R cmd check Latex error: FATAL pdflatex - GUI cannot be initialized

Question

I am checking my package and this is actually the last remaining problem. The pdf file cannot be compiled and the log file tells me

2015-10-15 14:17:47,430+0200 INFO pdflatex - running 'initexmf --quiet --update-fndb' to refresh the file name database 2015-10-15 14:17:50,276+0200 FATAL pdflatex - GUI framework cannot be initialized. 2015-10-15 14:17:50,276+0200 FATAL pdflatex - Info: 2015-10-15 14:17:50,276+0200 FATAL pdflatex - Source: Libraries\MiKTeX\UI\Qt\mikuiqt.cpp 2015-10-15 14:17:50,276+0200 FATAL pdflatex - Line: 50 

Any idea where the problem might be?

Answer 1

This is a known issue with MikTex 2.9 when pdflatex encounters an error

 GUI framework cannot be initialized. 

(found on my Windows 7 system in the file ~ \ AppData \ Local \ MiKTeX \ 2.9 \ miktex \ log)

So far, I can offer the following sequence of actions to fix this:

• At the Windows command prompt, go to the MiKTeX bin folder (for example, C: \ Program Files (x86) \ MiKTeX 2.9 \ miktex \ bin) and run the mo.exe utility;

• On the General tab, change the option "Install missing packages on the fly:" to "No" (this will disable the graphical interface and the error above will not be repeated);

• Run R CMD, which calls the latex converter again (in my case

   R CMD Rd2pdf man/ 

again to see new errors;

4. This time miktex will not complain about the GUI - instead, there will be no packages with an error like this

    ! LaTeX Error: File `inconsolata.sty' not found. 

5. Launch the MiKTeX package manager (again from the mo.exe Packages tab) and install the missing package one at a time by repeating steps 3. -5.

This may not be the most effective way to fix this, so I appreciate corrections or alternative solutions.