If you're starting PVM from scratch (by typing ``pvm''), this means the console is unable to start the pvmd. It may not be able to find the executable because PVM_ROOT isn't set or because PVM isn't installed correctly. Or, the pvmd may be having trouble starting up. If the pvmd complains that it can't bind a socket, perhaps the host name set for the machine does not resolve to an IP address of one of its interfaces, or that interface is down. The console/pvmd option -nname can be used to change the default.
If you see this message when adding a host to the virtual machine, it means that the master pvmd is having trouble starting a slave pvmd on the host. PVM can fail to start up for a number of reasons. Besides those out of your control, such as a host or network being down, the following are the most common.
When a pvmd fails to start up, you may not get the entire error message. Try running PVM on the remote host by hand by typing (to the shell): rsh host '$PVM_ROOT/lib/pvmd -s'. On some machines, you need to use remsh rather than rsh. You should see only a complaint like slave_config: bad args.
If you get Permission denied, it probably means that your .rhosts file on the remote machine doesn't include your local host name. You need to add a line containing: /em local-host local-user-name to your .rhosts file on the remote machine.
Sometimes a machine has more than one name, and the remote machine may think your local machine has a different name than you do. To find out what the remote machine thinks is the name of your local machine, log in to the remote machine and type:
who am i
This will show you what the remote host thinks is the name of the local host (it may be truncated to 16 characters). Make sure you put this name (in full, not truncated) in your .rhosts file on the remote machine. Some older machines will insist that you spell the name exactly the same, including getting the case right; newer machines will let you spell it in either upper or lower case.
If you get Login incorrect, it probably means that there isn't an account on the remote machine with the same login name you're using the local machine. You need to add a lo=username option to your PVM host file.
Make sure PVM_ROOT is set on the slave host (§2.8) or that PVM_DPATH is set on the master host.
Make sure you're not printing anything in your shell startup file, or trying to set terminal modes (e.g. with stty). If you must print something, either move it to .login, or put it in a conditional so it only happens when you log in and not when using rsh, for example:
if ( { tty -s } && $?prompt ) then
echo terminal type is $TERM
stty erase '^?' kill '^u' intr '^c' echo
endif