Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Hi Folks, Just installed Lyx yesterday on Windows, and, since I had a bit of trouble getting it to run, I thought I would post a quick report of what got it working. I installed using the "network bundle" at first, but constantly got a problem with Lyx refusing to start: the now quite famous "textclasses not found" problem. More precisely, the programs refuses to start and prints this as the error: LyXTextClassList::Read: no textclasses found! This was obviously something to do with the Tex installation: although I installed MikTex as part of the bundle, Lyx was somehow not finding it. As it started, it tried to download missing textclasses but then bombed out with an error. However, after reading an earlier comment on the Lyx list, I found that installing MikText separately seemed to do the trick. So, this means: -- Install MikTex (from the site, www.miktex.org). I used the "basic" version. -- Install Lyx Run Lyx: works fine. Hope this helps someone to get started with the tool in Windows. (Note: some other posters have suggested running the "configure.py" script located in the Lyx directory, under the subdirectory "Resources". This did NOT work for me: the configure script tried to load the (what it thought were) missing Tex classes and crashed whilst doing so with the above message.) Oh, I'm using Win XP with SP 2, and running Lyx 1.4.3-5. Cheers, Ed Bradburn -- Edward Bradburn | Technical Editor CoreMedia | Ludwig-Erhard-Str. 18, 20459 Hamburg, Germany Tel +49 40.325587.535 | Fax +49.40.325587.999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] | www.coremedia.com --- Any Content, Anywhere, in a Trusted Universe: CoreMedia CMS and CoreMedia DRM --- smime.p7s Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature
Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Hi Folks, Just installed Lyx yesterday on Windows, and, since I had a bit of trouble getting it to run, I thought I would post a quick report of what got it working. I installed using the "network bundle" at first, but constantly got a problem with Lyx refusing to start: the now quite famous "textclasses not found" problem. More precisely, the programs refuses to start and prints this as the error: LyXTextClassList::Read: no textclasses found! This was obviously something to do with the Tex installation: although I installed MikTex as part of the bundle, Lyx was somehow not finding it. As it started, it tried to download missing textclasses but then bombed out with an error. However, after reading an earlier comment on the Lyx list, I found that installing MikText separately seemed to do the trick. So, this means: -- Install MikTex (from the site, www.miktex.org). I used the "basic" version. -- Install Lyx Run Lyx: works fine. Hope this helps someone to get started with the tool in Windows. (Note: some other posters have suggested running the "configure.py" script located in the Lyx directory, under the subdirectory "Resources". This did NOT work for me: the configure script tried to load the (what it thought were) missing Tex classes and crashed whilst doing so with the above message.) Oh, I'm using Win XP with SP 2, and running Lyx 1.4.3-5. Cheers, Ed Bradburn -- Edward Bradburn | Technical Editor CoreMedia | Ludwig-Erhard-Str. 18, 20459 Hamburg, Germany Tel +49 40.325587.535 | Fax +49.40.325587.999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] | www.coremedia.com --- Any Content, Anywhere, in a Trusted Universe: CoreMedia CMS and CoreMedia DRM ---
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Hi Ed, > -- Install MikTex (from the site, www.miktex.org). I used the "basic" > version. > -- Install Lyx > > Oh, I'm using Win XP with SP 2, and running Lyx 1.4.3-5. > it still doesn't work here. I deinstalled lyx and miktex, then installed miktex (c:\MiKTeX25) from the miktex-website (basic), then lyx (c:\Lyx14) (not the bundle and in a second try after deinstallation: miktex and the lyx-bundle). I changed the path to C:\MiKTeX25\miktex\bin;c:\programme\imagemagick-6.3.0-q16; C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem; C:\Programme\MATLAB71\bin\win32;;C:\Programme\OpenSSH\bin; C:\Programme\QuickTime\QTSystem\ I run the configure.py. Miktex seems to work and also the path settings seem to be ok. I can run 'tex' from every directory from the command window. I also tried to use another directory with c -userdir ... Same bad result. Any ideas? Thomas
