only root allowed login ...

... ciao:

     all of a sudden, i am only able to login as root.  this is not 
something i was trying to accomplish, and at a loss in figuring out 
how i did.  anyway.

     as a given, login as a valid user, with correct password, terminated 
immediately, with a new login prompt.  invalid login attempts iterate 
until a new session initiated.

     ftp, and smtp allowed, telnet fails.

     i'm not seeing anything mentioned in the logs with regard to failed 
normal user login.   i'm at a loss as to where i might start looking.

     any thoughts, suggestion would be much appreciated ...

-- 
... it's not what you see ,
     but in stead , notice ...