Output routine didn't use all of \box255

[Amaury Depierre]

Disclaimer: I’m very new to latex so it is probably something that I did wrong, but I’d like to be sure as I’ve searched possible answers for two days now without any luck. I didn’t change a line of code and I didn’t add any package.

What steps will reproduce the problem?

1. Download and install the latest Tex Live for windows
2. Download the 4.6 release of classic thesis
3. Try to compile the ClassicThesis.tex file

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

My guess is that it should output the recompiled ClassifThesis.pdf without error. But I get a lot of errors of this kind:

! Output routine didn't use all of \box255.
\newpage ...prevdepth \fi \fi \vfil \penalty -\@M 

l.70 \include{FrontBackmatter/DirtyTitlepage}

What version of the product are you using? On what operating system?

I tried release 4.2, 4.6 and direct source code. All of them ended with the same issue on Windows 7.

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Please let me know if I’ve done a silly newbie mistake!

[Stefano Chiapedi]

Same issue here with latest MiKTeX distribution (20.10) and Windows 10.

I had the awful idea of updating all MiKTeX packages after some months and got the same error.

[Amaury Depierre]

Yes it seems to be an issue with a new version of a package. I downgraded my Tex Live version to 2017 and everything is working fine now.

[Ivo Pletikosić]

Thank you for reporting the issue. It's impossible for me to reproduce it, and not much can be said from the error messages you got. The best thing is to start with a very simple document (like the ones in our Examples folder) and see if that works. Next, one can try deleting parts (whole chapters) of the template, and reducing the number of packages called. Beware, it may take a few hours until you find which part of the code or which package causes the trouble. If you do find it, please report back... and don't forget to send Andre a postcard. Good luck with your theses!

[Stefano Chiapedi]

I’ve also downgraded to MiKTeX 20.6.29 (previous version) and classicthesis works again.

After individually updating each package, it looks like the problem comes from the package “ltxbase” and its most recent October 10 update.

Hope this helps you further.

[Reinhard Panhuber]

Same problem here! Is there a workaround known?

[Robert S. Wilson]

Same error here on a Windows 10 Pro with MiKTeX 20.11. Everything worked perfectly last time I used the template some months ago, now I am not able to build even the template “ClassicThesis.tex“ although I am able to build and view the all of the examples.

@Stefano Chiapedi could you tell me how did you downgrade the MiKTeX installation? I am asking since on the MiKTeX portal (and GitHub) I was unable to find binaries of previous versions.

Thank you all.

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[Ivo Pletikosić]

Hi all, thanks for reporting. I am unable to test this, maybe you can help? Since the examples are working, the way to go would be either to add parts of classicthesis-config.tex to one of them until they stop working, or to compile ClassicThesis.tex after removing packages called in classicthesis-config.tex (one or more at a time). There must be a package clashing with ltxbase. You can also start with one of the examples and first change its document class to scrreprt, maybe that's the one causing the problems. Thanks!

[Robert S. Wilson]

Hi to you all, SUCCESS! By using the meticulous method described by Ivo (thank you Ivo) I have found the offending package or better the offending option of the “classicthesis“ package. It is the “drafting“ option inside the “classicthesis-config.tex“ file. In fact, commenting out the option solves the issue (at least in my case, i.e. on on a Windows 10 Pro with MiKTeX 20.11 and latest update of the packages performed today, 10.11.2020). Thus, if you get any cryptic error during the build of your thesis that reassembles the following: “! Output routine didn't use all of \box255.“, try commenting out the “drafting“ option for now.

[Grigg, Robert]

Hi everyone, I had the same issue and followed Ivo’s suggestion. This worked so thanks Ivo! I noticed when I removed “drafting” suddenly my package manager download a couple more packages which it did not have (and probably needed after the update packages I performed that led to the \box255 issue). So then I added “drafting” back and the \box255 issue did not return.

[Ivo Pletikosić]

A new version of prelim2e that fixes the issue has been uploaded to CTAN, see https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/572052/classic-thesis-4-6-doesnt-compile.

[André Miede]

Thanks for all your input on this issue.