SL Baur <steve(a)xemacs.org&gt; writes: Presumably this code in 'set-auto-mode' gets hit (I presume for texinfo-mode. (if mode (if (not (fboundp mode)) (let ((name (package-get-package-provider mode))) (if name (message "Mode %s is not installed. Download package %s" mode name) (message "Mode %s either doesn't exist or is not a known package" mode)) (sit-for 2) (error "%s" mode)) When XEmacs is trying to load a file for which there is a mode defined but you have not installed a package providing that mode it tries to suggest downloading a package. In order to do this it needs to get the package database. Before Greg's and my work this meant that XEmacs would open an ftp session to xemacs.org. [1]Now it gets a local copy. However XEmacs is currently paranoid[2] and wants to verify the signature. However you are so barebones you do not have mailcrypt so the verification fails. I think the best in this case would be to assume a "no" answer when operating non-interactively. However that would still leave the fatal error that texinfo-mode is undefined, so you need to add a "-l tex-info" too. Jan Footnotes: [1] This is what hurt Hrvoje. [2] This was added to defend against the "cache = local" type attacks that hurt the webbrowsers a lot. I think it is currently being a bit overzealous but erring on the safe site is good. -- Jan Vroonhof http://www.math.ethz.ch/~vroonhof/ Mathematik, vroonhof ＠ math.ethz.ch HG E16, ETH-Zentrum, Tel: +41-1-6325456/25154 Raemistrasse 101, CH-8092 Zuerich. Fax: +41-1-6321085