OK. Now what? I already made a few guesses, but they proved (by your responses) to be off the mark.
1. The required font files *are* present on your system.
2. The required deforma symlinks *are* present on your system.
So, the rest of the steps ...
3. Are the fonts all mode 644? (The actual fonts in /usr/share/fonts/type1/gsfonts/, not the symlinks). Probably; you said you checked that already. And if other apps workm, that too indicates the problem is specific to the PDF font corrspondences.
4. Is the file /etc/defoma/hints/gsfonts.hints present? It provides defoma with the information that Helvetica is an "Alias" for the Nimbus fonts.
5. From looking over the man pages for defoma, I'd guess that it is worth trying this:
defoma-font reregister-all /etc/defoma/hints/gsfonts.hints
(I didn't actually try this here, since I don't like to muck with a stable, working system just to see what happens.) Try reading the man pages for defoma and defoma-fonts yourself, though, before you decide if you want to try this.
At 02:12 PM 10/8/2004 -0500, James Miller wrote:
On Fri, 8 Oct 2004, Ray Olszewski wrote:
Thanks for your response, Ray.
> 1. Just to eliminate possible rookie error ... do you know that the
> "certain" .pdf files are themselves good? Can you read them on Windows
> using Acrobat, or could you previously read it on this system? You've
> almost surely checked this, but your problem has gotten so messy that I
> don't want to skip past even "obvious" questions. (If you have a small one,
> consider sending it to me off-list, and I'll make sure I can display it here.)
The files (the text within them) were previously readable, whereas now only the graphics portions of them are visible. I've selected two for testing: one is a webpage I printed to file (.ps) then used ps2pdf to convert to a pdf. The other is a city bus map I downloaded that was created eslewhere: neither show any text where they used to - only blank space around or within the graphics. I've just checked them using Acroread under Win (VMware install of Win 98) and they both display normally there: all text appears and is legible. On Debian, I get only graphics but no text. I'll send you the smaller of the two offlist (the webpage I printed to .ps file, then converted to pdf) so you can check it as well: the other one is fairly large - nearly 1 MB.
> 2. How have you been starting xpdf? Try starting it through an xterm, so > you can either see or redirect STDOUT and STDERR ... see if xpdf is telling > you anything about the problem that way.
Been starting it via the menu Debian gives. When I start it from an xterm and open a problematic file, I get the following in STDOUT (in the terminal, right?):
[EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ xpdf Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Times-Roman' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Times-Roman' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Times-Roman' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Times-Roman' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica-Bold' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica-Bold' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica-Bold' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Times-Bold' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Times-Bold' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica' Error: Couldn't create a font for 'Helvetica'
> 3. Check for a dependency problem. The easiest way is to remove, then > install the package, that is ... > > apt-get remove xpdf > apt-get install xpdf > > From what you wrote below, it appears you already tried his. Oh well.
Yep, tried that. Except I'm using Synaptic now, so I did it through the gui.
> 4. Is there anything that systematically distinguishes the "certain" .pdf > files that have problem from others that, presumably, do not? Might you be > missing some specific font that they need, for example? The gv output you > wrote below seems to suggest this, in that the error comes from "findfont". > (I don't use gs here, so I'm not familiar with the form of its error > output, leving me to guess that > "Helvetica Font Helvetica 362928 Helvetica" *might* be the missing > font. See what "fc-list" tells you.
I'm guessing it's a missing font problem, yes. I don't see Helvetica in the list fc-list produces, and "fc-list |grep Helvetica" does not return any results. Could that be the problem? Helvetica is definitely available and useable in OpenOffice.org, but I don't see it listed in Abiword's font menu.
> 5. Or there might be some lost "mapping" between a font you do have and > Helvetica. (I say this because I don't have a Helvetica on my system > either, and I can't find a .deb that provides a true Helvetica.) Check that > you have tthe full Nimbus font set, for example (that appears to be what > xpdf and gs want to use for Helvetica): > > waverly:/proc# fc-list |grep Nimbus |grep Sans > Nimbus Sans L:style=Regular Italic > Nimbus Sans L Condensed:style=Regular > Nimbus Sans L:style=Bold > Nimbus Sans L Condensed:style=Regular Italic > Nimbus Sans L:style=Regular > Nimbus Sans L:style=Bold Italic > Nimbus Sans L Condensed:style=Bold > Nimbus Sans L Condensed:style=Bold Italic
I get
Nimbus Sans L:style=Regular Italic Nimbus Sans L:style=Bold Nimbus Sans L:style=Regular Nimbus Sans L:style=Bold Condensed Nimbus Sans L:style=Bold Italic Nimbus Sans L:style=Regular Condensed Italic Nimbus Sans L:style=Regular Condensed Nimbus Sans L:style=Bold Condensed Italic
> Also make sure you have the deforma symlinks to these fonts present: > > waverly:/proc# find / -name *imbus* > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusRomNo9L-ReguItal.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusMonL-Bold.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-BoldCond.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusRomNo9L-MediItal.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusRomNo9L-Medi.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-Regu.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-BoldItal.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-Bold.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-ReguCond.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusMonL-BoldObli.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusMonL-ReguObli.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-ReguCondItal.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-BoldCondItal.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusRomNo9L-Regu.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-ReguItal.pfb > /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusMonL-Regu.pfb > > (These are all symlinks to various actual fonts > in /usr/share/fonts/type1/gsfonts/ )
Here's what I get doing "find / -name *Nimbus*":
/var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusRomNo9L-ReguItal.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusMonL-Bold.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-BoldCond.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusRomNo9L-MediItal.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusRomNo9L-Medi.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-BoldItal.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-Regu.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-ReguCond.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-Bold.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusMonL-BoldObli.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusMonL-ReguObli.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-ReguCondItal.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-BoldCondItal.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusRomNo9L-Regu.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusSanL-ReguItal.pfb /var/lib/defoma/fontconfig.d/N/NimbusMonL-Regu.pfb
> 6. With respect to defoma and its kin, did you ever "blindly choose" > something other than the recommended default? Debian is not really idiot > proof, but its default choices are pretty good.
It's quite possible. My policy is to accept the defaults, but sometimes I think: "what the heck, why not try an alternative? Maybe I'll learn something" (all this time the good angel on my right shoulder is saying "you'll hose your system, bub. Be wise, and stick with convetion") But again I understand so poorly what Defoma and Pango are and do that it wasn't really a conscious decision, so I have no clear recollection. Sorry - I know that doesn't help.
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