TexStudio: Biber claims biblatex version is wrong

Question

I use MiKTeX 2.9 and TexStudio 2.10.8 as my editor. And I try to use biblatex/Biber

I have installed Biber with the packackge manager of MiKTeX and configured TexStudio to use Biber.

This is the important part of my LateX file, which is about Biber:

\usepackage[style=authoryear, backend=biber]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{referenzen.bib}

So when compiling TexStudio shows me this error:

INFO - This is Biber 2.3
INFO - Logfile is '<mylatexfile>.blg'
INFO - Reading '<mylatexfile>.bcf'
WARN - Warning: Found biblatex control file version 2.6, expected version 2.9
INFO - Found 1 citekeys in bib section 0
INFO - Processing section 0
INFO - Looking for bibtex format file 'referenzen.bib' for section 0
INFO - Decoding LaTeX character macros into UTF-8
INFO - Found BibTeX data source 'referenzen.bib'
INFO - Overriding locale '' defaults 'normalization = NFD' with 'normalization = prenormalized'
INFO - Overriding locale '' defaults 'variable = shifted' with 'variable = non-ignorable'
INFO - Sorting list 'nyt' of type 'entry' with scheme 'nyt' and locale ''
INFO - No sort tailoring available for locale ''

\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber/SortLists.pm line 77.

Use of uninitialized value $pre in regexp compilation at D:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber/Internals.pm line 1000. Use of uninitialized value $thislocale in concatenation (.) or string at D:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber.pm line 2856. Use of uninitialized value $thislocale in concatenation (.) or string at D:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber.pm line 2943. Use of uninitialized value $thislocale in concatenation (.) or string at D:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber.pm line 2948. Use of uninitialized value $lname in concatenation (.) or string at D:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber.pm line 1979. Use of uninitialized value $lssn in concatenation (.) or string at D:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber.pm line 1979. Use of uninitialized value $lssn in concatenation (.) or string at D:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber.pm line 1993. Use of uninitialized value $lssn in concatenation (.) or string at D:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber.pm line 2008. Can't use an undefined value as an ARRAY reference at D:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp\par-<num>\cache-19a661c7206c3f371c207b98ac69231301395587\inc\lib/Biber/Internals.pm line 990.

I noticed the warning about the biblatex control file and therefore I looked in the package manager MiKTeX what's the version of biblatex:

And surprisingly it is called v2.9 and not 2.6 there. So to verify this version error I looked into my .bcf file and it indeed is labeled v2.6 there:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<bcf:controlfile version="2.6" xmlns:bcf="https://sourceforge.net/projects/biblatex">
  <!-- BIBER OPTIONS -->
[...]

So why is there this version discrepancy and how can I get it to compile correctly?

Answer 1

Okay, the issue was an outdated biblatex version. According to the Biber doc you need Biblatex v3.2 to work with Biber v2.3. Unless you don't have these versions it's not going to work.

And Biblatex v3.2 creates a .bcf file with the version number 2.9:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<bcf:controlfile version="2.9" xmlns:bcf="https://sourceforge.net/projects/biblatex">

Basically I solved my problem by just reinstalling MiKTeX. You can also use the package manager to install the latest packages, but in my case it created just more problems.

Answer 2

I have MikTeX 2.9 installed on Windows 10. All packages are updated (in Admin as well as in User mode). When I tried to used Biber I got an error message:

INFO - This is Biber 2.7
INFO - Logfile is 'main.blg'
INFO - Reading 'main.bcf'
ERROR - Error: Found biblatex control file version 2.9, expected version 3.3.
        This means that your biber (2.7) and biblatex () versions are incompatible.
        See compat matrix in biblatex or biber PDF documentation.
INFO - ERRORS: 1

In package manager the following versions were shown:

• 2.7 for miktex-biber-bin-x64
• 3.7 for biblatex

Reinstallation of these packages did not solve the problem.

I checked which biblatex file is used in the system with the following command (open cmd window and simply type this)

kpsewhich biblatex.sty

The output was:

C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Roaming/MiKTeX/2.9/tex/latex/biblatex/biblatex.sty

Folder C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Roaming/MiKTeX/2.9/ is basically used to install packages installed "on the fly".

I searched if there are other files biblatex.sty in the system and it turned out that the second copy was stored in the MikTeX installation folder:

c:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\biblatex\

I am not sure what it means. Is it that my MikTeX installation is corrupted or I have double installation of biblatex nor what is the reason for all this.

I made a simple test. I change the folder C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Roaming/MiKTeX/2.9/tex/latex/biblatex/ name to C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Roaming/MiKTeX/2.9/tex/latex/biblatex_old/

and copy the whole folder from c:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\tex\latex\biblatex\ to C:/Users/xxx/AppData/Roaming/MiKTeX/2.9/tex/latex/biblatex/

Next I cleared all generated files in my tex project folder (it is important) i.e. delete *.aux, delete *.bcf, ... etc. and recompiled the project again with pdflatex, next biber, next pdflatex

It works!

Answer 3

1. У меня Win10, WinEdt10.2, (MiKTeX 2.9.6500 64-bit), Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.18, biber 2.9, biblatex 3.9;
2. Совместимые версии biber и biblatex: 2.9 3.9; 2.8 3.8; 2.7 3.7; см. инструкцию в YouDisck:..\biblatex\3.10\biblatex\doc\biblatex.pdf, page 6;
3. Скачал biber.exe v.2.9 (biber-MSWIN64.zip) и заменил biber.exe v.2.7 в C:\MiKTeX\miktex\bin\x64\biber.exe (v.2.7) на новую biber.exe v.2.9. (biber.exe v.2.7 переименовал в =biber.exe v.2.7 для архива).
4. В MiKTeX Package Manager нашел biblatex (name-->filter) и обновил его до версии 3.9. Можно скачать и установить вручную в C:\localtexmf\tex\latex C:\Users\YouName\AppData\Roaming\MiKTeX\2.9\tex\latex.
5. Обновил MiKTeX Options Refresh FNDB.
6. Тестируем любой программой. Всё работает!

---

In English:

1. I have Win10, WinEdt10.2, (MiKTeX 2.9.6500 64-bit), Version 3.14159265-2.6-1.40.18, biber 2.9, biblatex 3.9;
2. Compatible versions of biber and biblatex: 2.9 3.9; 2.8 3.8; 2.7 3.7; see the instructions in YouDisck: ..\ biblatex\3.10\ biblatex\ doc\ biblatex.pdf, page 6;
3. Download biber.exe v.2.9 (biber-MSWIN64.zip) and replace biber.exe v.2.7 in C:\MiKTeX\miktex\bin\x64\biber.exe (v.2.7) with the new biber.exe v .2.9. (biber.exe v.2.7 renamed to = biber.exe v.2.7 for the archive).
4. In the MiKTeX Package Manager, I found biblatex (name -> filter) and updated it to version 3.9. You can download and install it manually in C:\localtexmf\tex\ latex and C:\Users\YouName\AppData\Roaming\MiKTeX\2.9\tex\latex.
5. Updated MiKTeX Options Refresh FNDB.
6. Test any program. Everything is working!