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After upgrading the ubuntu 13.04 to 13.10, when I try the following command in terminal

$ latex *.tex or $ pdflatex *.tex .

I give the following error with MWE:

This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-2.5-1.40.14 (TeX Live 2013/Debian)
 restricted \write18 enabled.
---! /var/lib/texmf/web2c/pdftex/pdflatex.fmt doesn't match pdftex.pool
(Fatal format file error; I'm stymied)

Also Texmaker gives error "Could not start the command".

Meanwhile, my Texmaker configuration is as follows:

enter image description here

Any suggestion?

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    I think you may have to rebuilt the format with something like: sudo fmtutil-sys --all. I vaguely remember needing to do that once after an update. – jon Oct 24 '13 at 20:35
  • Thank you @jon for reply, but nothing change. –  Oct 24 '13 at 20:45
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    Well, it's not TeXmaker, so don't worry about that. You need to sort out things at a deeper level. Your last comment means that something like latex small2e still gives you the same exact error you first described, right? Did you rebuild the formats with fmtutil-sys and did it run without any errors? – jon Oct 24 '13 at 20:51
  • run DIFFSEARCHPATH=/etc/texmf pacdiff && fmtutil-sys --all as root – jens_bo Oct 24 '13 at 20:51
  • @jon yes without any errors. –  Oct 24 '13 at 20:59
  • @jenson_bo ubuntu says pacdiff command not found. Sorry, I'm newbie on ubuntu. –  Oct 24 '13 at 21:01
  • related question?: http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/127517/tex-live-issue-after-update-fmtutil-cnf-not-found

    but not sure if it helps

     – jens_bo Oct 24 '13 at 21:04
  • pacdiff is not for Ubuntu. Are you using the Debian/Ubuntu version of TeX Live (via apt-get or the software centre) or installing it yourself? – jon Oct 24 '13 at 21:05
  • @jon, if i understood right you, Texlive installed with ubuntu itself. I have also updated it. –  Oct 24 '13 at 21:14
  • There is also fmtutil (rather than fmtutil-sys); can you run sudo fmtutil --all and then, if that command works with no errors, try doing pdflatex small2e? – jon Oct 24 '13 at 21:29
  • @jon, nothing change. Thank you for your cooperation. I think, i will return to windowz and work with Miktex :-(. –  Oct 24 '13 at 21:32
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    My advice would be to uninstall all system-installed TeX Live with sudo apt-get purge texlive* and sudo apt-get autoclean. Then reinstalling TeX Live, but from here. And definitely don't go back to Windows! :) – jon Oct 24 '13 at 21:37
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    You might be interested in install-tl-ubuntu which does everything for you to install TeX Live 2013 and notify apt so apt does not try to install the texlive packages as dependencies. – scottkosty Oct 24 '13 at 23:40

3 Answers3

5

I got the same error with Pandoc. It was:

pandoc: Error producing PDF from TeX source.             
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.1415926-2.5-1.40.14 (TeX Live 2013/Debian)
 restricted \write18 enabled.
---! /home/user/.texmf-var/web2c/pdftex/pdflatex.fmt doesn't match pdftex.pool
(Fatal format file error; I'm stymied)

I fixed it by removing / renaming the /home/user/.texmf-var folder.

It happened probably because of my system upgrade. That folder probably contains older cache files that are incompatible with the newer latex version that I now have installed.

In your case, the problem is with a system folder.

I recommend trying to find the command that rebuilds these caches (like some suggested in the comments), or, alternatively, uninstalling latex and re-installing it again - probably that will generate them anew.

nh2
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1

I could solve this problem with

sudo dpkg --configure -a

I hope this help you.

(I sorry for my english).

dustin
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rvcristiand
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1

A little late, but I faced this problem when I updated my Arch-linux box. As suggested by @jon in comments to the question above, sudo fmtutil-sys --all solved the problem for me. A lengthier description of potential issue is given here.

Abhinav
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