Hrm. OK, there's one more thing that my script does that is different from running it interactively. In a cron job, I don't want fractint outputting all the status updates "Writing line 1", etc., so I close stdin, stdout and stderr using sh(1) notation: bin/xfractint -disk -geometry ${render_width}x${render_height} \ batch=yes savename=tmp.gif "@tmp.par/tmp" >&- 1>&- <&- When I attempt to render The_Bug-Eyed_Tree with stdin closed, it fails right away with exit status 2, regardless of the parameter set name ("The_Bug-Eyed_Tree" or "tmp"). For some reason, this particular parameter set needs stdin to stay open while it renders. I've rendered hundreds of parameter sets with stdin closed, so I don't know what's particular about these particular parsets that needs stdin open in order to function. Hope that helps. -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com/the-direct3d-graphics-pipeline/> Legalize Adulthood! <http://legalizeadulthood.wordpress.com>