MikTex 2.9 - problem installing packages on the fly (after initial update formats problem)

rob27

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Nov 15, 2015, 1:44:32 PM11/15/15

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I've been using MikTex on a Windows 7 machine for a while without any problems; it has always successfully installed packages on the fly with <Random package repository> specified. After a re-install of Windows 7, I've had to re-install MikTex (version 2.9.5721). (N.B. I've tried both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions.)

Here's the test file I typeset (with pdfLatex+MakeIndex+BibTex):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\begin{document}
test doc
\end{document}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

MikTex returned the following error:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
You may want to visit the MiKTeX project page (http://miktex.org), if you
need help.

Sorry, but C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\texify.exe did not succeed.

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

C:/Users/Rob/AppData/Local/MiKTeX/2.9/miktex/log/texify.log

You may want to visit the MiKTeX project page (http://miktex.org), if you
need help.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was the entry in texify.log:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015-11-15 17:34:29,806Z INFO texify - running 'initexmf --quiet --update-fndb' to refresh the file name database
2015-11-15 17:34:29,884Z FATAL texify - The operation failed for some reason.
2015-11-15 17:34:29,884Z FATAL texify - Info: C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\initexmf.exe
2015-11-15 17:34:29,884Z FATAL texify - Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\Core\Process.cpp
2015-11-15 17:34:29,884Z FATAL texify - Line: 290
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

After searching the internet I tried the following (blindly, because I have no idea what these actions do):
1. In MikTex Package Manager (Admin) I selected: Repository | Synchronise.
After this the same error occurred.
2. In MikTex Settings (Admin) I selected: General | Update Formats. This
appeared to solve the problem, because I then successfully typeset the
document.

I then added "\usepackage{microtype}" to the test file and tried to typeset it. In the "Package Installation" dialog that popped up, I clicked "Install" with "<Random package repository>" selected. I then got the error:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, the package microtype could not be installed.Please check the log file:
C:/Users/Rob/AppData/Local/MiKTeX/2.9/miktex/log/pdflatex.log

! LaTeX Error: File `microtype.sty' not found.

Type X to quit or <RETURN> to proceed,
or enter new name. (Default extension: sty)

Enter file name:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's the entry in pdflatex.log:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015-11-15 18:02:27,177Z INFO pdflatex - installing package microtype triggered by tex\latex\microtype\microtype.sty
2015-11-15 18:02:29,213Z FATAL pdflatex - No Data
2015-11-15 18:02:29,213Z FATAL pdflatex - Info: get host by name failed in tcp_connect()
2015-11-15 18:02:29,213Z FATAL pdflatex - Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\PackageManager\PackageManager.cpp
2015-11-15 18:02:29,213Z FATAL pdflatex - Line: 1612
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In MikTex Settings (Admin) I then tried: General | Refresh FNDB. However, this just took me back to the original error.

Finally, I ran MikTex Update (Admin), but this didn't solve the problem.

I'm now stuck, so any suggestions would be much appreciated.

rob27

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Nov 15, 2015, 2:36:28 PM11/15/15

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Sorry, I forgot to say that I can install packages successfully using the package manager, but I'd like to know how to solve the above problem.

zar...@gmail.com

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Feb 18, 2017, 5:00:12 PM2/18/17

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Hi rob27: Were you able to solve this issue? I seem to be running into this same issue. Manual install of packages is successful but auto (on-the-fly) install does not work.

julian....@googlemail.com

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May 23, 2018, 6:08:43 AM5/23/18

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I'm having the same issue after updating an old version of MikTex. Now it fails to complete type-setting. The error is the same:

Sorry, but "MiKTeX Configuration Utility" did not succeed.

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

C:/Users/Julian/AppData/Local/MiKTeX/2.9/miktex/log/initexmf.log

You may want to visit the MiKTeX project page, if you need help.

Sorry, but "MiKTeX Compiler Driver" did not succeed.

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

C:/Users/Julian/AppData/Local/MiKTeX/2.9/miktex/log/texify.log

You may want to visit the MiKTeX project page, if you need help.

julian....@googlemail.com

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May 23, 2018, 6:09:28 AM5/23/18

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And the texify.log file says this:

2018-05-23 10:44:27,676+0100 INFO texify - starting with command line: "C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin\x64\texify.exe" --pdf --synctex=1 --clean test.tex
2018-05-23 10:44:29,080+0100 FATAL texify - Windows API error 2: The system cannot find the file specified.

2018-05-23 10:44:29,081+0100 FATAL texify - Info: existing="C:/Users/Julian/AppData/Local/Temp/mik80690/_src\test.pdf", new="C:/Dev/Study/R/interpret_basics_auxr\test.pdf"
2018-05-23 10:44:29,081+0100 FATAL texify - Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\Core\File\win\winFile.cpp
2018-05-23 10:44:29,081+0100 FATAL texify - Line: 366

Ulrike Fischer

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May 23, 2018, 6:44:28 AM5/23/18

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Am Wed, 23 May 2018 03:09:24 -0700 (PDT) schrieb
julian....@googlemail.com:

> And the texify.log file says this:

Don't use texify if you have a problem. Use pdflatex and the other
tools directly. Then you have a much better chance to get sensible
error messages.

--
Ulrike Fischer
http://www.troubleshooting-tex.de/