> Besides, "kpsewhich pdftex.cfg" yields nothing, while:
Try "kpsewhich -progname=pdftex pdftex.cfg". In my teTeX 1.07 installation, kpsewhich won't find pdftex.cfg unless you specify the program name. Use the environment variable KPATHSEA_DEBUG to debug why pdftex doesn't find the file. Run info '(kpathsea)Debugging' to learn more. /Mats