[metapost] Unable to make mpx file. Btex and etex issue

[Nicola]

In article <799498.99774.qm at web28514.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>,
 ozhan fenerci <o_fenerci at yahoo.com.tr> wrote:

> % CH1.mp
> %  MetaPost input file with chapter one pictures.
> verbatimtex
> %&latex
> \documentclass{book}
> \usepackage{dvidrv} \usepackage{hrefout}
> \usepackage{bookjh,linalgjh}
> \usepackage{verbatim}
> \begin{document}
> etex

Try to comment out the line

\usepackage{dvidrv} \usepackage{hrefout}

Be sure that you have bookjh.sty and linalgjh.sty, otherwise comment out 
also the line that includes those packages (you will have to define the 
value of some variables yourself, though, namely tickwidth, 
line_width_light and shading_color). That should be enough to get 
through the compilation process.

>  I got  the book source from 
> "ftp://joshua.smcvt.edu/pub/hefferon/book/linear_algebra.zip" which includes 
> many metapost figures. 

Ah ok, I thought it was a book *about* MetaPost.

> > I am trying to learn metapost. I found a book which uses metapost
> > extensively. 

IMHO, you should start learning from other sources. I would go, in 
order, through:

1) Learning MetaPost by Doing: 
http://www.tlhiv.org/MetaPost/documentation/MetaPost_Learning.pdf

2) A nice manual by prof. Peter Grogono: 
http://users.encs.concordia.ca/~grogono/Writings/mpref.pdf

3) The first two chapters of The MetaFun Manual: 
http://www.pragma-ade.com/general/manuals/metafun-p.pdf

4) The MetaPost User's Manual;

5) And (if you really want to know *everything* about MetaPost) The 
MetaFontBook by prof. Knuth.

Nicola