[OS X TeX] Linux --> Mac: Beamer and "Non-PDF special ignored!"

[Herbert Schulz]

On Sep 22, 2010, at 11:06 AM, Rick Chartrand wrote:

> I am a long-time LaTeX user on Linux platforms, and now have a brand new
> Mac, with a fresh install of MacTeX/TexLive 2010.  I took an existing Beamer
> presentation (one that works fine in Linux) and tried compiling it (with
> pdfLaTeX), and got a slew of "Non-PDF special ignored!" errors, and the
> \visible commands weren't functioning properly in the PDF (every component
> woud be uncovered for every PDF page in the slide).  But in attempting to
> isolate the problem, I found the following is sufficient to produce the
> errors:
> \documentclass{beamer}
> \begin{document}
> \begin{frame}
> \end{frame}
> \end{document}
> 
> This produces about 100 "Non-PDF special ignored!" errors, with no other
> enlightening errors in the output or the log.  Behavior is the same from the
> command line or TeXworks.
> 
> Searching elsewhere suggests this is a pdfTeX problem, but hasn't given me a
> clue about the cause or a solution.  I'm baffled how something so common
> could go so completely wrong.  FWIW, the pdfTeX version listed in the output
> is 3.1415926-1.40.11, while in Linux, a successful compile runs with the
> output declaring pdfTeXk, Version 3.141592-1.40.3.
> 
> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  This is the last step in
> converting this silvery paperweight into a useful scientific computing
> device.
> 
> Rick

Howdy,

After installing MacTeX-2010 there have been many package updates. Use TeX Live Utility to get up to date. I have no problem compiling that file here. Put \listfiles at the top of the document and compare with this list from my system.