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Thomas Sauter wrote: it still doesn't work here. I deinstalled lyx and miktex, then installed miktex (c:\MiKTeX25) from the miktex-website (basic), then lyx (c:\Lyx14) (not the bundle and in a second try after deinstallation: miktex and the lyx-bundle). I changed the path to C:\MiKTeX25\miktex\bin;c:\programme\imagemagick-6.3.0-q16; C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\system32\wbem; C:\Programme\MATLAB71\bin\win32;;C:\Programme\OpenSSH\bin; C:\Programme\QuickTime\QTSystem\ I run the configure.py. What output does this produce? Also, when you deinstalled LyX, did you also delete anything it created under C:\Documents and Settings\your id\Application Data? /Paul
Re: Comment on LyX Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Bradburn, Edward schrieb: I installed using the "network bundle" at first, but constantly got a problem with Lyx refusing to start: the now quite famous "textclasses not found" problem. More precisely, the programs refuses to start and prints this as the error: LyXTextClassList::Read: no textclasses found! This was obviously something to do with the Tex installation: although I installed MikTex as part of the bundle, Lyx was somehow not finding it. As it started, it tried to download missing textclasses but then bombed out with an error. I investigated o lot why this doesn't occur with my LyX installer: http://wiki.lyx.org/Windows/LyXWinInstaller I found now out why but don't know exactly why this happens: When MiKTeX is installed together with LyX it refreshes some environment variables. Unfortunately these changes need some time until they are recognized by the Windows system: You either have to read the changed variables to get them refreshed or have to relogin to Windows. Without beeing aware of this my installer calls LyX's configure script while the installer is running - this run mostly fails for the explained reason but reads out the environment variables so they are then refreshed (that's the run after my installer informs you that the following configuration may need some time). When LyX is first started the configure script runs again and this time it finds MiKTeX and so you don't get the error and LyX is successfully configured. This one was very tricky to find it out, I needed 3 months and lots and lots of installation tests to have the right idea :-(. (Note: some other posters have suggested running the "configure.py" script located in the Lyx directory, under the subdirectory "Resources". This did NOT work for me: the configure script tried to load the (what it thought were) missing Tex classes and crashed whilst doing so with the above message.) This is known MiKTeX bug we are working on. Workaround: Turn on an internet connection and then reconfigure LyX. regards Uwe
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
>> I run the configure.py. > > What output does this produce? Also, when you deinstalled LyX, did you > also delete anything it created under C:\Documents and Settings\your > id\Application Data? > > /Paul > > There was nothing created under C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\sauter\Application Data Problem of the german version of the path? Here is the output of the configure.py (configure.txt), after installing miktex, then lyx (not bundle): checking for DVI to DTL converter... +checking for "dv2dt"... no checking for a Latex2e program... +checking for "pplatex"... no +checking for "latex"... yes checking for a Tgif viewer and editor... +checking for "tgif"... no checking for a FIG viewer and editor... +checking for "xfig"... no checking for a Grace viewer and editor... +checking for "xmgrace"... no checking for a FEN viewer and editor... +checking for "xboard"... no checking for a raster image viewer... +checking for "xv"... no +checking for "kview"... no +checking for "gimp"... no checking for a raster image editor... +checking for "gimp"... no checking for a text editor... +checking for "xemacs"... no +checking for "gvim"... no +checking for "kedit"... no +checking for "kwrite"... no +checking for "kate"... no +checking for "nedit"... no +checking for "gedit"... no +checking for "notepad"... yes checking for a Postscript previewer... +checking for "gv"... no +checking for "ghostview"... no +checking for "kghostview"... no checking for a PDF previewer... +checking for "acrobat"... no +checking for "acroread"... no +checking for "gv"... no +checking for "ghostview"... no +checking for "xpdf"... no +checking for "kpdf"... no +checking for "kghostview"... no checking for a DVI previewer... +checking for "xdvi"... no +checking for "kdvi"... no checking for DVI to DTL converter... +checking for "dv2dt"... no checking for a HTML previewer... +checking for "mozilla"... no +checking for "netscape"... no checking for the pdflatex program... +checking for "pdflatex"... yes checking for a LaTeX/Noweb -> LyX