[NTLUG:Discuss] strange behavior with chkconfig/ntsysv on RH 6.2

[Seth]

Hello:

I have a RedHat 6.2 / i386 / Linux 2.2.14 system, that is exhibiting some 
strange
behavior with the chkconfig and ntsysv programs.  Currently I have 
chkconfig-1.2.16-1,
ntsysv-1.1.3-1, and initscripts-5.49-1 installed.

A couple of months ago both chkconfig and ntsysv would segfault when I tried to
execute them.  Considering both programs were behaving similarly and looking
at strace output I determined that the heart of the problem was related to the
initscripts themselves.  Furthermore I figured out that by opening an 
initscript with
a text editor and then saving the script (without making changes), 
chkconfig --list
would be able to read the file and move on.

For example, the first script that chkconfig reads on my system is 
apmd.  By running
one of these commands, chkconfig IS ABLE to move past the apmd script:

# cd /etc/rc.d/init.d; cp apmd ~/apmd.sav; mv -f ~/apmd.sav apmd

or with vi:

# vim +"wq" /etc/rc.d/init.d/apmd

The commands below, however, DO NOT fix anything, and chkconfig still 
segfaults
on the apmd script:

# cd /etc/rc.d/init.d; mv apmd ~/apmd.sav; mv -f ~/apmd.sav apmd

or with touch:

# touch /etc/rc.d/init.d/apmd

So it appears that opening a file for writing fixes chkconfig, but just 
touching it or moving it
around does not.  As far as I can tell (diff, md5sum) there is not a 
noticeable difference
after the file has been resaved, other than the time stamp.  What would 
cause chkconfig
to pick up a difference between two identical files?

At this point I've "fixed" about 20 of the 45 scripts using one of the 
techniques above,
once the other 25 or so scripts are fixed the problem will be gone forever 
... 8(   So I would
like to get some suggestions on what else I might try to help figure out 
what the real problem
is.  I have to repair the rest of the files soon, because chkconfig being 
broken tends to
cause problems with RPM installations.  I am willing to delay ( a little 
while ) fixing the
files to allow some other peoples ideas to tested.

Note: ntsysv no longer segfaults, I suppose I fixed enough of the files for 
it to execute
okay.  chkconfig --list is still segfaulting though.

Also, I've checked lsof and fuser output, and have not found anything open 
on the
initscripts.

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Seth

PS: I can send strace output to anyone who's interested.