Biber error after MiKTeX update

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Solution 1

As the problem actually seems linked to the fact that MiKTeX 64-bit doesn't include biber, which is a 32-bit application, you should take a look at the answers to this question. Don't forget to create a Local TeXMF root if you don't already have one.

Added on 09/20/2015:

Since last summer, MiKTeX 64bits repositories have a miktex-bin-biber-x64.tar.lzma file, so the above-mentioned answers are obsolete. Install biber through MiKTeX Package Manager.

Solution 2

Upgrading Biber have implied that I must encode my report on UTF8.

Thanks to @Bernard, @cfr, @Speravir, @moewe and @gns_ank.

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dgs
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dgs

Updated on August 01, 2022

Comments

  • dgs
    dgs over 1 year

    After having updated Biber from 1.5 version to 1.8, while the build time, I'm getting errors on the \begin{document} of my latex code telling that File ended while scanning use of \field.. I've tried to compile the same full code on this site, and this have worked.

    Knowing that I'm on Windows 7 SP1 and using MiKTeX 2.9, how do I to fix this please?

    I've tried to use Update (Admin) of MiKTeX for updates, but, after doing this I still getting the same errors.

    Full Log file.

    Minimal Log file related to the below .tex code.

    .tex file

    \documentclass[12pt,english,french]{report}
    \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
    \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
    \usepackage{babel} \usepackage{csquotes}% recommended in output (biblatex) 
    \usepackage[backend=biber, style=alphabetic]{biblatex} 
    \addbibresource{bibli.bib} 
    \usepackage{titletoc}
    
    \begin{document}
    \nocite{*}
    \printbibliography
    \addcontentsline{toc}{chapter}{Bibliographie}
    \end{document}
    

    small .bib file

    @online{msdn2,
        label    = {MSDN2},
        title    = {Comparatif entre C\# et Visual Basic .NET},
        author   = {Microsoft},
        date     = {2014-01-01},
        url      = {http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308470},
        urldate  = {2014-04-12}
    }
    