converter... +checking for "tex2lyx"... no +checking for "tex2lyx"... no checking for a Noweb -> LaTeX converter... +checking for "noweave"... no checking for a HTML -> LaTeX converter... +checking for "html2latex"... no checking for a MSWord -> LaTeX converter... +checking for "wvCleanLatex"... no checking for a LaTeX -> MS Word converter... +checking for "htlatex"... yes checking for an OpenOffice.org -> LaTeX converter... +checking for "w2l"... no checking for a LaTeX -> OpenOffice.org converter... +checking for "oolatex"... yes checking for a PS to PDF converter... +checking for "ps2pdf13"... yes checking for a DVI to PS converter... +checking for "dvips"... yes checking for a DVI to PDF converter... +checking for "dvipdfmx"... yes checking for dvipng... +checking for "dvipng"... yes checking for a fax program... +checking for "kdeprintfax"... no +checking for "ksendfax"... no checking for a FIG -> EPS/PPM converter... +checking for "fig2dev"... no checking for a TIFF -> PS converter... +checking for "tiff2ps"... no checking for a TGIF -> EPS/PPM converter... +checking for "tgif"... no checking for a EPS -> PDF converter... +checking for "epstopdf"... yes checking for a Grace -> Image converter... +checking for "gracebat"... no checking for a LaTeX -> HTML converter... +checking for "htlatex"... yes checking for SGML-tools 1.x (LinuxDoc)... +checking for "sgml2lyx"... no checking for SGML-tools 2.x (DocBook) or db2x scripts... +checking for "sgmltools"... no +checking for "db2dvi"... no Checking whether TeX allows spaces in file names... yes checking for a *roff formatter... +checking for "groff"... no +checking for "nroff"... no checking for ChkTeX... +checking for "chktex"... no checking for a spellchecker... +checking for "ispell"... no checking for a spool command... +checking for "lp"... no +checking for "lpr"... yes checking LaTeX configuration... auto +Inspecting your LaTeX configuration. +checking for LaTeX version... 2005/12/01 +checking for available hyphenation patterns... english, dumylang, nohyphenatio +checking for default encoding (this may take a long time) + checking for ec fonts... yes + checking for ec support in LaTeX format... yes +checking for document class IEEEtran [IEEEtran]... creating packages.lst creating doc/LaTeXConfig.lyx
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Thomas Sauter wrote: There was nothing created under C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\sauter\Application Data Problem of the german version of the path? I don't think so. If you open a DOS prompt and run 'set h', what do you see for your home drive and home directory? Here is the output of the configure.py (configure.txt), after installing miktex, then lyx (not bundle): checking for DVI to DTL converter... +checking for "dv2dt"... no checking for a Latex2e program... +checking for "pplatex"... no +checking for "latex"... yes Good, it found MikTeX. [snip] creating packages.lst creating doc/LaTeXConfig.lyx This indicates that a packages.lst file was created. What directory were you in when you ran configure.py? Is there a packages.lst file there now, and, if so, is it empty or not? /Paul
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
> Thomas Sauter wrote: > >> >> There was nothing created under >> C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\sauter\Application Data >> >> Problem of the german version of the path? > > I don't think so. If you open a DOS prompt and run 'set h', what do you see for your home drive and home directory? HOMEDRIVE=C: HOMEPATH=\Dokumente und Einstellungen\sauter >> >> Here is the output of the configure.py (configure.txt), after installing miktex, then lyx (not bundle): >> >> checking for DVI to DTL converter... >> +checking for "dv2dt"... no >> checking for a Latex2e program... >> +checking for "pplatex"... no >> +checking for "latex"... yes > > Good, it found MikTeX. > > [snip] > >> creating packages.lst >> creating doc/LaTeXConfig.lyx > > This indicates that a packages.lst file was created. What directory were you in when you ran configure.py? Is there a packages.lst file there now, and, if so, is it empty or not? > I was in C:\lyx and typed c:\lyx14\python\python.exe c:\lyx14\Resources\configure.py There is a packages.lst file now and it is empty (0 Byte). > /Paul > Thomas
