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MiKTeX 2.5 Known Issues

This page lists the biggest stumbling blocks you may come across when you install and use MiKTeX 2.5.

LaTeX produces PDF (not DVI)

If you experience that

latex foo

produces foo.pdf (instead of foo.dvi), then you should check your preamble code. For example, the following code does not work as expected because the primitive \pdfoutput is always defined:

\newif\ifpdf% 
        \ifx\pdfoutput\undefined% 
\pdffalse% 
\else% 
        \pdfoutput=1% 
        \pdftrue% 
\fi%

Instead of the above code, you should use the ifpdf package:

\usepackage{ifpdf}

This package provides a working \ifpdf macro.

ConTeXt doesn't work

Symptom: texexec --version outputs nothing.

ConTeXt scripts are written in Perl and Ruby. In order to make use of ConTeXt, you must install both language interpreters.

Unknown archive file type

You will see the error message

Unknown archive file type

when you try to install an LZMA compressed package archive file with an old version of the package manager. In this case, you have to install new MiKTeX binaries:

  1. start MiKTeX Update
  2. select the miktex-bin package only
  3. complete the update procedure
  4. start MiKTeX Update again
  5. select all bin packages
  6. complete the update procedure

Upgrading from MiKTeX 2.4

Please note that the upgrade wizard removes the following configuration directories in all registered TEXMF root directories:

  • dvipdfm\config
  • dvipdfmx\config
  • dvips\config
  • miktex\config
  • pdftex\config

Therefore it is recommended that you backup your hand-edited configuration files, before you run the upgrade wizard.

The upgrade operation sometimes fails with the following error message:

The operation could not be completed for the following reason: 
Migration failed for some reason.

It is usually possible to work-around this problem: please contact me, if you are a registered MiKTeX user.

Alternatively, you can remove (uninstall) MiKTeX 2.4 and install MiKTeX 2.5.

Dvips and unsecure path names

The security option (-R1) is now implicitly set. This prevents Dvips from dereferencing unsecure path names. A path name is considered to be unsecure, if it is fully qualified or if it references the parent directory (../).

Therefore you cannot use \includegraphics as follows, if -R1 is in effect:

\includegraphics{c:/Users/Alice/Project/figures/fig1.eps}% Dvips fails

Instead, you must use a secure path name:

\includegraphics{figures/fig1}% OK

Windows Vista

MiKTeX 2.5 is not designed to be run on Windows Vista. But Microsoft "added some shims to Windows Vista specifically for the MiKTeX 2.5 installer. They do not resolve all the compatibility problems, but they do resolve the UAP-related issues". These issues remain:

  • The update wizard sometimes aborts with the error message "access denied". Workaround: start the update wizard again.
  • When you have installed MiKTeX, it wont be possible to register additional TeXMF root directories. Workaround: run MiKTeX Options as administrator.

TeX editors

Some TeX editors are not able to detect MiKTeX 2.5. It is usually possible to configure a TeX editor manually. See your editor's documentation, for more information.

Limited user account issues

If you install MiKTeX while you are logged into a limited user account

  • It will not be possible to remove MiKTeX via Control Panel ("Add or Remove Programs").
  • The DVI file type will not be associated with Yap.