    • aignas
      aignas over 9 years
      Could you post a .tex file with an accompanying .bib file? Any .log or output, would be also useful to us debugging your problem. I remember that at some point Biber changed quite dramatically, so please post a MWE.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @gns-ank, I've updated my post
    • moewe
      moewe over 9 years
      Well, even though the example is not quite minimal (certainly a lot of the packages and redefinitions could be removed), it works on my computer (MikTeX 2.9, newest biblatex, Biber [v 2.8/1.8 respectively]). Please be more specific on what error message you get and also post the (relevant passages of your) .log and .blg files.
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      As it already happpened to me I guess it's with the binary cache that Biber creates, getting corrupted on an update. The solution is to delete the cache directory, that is somewhere in your personal directory; on my WinXP system it is in C:\Documents and Settings\Bernard\Local Settings\Temp\par-4265726e617264. The important thing to find (and delete) is \Temp\par-4265726e617264. You will find many details [on this thread.][1] [1]: tex.stackexchange.com/questions/140814/…
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      Of course it goes without saying that the long sequence of figures and letter that follows par- may vary.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, that wouldn't work :/ it still the same!
    • egreg
      egreg over 9 years
      Did you try removing the .bbl file and recreating it running Biber?
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @egreg, yes, I've tried to remove all of the output files.
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      Strange… I would have bet my life on it. Incidentally, on Win 7, the directory is in C:\Users\User_Name\AppData\Local\Temp\par-4265726e617264.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, it still the same. Nothing have changed :/
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      @dgs: The only thing to do I can see in such a case is to delete again the binary cache directory, uninstall biber with the MiKTeX package manager, then re-install it.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, I've did that but I still getting the same errors
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, would you please link me a good version of MiKTeX, I've installed the 64bits version. it's maybe due to that.
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      @dgs: I think I understand now. MiKTeX doesn't have a 64 bit version of biber. Here is what I did, as I also have the 64-bit version: I went on CTAN to MiKTeX packages repository and downloaded miktex-biber-bin.tar.lzma (that's a 32-bit version).I uncompressed it, obtaining a texmf directory. Then I moved the contents of this directory (not the directory itself) in my Local TeXMF directory, as is. Next you'll have to refresh the FNDB as usual, and maybe install a perl distribution (I have Strawberry Perl). That's about all.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, what have you installed as biber version?
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      @dgs: the 32-bit version as there's no other.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      1.8 biber version?
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      Yes. Look at @moewe's comment above. If there is only one biber for MiKTeX, moewe must be using that (32bit) version and says there that it is 1.8. (2.8 is the biblatex version which works with biber 1.8.)
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @cfr, but how to upgrade biblatex?
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      Doesn't MiKTeX include biblatex at least?! The 32/64 bit thing is irrelevant here so I'd assume that having up-to-date MiKTeX would automatically take care of this.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      I've 2.8a biblatex's version installed, but updating Biber hasn't solved my problem.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @gns-ank, here is my log file.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      I've updated my post linking the minimal log file. Can you please help to catch from where is coming the error?
    • Speravir
      Speravir over 9 years
      @dgs You do not need to write your comments more than one time, especially where interested people can see your edit.
    • Speravir
      Speravir over 9 years
      @dgs: I must second moewe: Your code is far from being a minimal working example (MWE), in fact I see some issues at least with url and hyperref, but nonetheless I also do not have any problem with compiling your code (note, that I have 32bit MiKTeX on a 64bit Windows 7).
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Speravir, have you found any ambigious line into the minimal posted log file?
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      @dgs Your biblatex is up to date. 2.8a is the correct version. When you run biber what version does it now report?
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @cfr, 1.8 version.
    • Speravir
      Speravir over 9 years
      @dgs: I just was going to comment that there is no other problem than that like stated you should run the compiling a second time. You must, of course have executed biber after first compiling run.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Speravir, I do. I'm compiling the .tex file, then using biber command, and finally the .tex file (only at this time, I get 44 errors).
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      @dgs I think it would be good to use a completely minimal example, with a known good .bib file for testing. I've posted one below. Please try compiling it and post any errors in your question. Note that it is better to post logs etc. to a pastebin site so that people do not have to download an unknown entity to help you. (I won't do this basically - I doubt I'm alone in this.) With a really minimal case, though, it should be easy to post the errors in your question.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @cfr, I've just posted a minimal code.
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      @dgs: You should use a really minimal file to see if biber runs on your system or not. In your preamble the only necessary lines are the following: \usepackage{babel} \usepackage{csquotes}% recommended in output (biblatex) \usepackage[backend=biber, style=alphabetic]{biblatex} and \addbibresource{otherbibli.bib} \usepackage{titletoc}. Comment out the rest of the preamble, compile and see what happens (hope you have a good editor that lets you comment out selected portions of text with a single click, or make a copy and delete the spurious lines).
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      @dgs: That one is really minimal, and it runs fine on my system. Does it now on yours?
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, No I'm now getting 118 errors.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, Do I post the new log file?
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      @dgs What is the first error you get?
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @cfr, File ended while scanning use of \field. on \begin{document}
    • Speravir
      Speravir over 9 years
      Also after the edit with your real minimal code: No problem on my side.
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      @dgs: OK, but first change your inputenc to utf8, not cp1250, delete your auxiliary files ansd re-compile. Utf8 is the only encoding that is understood by all OSs and all modern editors use it by default. I'd like to see the .blg too.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, using utf8 I get errors on this kind of words Minist\`ere.
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      @dgs Where is Minist\`ere in your example?
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @cfr, it's in my main code.
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      @dgs: Why don't you type directly Ministère?
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, because doing that I get Package inputenc Error:Unicde char \u8:ère not set up for use with LaTeX.
