Josh Hope <otaku@unixborg.net> typed:
:>What about su -m?
:Ah! Someone (I believe you) suggested this earlier, and I never really 
:attempted it. Yes, the su -m command *works* and a whoami shows me as 
:logged in for that user. But the -m switch (to my recollection) doesn't 
:read any of the files in target user's home dir...am I right?

Josh Hope typed:
:Geoff Wing typed:
:>* you've tried user x with /bin/sh , /bin/csh & /bin/ksh and other shells
:>  to make sure it isn't one of the shells startup files whinging
:Yes
:>* from root you've tried ``su -m x /bin/sh'' (and shell variants) and they
:>  all fail (this is a variant of the above point)
:Well, they all fail but for a different reason: su gives "Illegal 
:variable name." as the reason.

::So if a su -m works, what could be causing it to fail on normal su and on 
::login?

OK, so now you've actually tried ``su -m'' and it works you should look at
the shell startup files in /etc/ and, if you use skeleton files, per user.
Also look at any env. vars. that get set.

Regards,
-- 
Geoff Wing   <gcw@pobox.com>            Mobile : (Australia) 0413 431 874 <<<new
Work URL: http://www.primenet.com.au/   Ego URL: http://pobox.com/~gcw/