system that would try to install every package on demand on macos?

Note, that I reinstalled MikTex after the infinitely hanging problem, had the issue from the beginning again (pdflatex.ini not found) and then, instead of running the commands suggested here, I upgraded the packages to a standard tex distribution in miktex console.

[mkmohangb]

Thanks @BizarrePenguin After facing hang issue, I too upgraded to standard tex installation via console. After that when I try to run pdflatex it automatically downloaded a few missing packages which didn't happen earlier with minimal installation and pdf generation is successful.