Troubleshooting

This page collects quick fixes and diagnostic commands for the tools used in this course.

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Quarto isn’t found / Render button doesn’t work

Fix: 1. Install Quarto: https://quarto.org/docs/get-started/
2. Restart RStudio
3. Verify in a terminal:

quarto check
quarto --version

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PDF render fails (“No TeX installation detected”, missing LaTeX package)

Fix (fastest):

quarto install tinytex

Verify from R:

if (requireNamespace("tinytex", quietly = TRUE)) tinytex::is_tinytex()

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Quarto tries to render the whole repo

Whitelist only the intended files in site/_quarto.yml:

project:
  type: website
  output-dir: _site
  render:
    - index.qmd
    - pages/**/*.qmd

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“Files didn’t appear” after running package commands

1. Confirm you are inside your course Project:

   getwd()

2. Refresh the Files pane in RStudio.

3. Check the expected folder manually.

4. Re-run the command and review any error messages.

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RStudio doesn’t show the Git tab

Enable Git for the Project: Tools → Project Options → Git/SVN (or create the Project from Version Control).

Verify Git is installed and on your PATH:

git --version

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Git push fails (password prompts, auth errors)

Use HTTPS + Personal Access Token (PAT) or SSH.

• PAT (recommended) Create a PAT and paste it when Git asks for a password. Install Git Credential Manager to cache it.

  • Token docs: https://docs.github.com/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/creating-a-personal-access-token
  • Git Credential Manager: https://github.com/GitCredentialManager/git-credential-manager

• SSH (alternative) Add your public key in GitHub → Settings → SSH and GPG keys. Docs: https://docs.github.com/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh

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Website didn’t update on GitHub Pages

• Using GitHub Actions (recommended)

  • Check Actions → Quarto Pages: it should render, upload the artifact, and deploy.
  • Repo Settings → Pages: set Source = GitHub Actions.

• Using branch deployment (/docs)

  • Render locally to docs/ and commit.
  • Repo Settings → Pages: set Source = main /docs.

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Quick diagnostic block

Paste into your Console or Terminal when something breaks:

# R session info
sessionInfo()

# Package + environment checks
library(mccoursepack)
mccourse_self_test()

# Quarto + Git + LaTeX checks
system("quarto --version")
system("git --version")
if (requireNamespace("tinytex", quietly = TRUE)) tinytex::is_tinytex()

When asking for help, include the output above, along with:

• Your operating system
• R and RStudio versions
• The exact error message