That's syslogd writing '--MARK--' lines to /var/log/messages to assure you that it is still alive. Starting syslogd with the '-m <interval>' option controls this. I think that '-m 0' will turn it off. You could also just turn off syslogd. man syslogd. -- John Hasler john@dhh.gt.org (John Hasler) Dancing Horse Hill Elmwood, WI