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After installing MiKTeX 2.9.6361 I tried to update all packages from CTAN (standard procedure from inside a script which sets up some other software which utilizes LaTeX). mpm --admin --verbose --update-db loaded miktex-zzdb2 and miktex-zzdb1 and apparently worked well, but the subsequent mpm --admin --verbose --update ruined my installation: I can no longer run pdflatex. If I try, I get a Windows popup, telling me that

The procedure entry point ?GetWrite18Mode@TeXApp@TeXAndFriends@MiKTeX@@QBE?AW4Write18Mode@123@XZ could not be located in the dll pdflatex.exe. I wonder why the exe is reported to be a DLL. But more I wonder what happened. Prior to calling mpm --update everything was allright.

The mpm update told me that 107 packages were going to be updated. It unregistered MiKTeX DLLs MiKTeX209-core-PS.dll, MiKTeX209-core.dll, MiKTeX209-packagemanager-PS.dll, MiKTeX209-packagemanager.dll (fishy?), downloaded and extracted several packages (probably 107) and re-registered the MiKTeX DLLs. No error message, no indication that anything failed.

Any advice? Current workaround is to deinstall and reinstall MiKTeX and not perform the update. Solutions found at SE (e.g. here) did not help.

Update

Using the basic 64bit installer 6520 everything worked as expected.

Twonky
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  • Try initexmf --admin --mklinks. – Ulrike Fischer Jan 08 '18 at 14:23
  • @UlrikeFischer tried that (with admin privileges). Returned no error but did not change the symptoms. – Twonky Jan 08 '18 at 14:54
  • Why are you installing version 6361? That's rather old. The miktex version of the basic installer ist 6520, and the net installer is 6406. – Ulrike Fischer Jan 08 '18 at 15:07
  • @UlrikeFischer: I am the maintainer of a documentation system which uses MiKTeX. I would like to ask my system's users to use the standard company-wide provided MiKTeX installer. Unfortunately, my company's IT does not update the internally provided packages as often as desirable. If I knew for sure that the problem was indeed a 6361 problem which is fixed now, I could kindly ask for a favour. But those favours are used up if used too often. However, I will try with 6520. – Twonky Jan 09 '18 at 07:18
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    If you have an IT which provides "company-wide software" it is not a favor but their job to keep software installers up-to-date and working. It is also their job to help you with installation errors. They get payed for it. If they think that there is a bug in miktex they can report it but the miktex maintainer will quite rightly expect that they first ensure that everything is up-to-date. – Ulrike Fischer Jan 09 '18 at 09:24
  • Beside this: in the dll is the "real code", the exe are only small wrappers calling them. If the exe doesn't find the entry point then something is out-of-sync between exe and dll. Beside trying out the newest installer you could also check if you have some local pdftex.exe / pdflatex.exe in your path. – Ulrike Fischer Jan 09 '18 at 09:25

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