[XeTeX] Can't find xetex.xfmt...

[cormullion]

Jonathan Kew <jonathan_kew at sil.org> said on 2005-01-26, 14:09 (-0000 GMT):

> On 26 Jan 2005, at 1:57 pm, cormullion wrote:
> 
> > I’ve been following the instructions for installing Xetex on the web 
> > site. I’ve downloaded Core TEX, XeTex, and TexShop. This is my first 
> > error message when I click the Typeset button in TexShop. I’d be very 
> > grateful if someone could suggest a few diagnostic tactics...
> >
> >> This is XeTeX, Version 3.14159-2.1-0.88 (Web2C 7.5.2)
> >> kpathsea: Running mktexfmt xetex.xfmt
> >> fmtutil: no info for format `xetex'.
> >> I can't find the format file `xetex.xfmt'!
> >
> > thanks
> >
> 
> I'd recommend installing TeX via Gerben's i-Installer, before adding 
> XeTeX to the setup; that's probably the most widely-used approach. The 
> "core TeX files" package on the XeTeX site is extremely limited 
> (doesn't include things like LaTeX), and hasn't been looked at in a 
> long time; I should probably just remove it

yes- it might have saved me a few hours...

>, and *require* people to  have a full TeX installation as a starting point.
> 
> Having said that, the error you're seeing means that the format file 
> didn't get built and installed during the installation process, as it 
> should. The Log window in the installer might give some indication what 
> is going wrong. But I'd recommend reinstalling TeX first, from Gerben's 
> package.

OK. The i-installer looked horrendous, but I’ll see if I can get it working on my dial-up modem.

Why is installing TEX so complicated...

thanks!