Tom, Alex-- Thanks for the reply. pg_dump from version 7.1.2 did indeed give a better error message: getTableAttrs(): SELECT (for DEFAULT) for attr content_type_id returned 0 tuples. Expected 1. Also I tried to reindex the system tables... its a no-go. xapnet_web=# reindex table pg_attribute; NOTICE: table 'pg_attribute' wasn't reindexed REINDEX xapnet_web=# reindex table pg_index; NOTICE: table 'pg_index' wasn't reindexed REINDEX But in the process of doing this I had to switch postgres to 'standalone' mode -- so I tried the dump again and it worked under standalone. Why? Beats me.. but my problem is solved. later, andy -- Andrew W. Schmeder [EMAIL PROTECTED] cell (510) 589 1407 ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 1: subscribe and unsubscribe commands go to [EMAIL PROTECTED]