Once i type that command I get this:

Connected to localhost.
421 Service not available, remote server has closed connection.
ftp> _


Thats when it just goes to the ftp prompt...

inetd/xinetd is definitely NOT starting the ftp server.

First we need to find out which you are running... type this:

ps -ef | grep inetd

and tell me what you see.

root 211 0 23:15 tty1 00:00:00 grep ftp

basically the only thing running something with ftp is grep ftp.

I think you misread what I typed... I'm not looking for "ftp", I'm looking for "inetd". Please try again.

LOL sorry... here it is:

root 82 1 0 19:34 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/inetd
root 213 110 0 23:21 tty1 00:00:00 grep ftp

Now, what does the exact entry in /etc/inetd.conf look like for "ftp" ? what does the entry for ftp look like in /etc/services?

inetd.conf :

#ProFTPD FTP Daemon:
ftp stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd proftpd


services :

ftp-data 20/tcp # File Transfer [Default Data]
ftp-data 20/udp # File Transfer [Default Data]
ftp 21/tcp # File Transfer [Control]
ftp 21/tcp # File Transfer [Control]

one more command I need info from:

ls -l /usr/sbin/*ftp*

I type it in... and I get :

/bin/ls: -: No such file or directory
/usr/sbin/ftpshut: Invalid time interval specified
usage: /usr/sbin/ftpshut [ -1 min ] [ -d min ] time [ warning-message ... ]

ok... I tried the command with an L instead of the line... since on this board they look the same... and I got this:


-rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 5712 Jun 20 2001 /usr/sbin/ftpshut*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Jan 23 17:59 /usr/sbin.in.proftfpd -> proftpd*
-rwxr-xr- 1 root bin 10096 Jun 3 2001 /usr/sbin/in.tftpd*
-rwxr-xr- 1 root bin 259568 Jun 20 2001 /usr/sbin/proftpd*

Try changing the entry in /etc/inetd.conf to this:

ftp stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd /usr/sbin/in.proftpd

Now you'll have to restart inetd. I have no idea how to do that in slackware other than killing the process and restarting it. If you aren't sure how to do that, just reboot

Then try "ftp localhost" again.

If this doesn't fix the problem, then you might want to look for clues in these files:

/etc/hosts.allow
/etc/hosts.deny
/etc/ftpaccess

I think there's also a configuration file for proftpd lurking around somewhere (/etc/proftpd.conf ??).

I dont have an ftpaccess file... should I and what should it contain?

I did what you told me to do and when I type the "ftp localhost" command I got this:

connect: Connectiopn refused

On other thing... I typed the "proftpd -n" It said:

proftpd blahblahblah ... Standalone mode startup


then I went to my win box and tried to log in... it worked...
sept It shows that I have no folders or files. How do I change that?

Well.... now for some reason, everytime I turn my nix box off, I have to reinitiate proftpd. Ive done it once, but the second time, nothing happend at all and I wasnt able to connect via ftp client on my windows box. I checked inetd.conf and proftpd.conf, and niether has been changed since got it working. what do i need to do?