MiKTeX Package Manager freezes and crashes when I install new package

Question

I am not new to TeX in general, but very new to TeX on Windows. In the past I always had a Linux system at hand to create my documents in TeX. However, I don't have that opportunity anymore and want to create TeX documents on my Windows (7, 64 bit) machine.

I looked around for a bit and downloaded ProTeXt (http://www.tug.org/protext). Installation went fine (meaning there were no errors reported by the installer). So I open TeXworks, open a .tex file that I had created a while back and hit "Typeset". Shortly after I am informed that scrreprt.cls is missing. So I open the package manager to install koma-script. As soon as I hit the install button I see a new window that downloads something, however the status bars don't move and the update statistics are empty (=no numbers at all). After a few seconds the whole thing freezes and I get another window saying "MiKTeX Package Manager has stopped working". Any kind of help is highly appreciated!

type at command line terminal kpsewhich scrreprt.cls to see if it's installed. try synchronising and updating with other mirror miktex repository and if possible run in admin mode. BTW Linux TeX distro TeXLive is available for windows also with installer for info. — texenthusiast, Apr 13 '13 at 08:53
Which miktex version did protext install? Did you run the update manager? Did you try to change the repository? — Ulrike Fischer, Apr 13 '13 at 12:03
@UlrikeFischer: I have changed the repo to the packages folder that came with protext. (after all I knew why I downloaded the >1GB file.^^). Although my internet connection is fine, the package manager breaks when trying to connect to a remote location. If you suggest changing the repo in a "proper" answer I can accept it! — Jan, Apr 13 '13 at 14:06
I suspect a user right problem: Where do you have installed? Do you have writing rights in this folder (and subfolders)? You could also try out an installation outside of C:\Program Files. Additional hint: See Difference between administrative and user mode of MiKTeX. — Speravir, Apr 13 '13 at 17:18
The error only occurs when I try to install the packages from a remote repository. So I guess user rights are not the issue. — Jan, Apr 14 '13 at 09:03
@Jan: If you can only install from the local repository you will have problems to update your system. What miktex version did protext install? (look at the first line of a log file or use pdflatex --version). — Ulrike Fischer, Apr 14 '13 at 16:32
@UlrikeFischer: I have MiKTeX 2.9 installed. And you are right: The update window chrashes just like the package manager. — Jan, Apr 14 '13 at 23:58
Try to run the update manager on the command line (see description of mpm in the documentation) — Ulrike Fischer, Apr 15 '13 at 06:45

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 13 '13 at 10:16

Seems that ProTeXt is based (or you have choosed it while installation) on basic MiKTeX, which has KOMA-Script not installed by default. So you have to download and install it.

In my opinion it is better to install the complete MiKTeX, tooks more time, but you can work offline the internet.

The installation can freeze on windows for several reasons. So what the reason is in your case is hard to say without more informations.

In your case, after new installation of MiKTeX, I would suggest to

reboot windows,
restart MiKTeX package management,
check very carefully your internet connection and
start installing of KOMA-Script again.

It is possible that you lose the internet connection, then just restart MiKTeX package management. Usually MiKTeX recognize this and completes the downloading and installing ...

Unfortunately the problem persists... – Jan Apr 13 '13 at 13:58 — Jan, Apr 13 '13 at 13:58

MiKTeX Package Manager freezes and crashes when I install new package

1 Answers1