Bug#367559: tetex-base: Package cannot be installed: fmtutil failed

[Ralf Stubner <ralf.stubner@web.de>]

On Tue, May 16, 2006 at 22:16 -0400, Loris Bennett wrote:
> Package: tetex-base
> Version: 3.0-17
> Severity: critical

Thanks for reporting. Let's limit this to where the actual error occurs: 

> fmtutil: running `pdfetex -ini   -jobname=cont-en -progname=context 
> -translate-file=cp227.tcx *cont-en.ini' ...
> This is pdfeTeX, Version 3.141592-1.21a-2.2 (Web2C 7.5.4) (INITEX)
>  (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/web2c/cp227.tcx)
> entering extended mode
> (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/context/config/cont-en.ini
> (/usr/share/texmf/tex/context/base/cont-en.tex
> (/usr/share/texmf/tex/context/base/context.tex
[many more files]
> (/usr/share/texmf/tex/context/base/symb-nav.tex))
> This package is based on Plain TeX. It uses an adapted version of the
> extended mark mechanism of J. Fox (1987) and a few parts of the sidefloat
> mechanism of D. Comenetz (1993). Most of D.E. Knuth's Plain TeX
> (3.1415926) is available and can be used without problems. This package
> uses TaBlE, a package designed and copyrighted by M.J. Wichura (1988).
> Only a few auxiliary files are generated, of which some must be processed
> by TeXUtil (1998.12.20). The current blockversion is 1996.03.10.
> 
> Copyright 1990-2006 / PRAGMA ADE / J. Hagen - A.F. Otten

You have installed a recent ConTeXt in /usr/share/texmf/tex/context/,
right? All the files that are loaded above are not part of tetex-base.
And at the first file that is loaded from tetex-base (after the ini
file), an error occurs: 
 
> )
> system         : cont-usr loaded
> (/usr/share/texmf-tetex/tex/context/config/cont-usr.tex
> language       : patterns for nl not loaded
> language       : patterns for fr not loaded
> language       : patterns for de not loaded
> language       : patterns for it not loaded
> language       : patterns for hr not loaded
> language       : patterns for pl not loaded
> language       : patterns for cz not loaded
> language       : patterns for sk not loaded
> ! Undefined control sequence.
> <argument> \??la \s!sl 
>                        \c!status 
> \doifdefinedelse #1->\edef \p!defined {#1
>                                          }\ifcsname \detokenize \@EA 
[...]

I have no idea what this error means, but most likely the old cont-usr.tex
from tetex-base is incompatible with the new ConTeXt files you installed
in /usr/share/texmf/. I don't think this is a bug in teTeX. ;-) Is there
no cont-usr.tex in the new ConTeXt? That one should take precedence over
the one in /usr/share/texmf-tetex/.

cheerio
ralf