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      @dgs But the whole point is to see if you can compile the minimal example without errors. The fact that you get errors when you compile your main code is, at this stage, simply irrelevant. I don't mean it isn't a problem. But it is not the problem we are concerned with right now. We cannot help if you will not run the tests because we do not have access to your computer. We have to rely on you to run those tests. Yet you keep posting errors from your main document when we haven't even figured out if you can compile a minimal one.
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      @dgs You never bothered to say whether you could compile the minimal document I posted. That would tell us whether there is a basic problem with your set up or a problem with your code. Right now we know absolutely nothing.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @cfr, Oh sorry! With the minimal code, I haven't get any error. but I was testing it on my main code here.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      I've executed the minimal code using utf8 as suggested @Bernard and that works without any output error. But testing this on the main code, leads output errors.
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      @dgs OK! Good! Thank you! Now we know that biber is working OK. So we know it is installed correctly, it matches your biblatex version and that everything is being found OK at compile time. Now we know the problem is somewhere in your code. That is tremendously helpful. (Though I realise that you want your code to work but we are trying to narrow down the problem so ruling stuff out is progress.)
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @cfr, no problem. Thank you too for your time. Do you need now me to repost the full premble code?
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      I could compile your minimal body file(just the bibliography) with the whole preamble, jsut changing the input encoding. Are you sure you need every package loaded in the preamble?
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, yes I need them. But, how to fix utf8 to work on my main code (report) ?
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      @dgs: It depends. What was the initial encoding? If you know it you may try to convert (I think editors like TeXmaker or scite or notepad++ can do that), but there probably will remain residual badly converted characters, often due to the fact that there are several encodings messed up in the document. In such a case you will usually be able to see to which character it corresponds, and then just do a search and replace for that character. It will take a certain time but it ceratinly is worth the time.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, it was cp1250. I have also tried to load utf8x on the main project but this led me to much output errors, so I haven't used it. As editor text, I'm using TexnicCenter.
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      I don't if TeXnic Center can do that. I know TeXmaker can. My suggestion is to install it, at least. for the conversion. If you open your main file with it, it will warn that it is not utf8 encoded, but cp 1250, and ask you if you want to load the file with this encoding. Of course, say yes. Then go to the tools menu; the last item of this menu is Convert to Unicode.
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Bernard, you may want to make an answer, this have finally worked. Thank you very much !!!
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @cfr, THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!! This has finally worked :DD
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @moewe, THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!! This has finally worked :DD
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @gns-ank, THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!! This has finally worked :DD
    • dgs
      dgs over 9 years
      @Speravir, THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!! This has finally worked :DD
    • cfr
      cfr over 9 years
      ;) [I figure at this point one more comment can't hurt... can it?]
    • Bernard
      Bernard over 9 years
      @dgs: I'm glad it worked… I don't know what answer I could make, as there was no specific question, except you couldn't compile.
    • Speravir
      Speravir over 9 years
      @dgs: Would be good if you would write a short answer yourself about the reason and the cure. See also last part of my answer work on documents on Linux and Windows (umlaut, newline) beginning from “Converting between ending formats” or more general How do I change the encoding of my files?.
    • Speravir
      Speravir over 9 years
      @dgs: And you should edit title and question to your real problem (with a short note that you’ve rewritten this).
  • moewe
    moewe over 9 years
    Please post this as a comment and not as an answer. If this solves the OP's problem, you can then post it as an answer. But from what we know now it might well be an entirely different problem.
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    @Bernard, I've downloaded and installed the 32-bits version of MiKTeX which is placed at the first place in the link. And downloaded thr 1.7 biber version and pasted the exe file under C:/../miktex/bin/ but this wouldn't work. I've also tried the 1.8 version, but it still the same.
  • Bernard
    Bernard over 9 years
    Did you refresh the FNDB? Did you put it in a local texmf root? And did you declare this local root via MiKTeX Settings( Roots tab)?
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    what's the mean of FNDB ?
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    Yes, I've putted the biber.exe file under `C:\Program Files (x86)\MiKTeX 2.9\miktex\bin`.
  • Bernard
    Bernard over 9 years
    File Names Data Base. MiKTeX uses this database to find all sorts of files (executable, .config, .sty, .cls, &c.) So if biber is not in the database, it won't be found. Don't forget you also have to declare the new root. I think you'd better name it differently because that root is the one used by the 32-bit version of MiKTeX. It might be confusional.
  • Speravir
    Speravir over 9 years
    @dgs: 1) When you open the MiKTeX settings you will see under the General tab a button “Refresh FNDB”. 2) Please, do not install into main MiKTeX installation, cf. Install Biber in MiKTeX on a 64-bit version of Windows and linked answers and comments.
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    @Speravir, but I can not open miktex-biber-bin.tar.lzma from Windows 7 !
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    When I paste the biber.exe under c:/../miktex/bin/ and run the biber command, biber tells its version at compile time. And that worked (its update), why this can't be solve the problem ?
  • Speravir
    Speravir over 9 years
    @dgs: You need a file archiver that can handle LZMA compressed files, e.g. 7-Zip or PeaZip. Why you shouldn’t install in main installation: See Purpose of local texmf trees.
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    @Bernard, please how to declare this local root via MiKTeX Settings( Roots tab)?
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    @Speravir, please how to declare this local root via MiKTeX Settings( Roots tab)?
  • Speravir
    Speravir over 9 years
    @dgs: Well, it’s alreay linked in questions and answer we gave you as hint, but see Create a local texmf tree in MiKTeX.
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    @Speravir, thank you very much! I've just installed biber's 1.2 version like you've described, after compiling my report I haven't got any error, but when I've displayed the PDF file, I've found the bibliography. After that, I've upgraded biber to 1.8 using MiKTeX package manager and compiled the report again and I've got the same errors.
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    @Speravir, here is my log file.
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    @Bernard, here is my log file.
  • Bernard
    Bernard over 9 years
    @dgs: Well there are quite a number of errors that don't seem to have anything to do with biber or biblatex. You should try to run a minimalistic file, just containing a call to a simple .bib file to see if biber works ot not.
  • dgs
    dgs over 9 years
    @Bernard, I've updated my post linking the minimal log file.
  • moewe
    moewe about 8 years
    You might want to mention that as of now there is a version of Biber for 64-bit MikTeX, so people don't get confused.