I'm having the familiar *.fmt files missing when trying to use tex. The mail archives suggest that the solution is to install tex from the proposed-updates directories but that solution doesn't work (at least not any more).
The URL ftp.cdrom.com/pub/linux/debian/dists/slink-proposed-updates/.4/linux/debian/dists/slink-proposed-updates does not exist anymore. ftp.cdrom.com/pub/linux is now at ftp.freesoftware.com but the directory path does not exist. I have setup my /etc/apt/sources.list file to I have browsed ftp://ftp.freesoftware.com/pub/linux/debian/dists/slink-proposed-updates/ and ftp://ftp.debian.org/dists/slink-proposed-updates/ and there is no mention of any tex packages. I point apt at these sites any it says that my tex distribution is the newest available when I try to install. What is the current solution to the tex.fmt, latex.fmt, jadetex.fmt problem ? I'm getting a little frustrated now. I don't want to go back to RedHat. I hope someone can help. Thanks, Brendan Simon. ------------------ ORIGINAL MESSAGE ------------------- Go to an ftp archive and go into the proposed-updates for slink. There was some sort of y2k problem with tex where the make format or something to that effect failed. Anyway, the updated package will work. In fact here is the url for the cdrom debian archive. ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/linux/debian/dists/slink-proposed-updates/.4/linux/debian/dists/slink-proposed-updates brian On Mon, Jan 03, 2000 at 12:56:30PM -0800, G. Crimp wrote: > Hi, > > I've been using TeX at work for a few weeks now. Last week I got a > new computer and installed 2.1 on it (same as was on the old box). As far > as I can tell, I have all the appropriate tetex packages in place. TeX no > longer works, though. When I try to run tex on a .tex file, I get the > following error: > > This is TeX, Version 3.14159 (Web2C 7.2) > I can't find the format file `tex.fmt'! > > The tetex docs say to run the command `texconfig init' in such a case. When > I run it I get tons of output, including the following excerpts: > > [...] > Beginning to dump on file tex.fmt > (format=tex 1999.12.30) > [...] > No pages of output. > Transcript written on tex.log > [...] > > The command continues to run producing similar output concerning latex and > metafont. However, the file tex.fmt is nowhere to be found on my file > system. Maybe the line "No pages of output." explains that. I thought I > could get some answers from the transcript in tex.log, but that file appears > not to have been written anywhere either. > > Anybody know what I have done wrong on this new computer, or more > positively, how I can back to writing documentation with TeX ?
