[Tex/LaTex] MacTex problem – ‘pdflatex does not exist’ error

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I had a version of MacTex 2014. I needed to use latexdiff but this latter command did not work on a terminal. So I installed latexdiff as a package from CTAN, by using its make file.

After this installation I could not compile latex anymore. I get the following error message:

/usr/texbin/pdflatex does not exist. TeXShop is a front end for TeX, 
but you also need a TeX distribution. Perhaps such a distribution was not
 installed or was removed during a system upgrade. If so, go to 
http://tug.org/mactex and follow the instructions to install MacTeX or BasicTeX.

I have tried to locate pdf latex on my Mac terminal typing 'locate pdflatex'. I get several paths for directories. The relevant ones seems to be:

/usr/local/texlive/2014/bin/x86_64-darwin/pdflatex
/usr/local/texlive/2014/bin/universal-darwin/pdflatex

So I tried to change the path settings in TexShop preferences. I tried to change /usr/texbin with either of the two paths above, without the 'pdflatex part', just the directory. The error persists.

I tried to manually delete all the TeX files on my machine and to re-install MacTeX. The error persists.

When I type which pdflatex or which latex on a terminal a get nothing, an empty line, even after re-installation of MacTex.

How to solve this? Any advice is highly appreciated.
Thanks beforehand

Thanks for your replies!

1) My MacOS's version is 10.9.5

2) when I type echo $PATH I get: /Users/my_name/anaconda3/bin:/Users/my_name/anaconda/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/abin:/usr/local/fsl/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5/bin:/usr/bin:/bin

3) "Path setting" in TeXShop preferences is by default /usr/texbin but I have tried to changed it to the other two paths listed in my previous post and it doesn't work.

4) My TexShop version is 3.77

I have tried to update MacTex2017. My MacOS's version is supposed to be too old for that, but I have installed anyway and the installation went trough, the problem persists though.

Thanks!

Best Answer

SOLVED - I have updated my MacOS to the latest version and now /Library/TeX/texbin appears in my $PATH. I have also updated MacTex to its latest 2017 version. Typing locate pdflatex on my terminal I find /usr/local/texlive/2017/bin/x86_64-darwin among other directories. I have changed Library/TeX/texbin in TeXShop preferences, engine tab, with /usr/local/texlive/2017/bin/x86_64-darwin and it now compiles.

Thanks for all the help and replies!

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