MiKTeX / Windows testing branch

[MacLotsen]

I noticed that several reported lyluatex issues are related to MiKTeX, especially on Windows. The recurring problems seem to involve process execution, command quoting, paths with spaces, and interaction between LuaTeX, LilyPond, Ghostscript, and MiKTeX.

I do not currently have a Windows/MiKTeX setup myself, so I cannot properly test these cases locally.

To make progress, I created a separate branch:

miktex

This branch contains experimental changes in lyluatex.lua intended to make process handling more MiKTeX-friendly. In particular, process pipes are routed through LuaTeX’s os.kpsepopen when available, with a fallback to io.popen.

Important note: the lua file should be placed in ~/texmf/scripts/lua/lyluatex/, not in ~/texmf/tex/lualatex/lyluatex/.

The goal is not to claim that MiKTeX support is fixed yet, but to create a test branch where affected users can help verify whether this approach improves the situation.

What I would like MiKTeX users to test

If you previously reported or encountered MiKTeX-related lyluatex problems, please try the miktex branch and report whether it changes anything for your case.

In particular, please test whether:

• LilyPond is found and started correctly;
• paths containing spaces still work;
• your normal lyluatex document compiles;
• scores are generated and included correctly;
• any previous MiKTeX-specific error message changes or disappears.

Please include:

• Windows version;
• MiKTeX version;
• LuaTeX version;
• LilyPond version;
• Ghostscript version, if relevant;
• the exact command used to compile;
• the relevant .log output;
• whether the same document works with the current master branch.

How to test

Check out the branch:

git checkout miktex

Then use the lyluatex.lua from that branch in your local test setup and compile your document as usual.

If possible, please also test a document located in a path with spaces, for example somewhere below:

C:\Users\<Your Name>\Documents\...

and, if applicable, a LilyPond installation path with spaces.

Current status

The branch has been smoke-tested on Linux/TeX Live, but not yet on Windows/MiKTeX.

I will keep applying focused changes to this branch based on feedback. Once we have a robust solution that works for affected MiKTeX users and does not regress TeX Live setups, I intend to merge the relevant changes back into master.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to test this. I need help from actual MiKTeX/Windows users to make this reliable.

---

Related MiKTeX/Windows issues:

• LilyPond cannot be found #204 — LilyPond cannot be found / cannot be started on MiKTeX.
• File lyluatextools.sty not found (MiKTeX) #258 — MiKTeX package/file layout issue involving missing lyluatextools.sty.
• The score doesn't contain any music #299 — command quoting / Windows path handling problem.
• MiKTeX with LilyPond 2.24: blank scores #301 — MiKTeX with LilyPond 2.24 produces blank scores / PDF version mismatch.
• lualatex with MikTex: bad argument #2 to 'gsub' #322 — extract_includepaths crash: bad argument #2 to 'gsub'.
• lyluatex and miktex not working with lilypond #329 — recent report: lyluatex and MiKTeX not working with LilyPond.

[MacLotsen]

Small update from the miktex branch testing.

The current branch seems to fix several process/path-related problems:

• LilyPond is found and started correctly on the Windows/MiKTeX runner.
• Command construction has been made more robust:
  • explicit .ly file input instead of relying on stdin for MiKTeX;
  • quoted command path arguments;
  • forward-slash normalization for Windows paths;
  • os.kpsepopen for read-mode process calls where available;
  • gswin64c instead of gs for Ghostscript probing on Windows.
• The generated .ly files look correct.
• LilyPond-generated PDF output contains music.

However, the remaining blocker appears to be the EPS-to-PDF conversion path used by LaTeX/MiKTeX.

In the GitHub Actions Windows/MiKTeX run, miktex-epstopdf fails while converting LilyPond EPS output:

Error: /rangecheck in /--.parsecff--
GPL Ghostscript 10.07.1: Unrecoverable error, exit code 1
Sorry, but miktex-epstopdf did not succeed.

This still happens after installing a modern external Ghostscript and making MiKTeX prefer it. So this no longer seems to be only an old MiKTeX Ghostscript 9.25 problem.