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Thomas Sauter wrote: Problem of the german version of the path? I don't think so. If you open a DOS prompt and run 'set h', what do you see for your home drive and home directory? HOMEDRIVE=C: HOMEPATH=\Dokumente und Einstellungen\sauter This is fine. (If your home path were on a remote server, it might account for part of the problem.) This indicates that a packages.lst file was created. What directory were you in when you ran configure.py? Is there a packages.lst file there now, and, if so, is it empty or not? I was in C:\lyx and typed c:\lyx14\python\python.exe c:\lyx14\Resources\configure.py There is a packages.lst file now and it is empty (0 Byte). The output you quoted from the configure script ended with + checking for ec fonts... yes + checking for ec support in LaTeX format... yes +checking for document class IEEEtran [IEEEtran]... creating packages.lst creating doc/LaTeXConfig.lyx Is this everything that the script displayed at the end (nothing cut out)? If so, it suggests that something happened while LyX was looking for LaTeX classes (specifically the IEEEtran class, which I think may be the first it tries to find). Is there a C:\lyx\doc folder containing a file named LaTeXConfig.lyx? If so, you can open it with Notepad or any other text editor or viewer. There should be a section like the following: \begin_layout Subsection article \end_layout \begin_layout Description Found: yes \end_layout My guess is that yours will say Found: no. If this is the case, we need to determine why the search for classes is breaking down. MikTeX gives you three options for situations where a document uses a missing class: automatically download; ask permission to download; or fail. You set this in the MikTeX Options program (General tab, package installation). If yours is set to download automatically and you do not have an Internet connection (or MikTeX is set to look at a local repository), I suppose something might go wrong. I leave this set on "Ask permission", and when upgrading LyX I just say 'no' to each request to install a class. /Paul
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Check if your firewall is blocking FTP connections. Once MikTex has an open FTP connection, all classes are downloaded and a non empty textclass.lst is generated. If after this step the problem persists, copy this textclass.lst to "\document and settings\\Application Data\Lyx1.4.x", this should solve your problem. At least this is how I solved it today while installing LyX over Vista, after the same problem happened to me. Hope it helps... On 1/30/07, Paul A. Rubin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Thomas Sauter wrote: >>> Problem of the german version of the path? >> I don't think so. If you open a DOS prompt and run 'set h', what do you > see for your home drive and home directory? > > HOMEDRIVE=C: > HOMEPATH=\Dokumente und Einstellungen\sauter This is fine. (If your home path were on a remote server, it might account for part of the problem.) >> This indicates that a packages.lst file was created. What directory > were you in when you ran configure.py? Is there a packages.lst file > there now, and, if so, is it empty or not? > > I was in > C:\lyx > > and typed > c:\lyx14\python\python.exe c:\lyx14\Resources\configure.py > > There is a packages.lst file now and it is empty (0 Byte). The output you quoted from the configure script ended with > + checking for ec fonts... yes > + checking for ec support in LaTeX format... yes > +checking for document class IEEEtran [IEEEtran]... > creating packages.lst > creating doc/LaTeXConfig.lyx Is this everything that the script displayed at the end (nothing cut out)? If so, it suggests that something happened while LyX was looking for LaTeX classes (specifically the IEEEtran class, which I think may be the first it tries to find). Is there a C:\lyx\doc folder containing a file named LaTeXConfig.lyx? If so, you can open it with Notepad or any other text editor or viewer. There should be a section like the following: \begin_layout Subsection article \end_layout \begin_layout Description Found: yes \end_layout My guess is that yours will say Found: no. If this is the case, we need to determine why the search for classes is breaking down. MikTeX gives you three options for situations where a document uses a missing class: automatically download; ask permission to download; or fail. You set this in the MikTeX Options program (General tab, package installation). If yours is set to download automatically and you do not have an Internet connection (or MikTeX is set to look at a local repository), I suppose something might go wrong. I leave this set on "Ask permission", and when upgrading LyX I just say 'no' to each request to install a class. /Paul -- - Julio Rojas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Thomas Sauter schrieb: +checking for default encoding (this may take a long time) + checking for ec fonts... yes + checking for ec support in LaTeX format... yes +checking for document class IEEEtran [IEEEtran]... creating packages.lst creating doc/LaTeXConfig.lyx This is a known problem we are working on. Workaround: Open an internet connection and reconfigure LyX. regards Uwe
