[Tex/LaTex] Everything updated but still “! Use of \sortlist doesn’t match its definition.”

biberbiblatex

I upgraded to a new CPU and installed windows all over. I then downloaded MikTeX 2.9 from the official website and Texmaker.

Biber I downloaded from sourceforge which downloads the file biber-cygwin64.tar.gz. After unzipping I copy the folder to my system drive and add it in Texmaker and set the path: texmaker.

Compiling files without bibliography files works just fine (I conclude MiKTeX and Texmaker work properly).

Compiling documents using references results in an error:

! Use of \sortlist doesn't match its definition.

which has been documented before in this forum (stack exchange does not let me post any additional links but you find searching for "Error “Use of \sortlist doesn't match its definition. \sortlist{”")

I fail to solve the problem by updating the individual components as suggested in the other stackexchange post. MiKTeX packages cannot be updates as there are not updates available:

enter image description here

and the biber version cannot be outdated since I just downloaded it a couple of minutes ago. The same document works just fine on my laptop, where I use Texmaker as well.

Anyone any idea on how to fix this?? I would really appreciate any help!

EDIT 1:
After updating the MiKTeX packages on my laptop I get the same error message. So it seems to be related to the biblatex package in MiKTeX.

EDIT 2:
Using a mini-example as suggested, I can move one step further. 

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{biblatex}
\addbibresource{biblio.bib} 
\begin{document}
 b 
\parencite{Archarya.2016}
\cite{Archarya.2016}
\printbibliography \end{document}

Quick build works, but the second step (running BibTex) results in a new error:

Process started
This is BibTeX, Version 0.99d (MiKTeX 2.9.6210 64-bit) The top-level auxiliary file: newtest.aux I found no \citation commands---while reading file newtest.aux I found no \bibdata command---while reading file newtest.aux I found no \bibstyle command---while reading file newtest.aux (There were 3 error messages)
Process exited with error(s)

Most likely because my path under Bib(la)tex in Texmaker is not correct (in that I reference to the sourceforge file and not what it really should be)

Best Answer

You should never install Biber or biblatex manually from SourceForge or any other source, unless you know exactly what you are doing and you have a good reason to do so.

If you are running MikTeX, there is hardly ever a reason to do a manual install. So you should

  1. Remove the manual installation of Biber you got from SourceForge.
  2. Check that biblatex and Biber are installed in MikTeX.
    • If not, install the corresponding packages.
    • If you have the biber package installed, but you overwrote it with your manual install you may have to uninstall and then reinstall it.
  3. Make an update. (With both the User version of MikTeX update and the Admin version. To be sure, run each wizard twice.)

Then you need to ensure that you actually run Biber.

  1. Biblatex with Biber: Configuring my editor to avoid undefined citations

If you still have problems with your document, delete the auxiliary files and try to recompile from a clean directory. Refer also to Troubleshooting for biber.