Re: Installation of Lilypond 2.24.0 on a Windows 11 computer

[Jean Abou Samra]

On 07/02/2023 17:00, tommy_strandberg@web.de wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I’m a little annoyed over problems in getting Lilypond 2.24.0 properly 
> running on my computer.  My previous installation was Lilypond 2.22.2 
> together with Frescobaldi 3.2.  Everything worked fine and the main reason 
> for switching to 2.24 was new features making score-writing simpler.
> 
> Now, Lilypond 2.22.2was installed using a Windows installer.  For Lilypond 
> 2.24.0 and above, there appears to be no installer anymore or, at least, I’ve 
> not found any anywhere.  Instead, the handbook explains how to “install” the 
> new version by uncompress them on a suitable place on your computer and link 
> them to Frescobaldi under Preferences.  This I’ve done without problem and in 
> principle Lilypond 2.24.0 works including the new features. But when 
> compiling a score, I now get error messages “Fontconfig error: No writable 
> cache directories”
> 
> To me, it looks like Lilypond is not correctly linked to the Windows 
> environment and I'm wondering if this simple linking to an Lilypond.exe file 
> in Frescobaldi is sufficient to set up the working environment for Lilypond.  
> Also, why isn’t there any Windows installer anymore but if, where can it be 
> found?



There isn't a Windows installer anymore because

- The minimalistic LilyPad editor has been discontinued, so it's
  less necessary.

- The new binaries are simpler for us to build. I'm sure all users
  like when LilyPond releases get out and don't like it when they are
  stuck due to build problems.

- It makes it easier to install several versions in parallel.

- It makes the binaries have the same form across all platforms.

And, yes, pointing Frescobaldi to the executable is sufficient.

Back to your problem: one thing that would help debugging would
be the output of LilyPond with the FC_DEBUG environment variable
set to 48. I haven't used Windows in ages, but I think you
should be able to run it this way by

- Navigating in the file explorer to the folder where lilypond.exe
  is (inside the bin folder in the folder where LilyPond lives).

- Opening Powershell there:
  
https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ALT_F_S_R_PowerShell.gif

- Running the commands

  $env:FC_DEBUG = 48

  then

  .\lilypond.exe

Then send us what this outputs in the console.

Best,
Jean

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