In Unix at IU, using the X Window System on my workstation, how do I fix the fonts to run Mathematica?

On this page:

• Introduction
• Downloading fonts
• Configuring fonts at IU
• Getting help

Introduction

Mathematica makes heavy use of specialized fonts to display mathematical notation. While you can run Mathematica without these fonts, your display may be unintelligible. Mathematica expects to find these fonts on your local computer, rather than on the remote Unix computer.

Downloading fonts

To avoid known conflicts, UITS recommends that you install the fonts in a place separate from your standard X Window System fonts. You can download a compressed file containing the latest version of the MathFonts from Wolfram, the maker of Mathematica.

The fonts for Mathematica 3.0 and 4.0 in PCF format are available from Mathematica technical support.

For help installing new fonts, see your X Server documentation and Wolfram's tutorial on installing Fonts on Unix and Linux.

Configuring fonts at IU

To fix your installed fonts to display properly in Mathematica at Indiana University:

1. After you have installed the fonts, connect to the Quarry cluster using SSH.
   
   
2. Start your X Server and enter the following at the remote prompt: mathematica &

   Mathematica should launch in your local X Server.

   If errors appear at the remote prompt:

   • You can safely ignore the following error message:
     

     "Warning: Cannot convert string '....' to type FontStruct".

   • You may see one of the following errors:

     "xset: bad font path element (#1)"
     
     "assertion `GenericUnicodeFont != 0' at MathEditFont.c:43 failed"

     In either of these cases, before you run Mathematica, issue the following commands at the remote prompt:

     xset +fp path_to_fonts xset fp rehash

     Replace path_to_fonts with the absolute path to the directory containing fonts.dir on your local computer. You can also use this technique if you have a local copy of Mathematica installed.

Getting help

For additional information about Mathematica, see the IU Stat/Math Center's Mathematica page.

For more information about statistical and mathematical software, email the UITS Stat/Math Center, visit the center's web page, or phone 812-855-4724 (IUB) or 317-278-4740 (IUPUI). The center is located in Bloomington at 410 N. Park Avenue, and is open for consultation by appointment Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

Also see:

• Where can I get help with Mathematica?