I also tried the LilyPond -O TeX-GS route, but that is not a good default workaround here. According to the LilyPond documentation, -O TeX-GS is equivalent to enabling music font encodings and disabling Ghostscript font embedding. That makes sense only if the final TeX-generated PDF is postprocessed with Ghostscript afterwards. Without that extra postprocessing step, the output may contain music but with the wrong fonts.

So my current understanding is:

• the branch improves MiKTeX command execution and path handling;
• LilyPond itself can generate valid PDF output;
• the remaining problem is likely the MiKTeX EPS-to-PDF route, i.e. miktex-epstopdf + Ghostscript processing of LilyPond EPS/font data.

Could MiKTeX users affected by the earlier issues please test the miktex branch and confirm whether this matches what they see locally?

In particular, it would be helpful to know:

1. Does LilyPond generate the .ly, .eps, and .pdf files correctly?
2. Does miktex-epstopdf fail on the generated EPS files?
3. If it fails, does it also fail when run manually on one generated EPS file?
4. Does using a newer external Ghostscript change anything?
5. Is there a MiKTeX configuration option or package-level workaround for this EPS conversion path?

At this point I do not want to merge this into master as a full MiKTeX fix yet, because the core process/path issues seem improved, but the final PDF inclusion route is still not reliable.

[Tidligregn]

Thank for looking deeper into this issue.

Here are some of my findings which I hope can be of any assistance.

Regarding your first questions:

• LilyPond is found and started correctly: It is, see answer 1 below.
• paths containing spaces still work: Paths with or without spaces makes no difference for me.
• your normal lyluatex document compiles: The document compiles, but I get the error messages given below and the music output is blank.
• scores are generated and included correctly: No, they are not. See details below.
• any previous MiKTeX-specific error message changes or disappears: No, they are the same in the master and miktex branches.

My system setup is:

• Windows 11 Home 25H2
• MiKTeX 26.5 (found by running miktex --version in command prompt. My MiKTeX folder in Program files is called MiKTeX 2.9)
• LuaHBTeX, Version 1.25.7 (MiKTeX 26.5)
• Lilypond 2.24.4
• GPL Ghostscript 10.07.1
• Compilation command: lualatex.exe -synctex=1 -interaction=nonstopmode --shell-escape "notetest".tex (notetest is example document I use for testing)

As for your questions:

1. The .ly file and .eps files are correctly created. A .pdf file containing the whole score is also successfully created. The individual converted .pdf-files for each line of music are created, but are blank (3 kB). I verified they are indeed empty by opening them in Inkscape, where I could find no elements inside.

2. Yes, miktex-epstopdf fails. I get the error code

Sorry, but miktex-epstopdf did not succeed. The log file hopefully contains the information to get MiKTeX going again: C:\Users\TEST\AppData\Local\MiKTeX\2.9\miktex\log\miktex-epstopdf.log
GPL Ghostscript 10.07.1: Unrecoverable error, exit code 1

The error code is produced for each individual .eps file.
3. I am not sure how to properly run miktex-epstopdf, but when running miktex-epstopdf 52fbd607137968330244ef3056f48050-1.eps in the command prompt in the directory where this .eps file is stored I get the following output:

Error: /rangecheck in /--.parsecff--
Operand stack:
   false   --nostringval--
Execution stack:
   %interp_exit   .runexec2   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   false   1   %stopped_push   1804   1   3   %oparray_pop   1803   1   3   %oparray_pop   1802   1   3   %oparray_pop   --nostringval--   1788   1   3   %oparray_pop   1659   1   3   %oparray_pop   --nostringval--   %errorexec_pop   .runexec2   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--
Dictionary stack:
   --dict:748/1123(ro)(G)--   --dict:0/20(G)--   --dict:90/200(L)--   --dict:14/20(ro)(G)--   --dict:7/30(L)--
Current allocation mode is local
Last OS error: No such file or directory
GPL Ghostscript 10.07.1: Unrecoverable error, exit code 1

Sorry, but miktex-epstopdf did not succeed.

The log file hopefully contains the information to get MiKTeX going again:

  C:\Users\eirik\AppData\Local\MiKTeX\2.9\miktex\log\miktex-epstopdf.log

4. Not sure, I have a more recent version of GhostScript already installed.
5. No idea unfortunately.

My results are the same with the master and miktex branches.