[OS X TeX] biber error

[Herbert Schulz]

On Jan 4, 2011, at 9:16 AM, Alan Munn wrote:

> 
> On Jan 4, 2011, at 10:05 AM, Herbert Schulz wrote:
> 
>> 
>> On Jan 4, 2011, at 8:42 AM, Alan Munn wrote:
>> 
>>> On Jan 4, 2011, at 9:26 AM, Herbert Schulz wrote:
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Jan 4, 2011, at 8:16 AM, Alan Munn wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> On Jan 4, 2011, at 9:07 AM, Herbert Schulz wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Jan 3, 2011, at 9:56 AM, Alan Munn wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Jan 3, 2011, at 9:18 AM, Herbert Schulz wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Jan 2, 2011, at 11:52 PM, Alan Munn wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> Oh well.  I guess I'll update to Snow Leopard then. (Although it would be nice if there was a correctly compiled binary around that would work on any OS.)
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> One more question.  Having upgraded to Snow Leopard, biber works, but it seems to be in a directory that isn't findable from the command line, since it's in /usr/local/texlive/2010/bin/x86_64-darwin/ .  What's the best way to fix this?
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> If you installed MacTeX there is a symbolic link, /usr/texbin, that indirectly points to the binaries. Which set of binaries it point to is controlled by the TeX Distribution Preference Pane found in system Preferences.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Hope that helps.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> PS: after installing TeX Live 2010 via MacTeX please run TeX Live Utility (should be in /Applications/TeX), a really nice GUI interface to tlmgr, and get the numerous updates that have come out since TL2010 was released.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I was running TL 2010 fully updated before I upgraded to Snow Leopard.  So the distribution panel shows only one distribution, but /usr/texbin doesn't point to the /usr/local/texlive/2010/bin/x86_64-darwin/ it points to /usr/local/texlive/2010/bin/universal-darwin/, which doesn't contain the biber binary, hence my question. (I'm assuming that the universal-darwin directory contains the 32 bit binaries.)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Pete's solution of putting the x86_64-darwin in the path would work, but seems a bit of a hack.  But the links are a bit complicated:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> /usr/texbin -> ../Library/TeX/Distributions/.DefaultTeX/Contents/Programs/i386
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> i386 -> ../../../../../../../usr/local/texlive/2010/bin/universal-darwin
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Is there some way to rerun the script that sets the links correctly and tell it to use the 64bit binaries?
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Alan
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Howdy,
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Did Dick Koch get in touch with you?
>>>>> 
>>>>> No.
>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Hmmm... you say that the 64bit distribution is not showing up in the TeX Distribution Preference Pane. Please let me know what you find when you look into /Library/TeX/Distributions/ for a ``file'' called TeXLive-2010-64.texdist. (The quotes are there because it looks like a file but is actually a folder like a dmg ``file''.) Note: /Library/ is the Library file at the root of your HD, NOT the one in your HOME folder.
>>>>>> 
>>>>> None exists.  And I know why: it will only get created when MacTeX is installed under 10.6 on an Intel Mac. But my MacTeX was already installed, and there seems to be no direct way to update it.
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Howdy,
>>>> 
>>>> That's what I suspected too. Here is a zipped copy to place in that directory (of course unzip it first).
>>>> 
>>>> <TeXLive-2010-64.texdist.zip>
>>>> 
>>>> I'm not sure if it requires root:admin as the owner/group but you could copy it there from your Desktop with that ownership:
>>>> 
>>>> 1)Put the unzipped ``file'' on your Desktop
>>>> 2)cd ~/Desktop
>>>> 3)sudo cp TeXLive-2010-64.texdist /Library/TeX/Distributions
>>>> 
>>>> and then check that it's there with the right ownership/group. Then try using the TeX Distribution Preference Pane and see if it shows up.
>>> 
>>> Thanks, Herb, but It's not as simple as that. The real work is being done within the folder /Library/TeX/Distributions/.FactoryDefaults The .dist folder contains a Contents folder which is a link to the /Library/TeX/Distributions/.FactoryDefaults/TeXLive-2010-64/Contents (which doesn't exist because the TeXLive-2010-64 folder doesn't exist in the .FactoryDefaults folder).
>>> 
>>> Alan
>>> 
>> 
>> Howdy,
>> 
>> If you are considering doing a complete re-install you might try this (For all I know it breaks everything). I've zipped the complete TeX folder in /Library:
>> 
>> <TeX.zip>
>> 
>> That should have everything unless other stuff gets broken. You may have to recursively change ownership:group to root:admin but try it without the change first.
>> 
> 
> Thanks Herb, I just moved the TeXLive-2010-64 folders from both the Distributions folder and the .FactoryDefaults folder to their respective places in /Library/TeX and now things work. (Both distributions show up in the Distributions pref pane, and switching works.) No ownership changes were needed.
> 
> This really should be fixed, though, so that there is a way to do this (semi-)automatically for people who update their OS.  You shouldn't have to reinstall MacTeX just to get access to the 64-bit binaries.
> 
> Thanks again.
> 
> Alan

Howdy,

Not sure the best way to fix it. Maybe a special installer that is used just to fix that when switching. I think most folks just re-install.

In any case I'm glad you're up and running and hopefully the new biber support in the latest latexmk allows you to use it's nice features.

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs at wideopenwest dot com)