On Fri, Feb 24, 2006 at 10:35:02AM +0000, i18rabbit@cwazy.co.uk wrote:
>  login(1) is run with root privileges.
>  if it wants to write to a file, it can
>  do so.  the problem is that it is not
>  writing to the utmp file as it should.
>  it would seem to me the problem is with
>  the login source code - maybe it wasn't
>  compiled with a "UTMP" preprocessor
>  variable defined or something.  i don't
>  see how it has anything to do with groups
>  or permissions - this solution seems like
>  a wild goose chase. ?

login drops its root privileges after you log in. And it seems to me that
if utmp entries are created for everyone except you, the problem must not
be in the login source code.

You still haven't answered why your system didn't have a "utmp" group,
and why your file permissions were incorrect. Seeing that NetBSD has
come with a utmp group for over a decade, the fact that you didn't have
one points to a problem in your install. Maybe the incorrect permissions
are unrelated, but you should look at your install first, not the source
code. If not permissions, maybe your pam configuration is messed up
(pam_lastlog.so not being used).