Dear Gunther, The gnuplot.lisp file that I have (maxima 5.38.1-8) does not contain the lines above but instead at lines 3393-3396:
(when (and (not *multiplot-is-active*) (not (member (get-option '$terminal) '($epslatex $epslatex_standalone)))) (format cmdstorage "set obj 1 rectangle behind from screen ~a,~a to screen ~a,~a~%" origin1 origin2 (+ origin1 size1 ) (+ origin2 size2))) )) As far as I understand it, $epslatex and $epslatex_standalone have been singled out for gnuplot processing (for some reason). Either - the two lines should be activated "set obj 1 rectangle etc." "set obj 1 fc rgb etc." - or the two of them are removed from ~/maxoutXXXX.gnuplot (in that case, no background ), whereas on debian stretch only the second line is present. Both cases can generate .tex file. (I only have gnuplot 5 too). The bug comes from the first line missing. Best regards, # locate gnuplot.lisp /usr/share/maxima/5.38.1/share/draw/gnuplot.lisp #apt-cache show maxima-share gnuplot Package: maxima-share Source: maxima Version: 5.38.1-8 Package: gnuplot Version: 5.0.5+dfsg1-6+deb9u1