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
This is a known problem we are working on. Workaround: Open an internet connection and reconfigure LyX. Uwe, if the option is set to off (no download whatsoever), can configure succeed? I guess configure will get current class list and start lyx properly. Bo
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Bo Peng schrieb: This is a known problem we are working on. Workaround: Open an internet connection and reconfigure LyX. Uwe, if the option is set to off (no download whatsoever), can configure succeed? I guess configure will get current class list and start lyx properly. Yes this should work, but then the users complain that not all needed packages are installed; that's the dilemma. So installing with an open internet connection will help. I'll ask the MiKTeX developer about the status of this bug (he has a lot of work with the Vista stuff at the moment). I'll inform the lists as soon there is a solution. BUT I was too rash with my advice, because the missing textclass problem will remain for new users because MiKTeX's environment variables aren't immediately written after the installation so that LyX will fail to find it the first time. I wrote an email to this and the devel list last week that I solved this in LyXWinInstaller by chance by calling the configure script twice. regards Uwe
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
On 1/31/07, Uwe Stöhr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Uwe, if the option is set to off (no download whatsoever), can > configure succeed? I guess configure will get current class list and > start lyx properly. Yes this should work, but then the users complain that not all needed packages are installed; that's the dilemma. Uwe, You would not agree with me but my opinion is that we have shot ourselves in the foot by enabling this automatic downloading option. The simple fix for this problem is that we disable this option and allow lyx to be installed without these classes. It is NOT our responsibility to install latex packages. Right now, we have a serious bug that lyx can not be used after *proper* installation. Although this is miktex's fault, lyx is blamed because we have bundled miktex. I guess the following two scenarios are better: 1. we do not bundle miktex. Instead, users are asked to install miktex by their own. If there is anything missing, they install the package by themselves. This is what we are doing to all OS other than windows and there is no complain there. 2. we bundle miktex and also bundle all regular (what configure.py will check) packages. In this way, there is no automatic downloading so no bug. What do you think? Bo
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Guess for the good of every user, expert or not, the second option is the one you should pick. On 2/1/07, Bo Peng <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: On 1/31/07, Uwe Stöhr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Uwe, if the option is set to off (no download whatsoever), can > > configure succeed? I guess configure will get current class list and > > start lyx properly. > > Yes this should work, but then the users complain that not all needed packages are installed; that's > the dilemma. Uwe, You would not agree with me but my opinion is that we have shot ourselves in the foot by enabling this automatic downloading option. The simple fix for this problem is that we disable this option and allow lyx to be installed without these classes. It is NOT our responsibility to install latex packages. Right now, we have a serious bug that lyx can not be used after *proper* installation. Although this is miktex's fault, lyx is blamed because we have bundled miktex. I guess the following two scenarios are better: 1. we do not bundle miktex. Instead, users are asked to install miktex by their own. If there is anything missing, they install the package by themselves. This is what we are doing to all OS other than windows and there is no complain there. 2. we bundle miktex and also bundle all regular (what configure.py will check) packages. In this way, there is no automatic downloading so no bug. What do you think? Bo -- - Julio Rojas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Bo Peng schrieb: You would not agree with me but my opinion is that we have shot ourselves in the foot by enabling this automatic downloading option. The default is "Ask me first" which has the same problem. The simple fix for this problem is that we disable this option and allow lyx to be installed without these classes. It is NOT our responsibility to install latex packages. We are! about 50% of the LyXers I know don't know anything about LaTeX and will wonder why the collegue has a feature they has not. You can not expect that an average user knows how to install a LaTeX-package. 