  beamer.cls    2010/06/21 development version 3.10 A class for typesetting pre
sentations (rcs-revision a6b1a8434d30)
beamerbasercs.sty    2010/06/12 (rcs-revision c3821710bb40)
beamerbasemodes.sty    2010/05/01 (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbasedecode.sty    2010/05/01 (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbaseoptions.sty    2010/04/27 (rcs-revision 982469101dd6)
  keyval.sty    1999/03/16 v1.13 key=value parser (DPC)
geometry.sty    2010/09/12 v5.6 Page Geometry
   ifpdf.sty    2010/01/28 v2.1 Provides the ifpdf switch (HO)
  ifvtex.sty    2010/03/01 v1.5 Switches for detecting VTeX and its modes (HO)
 ifxetex.sty    2010/09/12 v0.6 Provides ifxetex conditional
  size11.clo    2007/10/19 v1.4h Standard LaTeX file (size option)
 pgfcore.sty    2008/01/15 v2.00 (rcs-revision 1.6)
graphicx.sty    1999/02/16 v1.0f Enhanced LaTeX Graphics (DPC,SPQR)
graphics.sty    2009/02/05 v1.0o Standard LaTeX Graphics (DPC,SPQR)
    trig.sty    1999/03/16 v1.09 sin cos tan (DPC)
graphics.cfg    2010/04/23 v1.9 graphics configuration of TeX Live
  pdftex.def    2010/09/14 v0.05b Graphics/color for pdfTeX
  pgfsys.sty    2008/02/07 v2.00 (rcs-revision 1.31)
  pgfrcs.sty    2008/02/20 v2.00 (rcs-revision 1.21)
  pgfrcs.code.tex
  pgfsys.code.tex
pgfsyssoftpath.code.tex    2008/01/23  (rcs-revision 1.6)
pgfsysprotocol.code.tex    2006/10/16  (rcs-revision 1.4)
  xcolor.sty    2007/01/21 v2.11 LaTeX color extensions (UK)
   color.cfg    2007/01/18 v1.5 color configuration of teTeX/TeXLive
 pgfcore.code.tex
 xxcolor.sty    2003/10/24 ver 0.1
hyperref.sty    2010/09/17 v6.81q Hypertext links for LaTeX
 ltxcmds.sty    2010/04/26 v1.7 LaTeX kernel commands for general use (HO)
infwarerr.sty    2010/04/08 v1.3 Providing info/warning/message (HO)
kvsetkeys.sty    2010/03/01 v1.9 Key value parser (HO)
etexcmds.sty    2010/01/28 v1.3 Prefix for e-TeX command names (HO)
pdfescape.sty    2010/03/01 v1.9 Provides hex, PDF name and string conversions 
(HO)
pdftexcmds.sty    2010/04/01 v0.9 Utility functions of pdfTeX for LuaTeX (HO)
ifluatex.sty    2010/03/01 v1.3 Provides the ifluatex switch (HO)
 hycolor.sty    2009/12/12 v1.6 Color options of hyperref/bookmark (HO)
xcolor-patch.sty    2009/12/12 xcolor patch
letltxmacro.sty    2008/06/24 v1.3 Let assignment for LaTeX macros (HO)
kvoptions.sty    2010/02/22 v3.7 Keyval support for LaTeX options (HO)
  pd1enc.def    2010/09/17 v6.81q Hyperref: PDFDocEncoding definition (HO)
 intcalc.sty    2007/09/27 v1.1 Expandable integer calculations (HO)
hyperref.cfg    2002/06/06 v1.2 hyperref configuration of TeXLive
     url.sty    2006/04/12  ver 3.3  Verb mode for urls, etc.
  bitset.sty    2007/09/28 v1.0 Data type bit set (HO)
bigintcalc.sty    2007/11/11 v1.1 Expandable big integer calculations (HO)
atbegshi.sty    2010/03/25 v1.12 At begin shipout hook (HO)
 hpdftex.def    2010/09/17 v6.81q Hyperref driver for pdfTeX
atveryend.sty    2010/03/24 v1.5 Hooks at very end of document (HO)
rerunfilecheck.sty    2010/03/16 v1.6 Rerun checks for auxiliary files (HO)
uniquecounter.sty    2009/12/18 v1.1 Provides unlimited unique counter (HO)
beamerbaserequires.sty    2010/05/01  (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbasecompatibility.sty    2010/07/12  (rcs-revision 6648c3177e4e)
beamerbasefont.sty    2010/05/10  (rcs-revision cd36e8a33c6b)
 amssymb.sty    2009/06/22 v3.00
amsfonts.sty    2009/06/22 v3.00 Basic AMSFonts support
beamerbasetranslator.sty    2010/06/11  (rcs-revision 85fd1cc7fc42)
translator.sty    2010/06/12 ver 1.10
translator-language-mappings.tex
beamerbasemisc.sty    2010/06/06  (rcs-revision bff0a9294b45)
beamerbasetwoscreens.sty    2010/05/01  (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbaseoverlay.sty    2010/05/07  (rcs-revision 5584dad462a9)
beamerbasetitle.sty    2010/06/12  (rcs-revision 717e481ca47a)
beamerbasesection.sty    2010/06/17  (rcs-revision e0d9401bb743)
beamerbaseframe.sty    2010/06/06  (rcs-revision bff0a9294b45)
beamerbaseverbatim.sty    2010/05/01  (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbaseframesize.sty    2010/06/27  (rcs-revision 6baa2d92e6f1)
beamerbaseframecomponents.sty    2010/07/12  (rcs-revision 09e82992d9b1)
beamerbasecolor.sty    2010/06/06  (rcs-revision d1a9b48be06d)
beamerbasenotes.sty    2010/05/01  (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbasetoc.sty    2010/06/11  (rcs-revision 242ecaa6783b)
beamerbasetemplates.sty    2010/05/01  (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbaseauxtemplates.sty    2010/05/01  (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbaseboxes.sty    2010/05/01  (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbaselocalstructure.sty    2010/06/01  (rcs-revision 81f9e33f7cc2)
enumerate.sty    1999/03/05 v3.00 enumerate extensions (DPC)
beamerbasenavigation.sty    2010/05/01  (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerbasetheorems.sty    2010/06/06  (rcs-revision 7e7cc5e53e9d)
 amsmath.sty    2000/07/18 v2.13 AMS math features
 amstext.sty    2000/06/29 v2.01
  amsgen.sty    1999/11/30 v2.0
  amsbsy.sty    1999/11/29 v1.2d
  amsopn.sty    1999/12/14 v2.01 operator names
  amsthm.sty    2004/08/06 v2.20
beamerbasethemes.sty    2010/05/01  (rcs-revision efa082c6111d)
beamerthemedefault.sty    2010/06/17  (rcs-revision d02a7cf4d8ae)
beamerfontthemedefault.sty    2010/06/17  (rcs-revision d02a7cf4d8ae)
beamercolorthemedefault.sty    2010/06/17  (rcs-revision d02a7cf4d8ae)
beamerinnerthemedefault.sty    2010/06/17  (rcs-revision d02a7cf4d8ae)
beamerouterthemedefault.sty    2010/06/17  (rcs-revision d02a7cf4d8ae)
supp-pdf.mkii
epstopdf-base.sty    2010/02/09 v2.5 Base part for package epstopdf
  grfext.sty    2007/09/30 v1.0 Managing graphics extensions (HO)
epstopdf-sys.cfg    2010/07/13 v1.3 Configuration of (r)epstopdf for TeX Live
epstopdf.cfg
 nameref.sty    2010/04/30 v2.40 Cross-referencing by name of section
refcount.sty    2008/08/11 v3.1 Data extraction from references (HO)
gettitlestring.sty    2009/12/18 v1.3 Cleanup title references (HO)
translator-basic-dictionary-English.dict    
translator-bibliography-dictionary-English.dict    
translator-environment-dictionary-English.dict    
translator-months-dictionary-English.dict    
translator-numbers-dictionary-English.dict    
translator-theorem-dictionary-English.dict    

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest dot com)