I sent a message to the list when sendmail and pop3d didn't quite work. I was also having authentication problems with Samba and finally partial success with the IP masquerade..... OK, I suspected hardware. Caldera 2.3 crashed on install--a total freeze when it tried to detect the mouse. SuSE 6.1 could not mount some installation files/packages off the CD-ROM RH 6.0 could run only the transmit side of a 3C509 The server is now down, permanently. It was scraps anyway, but it appears I have memory that will pass the prelim test from the BIOS and then quietly fail under normal operation. (pattern sensitivity?). I am deeply impressed with the design of linux, since it kept going with only some loss of services. Win95 would stay up only a few minutes. Thanks for your good advice along the way. Turns out, I had the appropriate ipop3d line in /etc/inetd.conf uncommented in the beginning. Now when I get something in its place, if it still doesn't work..... I always suspect that the problem with the computer has its hands on my keyboard first. Then I start thinking about hardware. That is an advantage with Linux. With Win9x and NT, I could never tell what I should check, and I just had to live with most of the problems that developed. Civileme