1. we do not bundle miktex. Instead, users are asked to install miktex by their own. If there is anything missing, they install the package by themselves. This is what we are doing to all OS other than windows and there is no complain there. Because Linuxer are computer experts in comparison to Windows users and LaTeX is mostly installed by default in many distros. Note that 90% of the computers are running Windows and that therefore 90% of the potential users won't then be able to use LyX. 2. we bundle miktex and also bundle all regular (what configure.py will check) packages. In this way, there is no automatic downloading so no bug. We can consider that if the MiKTeX developer see no chance to fix this. I'll wait two week before a decision. regards Uwe
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
On Thu, 1 Feb 2007, Uwe Stöhr wrote: The simple fix for this problem is that we disable this option and allow lyx to be installed without these classes. It is NOT our responsibility to install latex packages. We are! about 50% of the LyXers I know don't know anything about LaTeX and will wonder why the collegue has a feature they has not. You can not expect that an average user knows how to install a LaTeX-package. I don't know if it's our responsibility, but to be honest I hardly know how to install a LaTeX package. You had to put it somewhere and then get the cache to update, IIRC. This might be completely different on Windows of course. Anyway, my point is that it's not trivial for a user to install a new LaTeX package. That still doesn't mean we have to or are responsible though... Maybe it'd be enough if we gave a better warning message and/or directions to where the user can find more information about how to do it? /C -- Christian Ridderström, +46-8-768 39 44 http://www.md.kth.se/~chr
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Uwe Stöhr wrote: Bo Peng schrieb: You would not agree with me but my opinion is that we have shot ourselves in the foot by enabling this automatic downloading option. The default is "Ask me first" which has the same problem. Does it? I've installed the "thin" version on my home PC a few times. The home PC has a dial-up connection (which is off during installation) and MikTeX set to "ask". It asks, I say no (repeatedly), and installation goes fine. /Paul
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Paul A. Rubin schrieb: Does it? I've installed the "thin" version on my home PC a few times. The home PC has a dial-up connection (which is off during installation) and MikTeX set to "ask". It asks, I say no (repeatedly), and installation goes fine. But if you press "yes" -> same problem. And I got complaints from the users, that they don't want to have these windows appearing. And people often press yes when the don't understand a computer question. I would also press "Yes" because nobody knows the problematic. regards Uwe
Re: Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
Uwe Stöhr wrote: Paul A. Rubin schrieb: Does it? I've installed the "thin" version on my home PC a few times. The home PC has a dial-up connection (which is off during installation) and MikTeX set to "ask". It asks, I say no (repeatedly), and installation goes fine. But if you press "yes" -> same problem. And I got complaints from the users, that they don't want to have these windows appearing. And people often press yes when the don't understand a computer question. I would also press "Yes" because nobody knows the problematic. I see your point. I thought you meant that the bug occurred before the user responded to the pop-up. /Paul
Yet More Comment on Lyx Windows Install: the "textclasses not found" problem
I fought the "no textclasses found" problem all weekend and just now got it fixed. I used the MS windows wiki-wiki installation (several times) and always got the same textclasses error. However, I finally got lyx to work !! My problem was that I had two other versions of Latex on my system (PCtex and Texlive) So I removed these from my path environment variable, plus I removed some environment variables that were related to these two programs. By now I had the detritus of several failed installations on my system. I searched for all copies of textclass.lst on my system, deleted them all, and reran configure.py Now Lyx runs. I hopes this helps someone...