diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 4c536c1192425452a9224b7020243daae6f67bd8..034e5c435404019c75853c764713aec1e2517eb9 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ documents those changes that are of interest to users and admins.
  -- Add sfree to bluegene plugin. 
  -- Remove geometry[SYSTEM_DIMENSIONS] from opaque node_select data 
     type if SYSTEM_DIMENSIONS==0 (not ASCI-C compliant).
+ -- Modify smap to test for valid libdb2.so before issuing any BGL 
+    Bridge API calls.
  -- Modify spec file for optional inclusion of select_bluegene and 
     sched_wiki plugin libraries.
 
diff --git a/doc/html/bluegene.html b/doc/html/bluegene.html
index 466bf3b0e07ef7bf2c2b9c10a17e7c987d1a85d8..cb8d0fae278bb4ffa6241ca34068aa01d3fbb044 100644
--- a/doc/html/bluegene.html
+++ b/doc/html/bluegene.html
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 <meta http-equiv="keywords" content="Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management, SLURM, resource management, 
 Linux clusters, high-performance computing, Livermore Computing">
 <meta name="LLNLRandR" content="UCRL-WEB-209488">
-<meta name="LLNLRandRdate" content=" May 2005">
+<meta name="LLNLRandRdate" content="25 May 2005">
 <meta name="distribution" content="global">
 <meta name="description" content="Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management">
 <meta name="copyright"
@@ -176,12 +176,27 @@ In particular, the configure script searches for <i>libdb2.so</i> in the
 directories <i>/home/bgdb2cli/sqllib</i> and <i>/u/bgdb2cli/sqllib</i>.
 If your DB2 library file is in a different location, use the configure 
 option <i>--with-db2-dir=PATH</i> to specify the parent directory.
-If you have the samem version of the operating system on both the 
+If you have the same version of the operating system on both the 
 Service Node (SN) and the Front End Nodes (FEN) then you can configure 
 and build one set of files on the SN and install them on both the SN and FEN.
-If you have different versions of the operating system on the SN and FEN
-(as  was the case for some early system installations), then you will need 
-to coconfigure and build two sets of files for installation. 
+Note that if your FENs lack an installed <i>libdb2.so</i>, an smap 
+built on the SN will be unable to execute at all on those nodes (it 
+calls BGL Bridge APIs, that dynamically load <i>libdb2.so</i> completely 
+out of our control).
+You can handle this in two different ways. 
+One option is to build two versions of smap (in the main SLURM RPM), 
+one for the SN and the other for the FENs. 
+The second option is to create a dummy <i>libdb2.so</i> on the FENs 
+(it can just point to libslurm.so) so that smap can be initiated. 
+Smap will discover if <i>libdb2.so</i> is invalid and avoid using 
+any BGL Bridge function calls, which would fail. 
+In either case, all smap functionality will be provided on the FEN 
+except for the ability to map SLURM node names to and from 
+row/rack/midplane data.</p> 
+
+<p>If you have different versions of the operating system on the SN and FEN
+(as was the case for some early system installations), then you will need 
+to configure and build two sets of files for installation. 
 One set will be for the Service Node (SN), which has direct access to the BGL Bridge APIs. 
 The second set will be for the Front End Nodes (FEN), whick lack access to the 
 Bridge APIs and interact with using Remote Proceedure Calls to the slurmctld daemon.
@@ -457,7 +472,7 @@ nodes, so the message is more meaningful there). </p>
 <td colspan="3"><hr> <p>For information about this page, contact <a href="mailto:slurm-dev@lists.llnl.gov">slurm-dev@lists.llnl.gov</a>.</p>
 <p><a href="http://www.llnl.gov/"><img align=middle src="lll.gif" width="32" height="32" border="0"></a></p>
 <p class="footer">UCRL-WEB-209488<br>
-Last modified 23 May 2005</p></td>
+Last modified 25 May 2005</p></td>
 </tr>
 </table>
 </td>
diff --git a/src/partition_allocator/partition_allocator.c b/src/partition_allocator/partition_allocator.c
index 86bcd4668dc757483015fc4b7fae043733868e42..5c42c0dbffc914870fa3a19f014fef79aca5790a 100644
--- a/src/partition_allocator/partition_allocator.c
+++ b/src/partition_allocator/partition_allocator.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 /*****************************************************************************\
- *  partition_allocator.c
- * 
+ *  partition_allocator.c - Assorted functions for layout of bglblocks, 
+ *	 wiring, mapping for smap, etc.
+ *  $Id$
  *****************************************************************************
  *  Copyright (C) 2004 The Regents of the University of California.
  *  Produced at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (cf, DISCLAIMER).
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@
 #  include "config.h"
 #endif
 
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <dlfcn.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <math.h>
 #include "partition_allocator.h"
@@ -46,6 +49,7 @@ int DIM_SIZE[PA_SYSTEM_DIMENSIONS] = {0};
 #endif
 
 bool _initialized = false;
+bool _have_db2 = false;
 
 /* _pa_system is the "current" system that the structures will work
  *  on */
@@ -395,6 +399,27 @@ extern void print_pa_request(pa_request_t* pa_request)
 	debug("     node_use:\t%d", pa_request->node_use);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Search for local DB2 library
+ */
+static void _db2_check(void)
+{
+	void *handle;
+
+	handle = dlopen("libdb2.so", RTLD_LAZY);
+	if (!handle) {
+		debug("can not open libdb2.so");
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if (dlsym(handle, "SQLAllocHandle") == NULL)
+		debug("SQLAllocHandle not found in libdb2.so");
+	else
+		_have_db2 = true;
+
+	dlclose(handle);
+}
+
 /**
  * Initialize internal structures by either reading previous partition
  * configurations from a file or by running the graph solver.
@@ -420,6 +445,7 @@ extern void pa_init(node_info_msg_t *node_info_ptr)
 	if (_initialized){
 		return;
 	}
+	_db2_check();
 
 	best_count=BEST_COUNT_INIT;
 						
@@ -469,7 +495,8 @@ extern void pa_init(node_info_msg_t *node_info_ptr)
         } 
 
 #ifdef HAVE_BGL_FILES
-	if ((DIM_SIZE[X]==0) && (DIM_SIZE[X]==0) && (DIM_SIZE[X]==0)) {
+	if (_have_db2
+	&&  (DIM_SIZE[X]==0) && (DIM_SIZE[X]==0) && (DIM_SIZE[X]==0)) {
 		if ((rc = rm_set_serial(BGL_SERIAL)) != STATUS_OK) {
 			error("rm_set_serial(%s): %d", BGL_SERIAL, rc);
 			return;
@@ -1121,6 +1148,11 @@ extern int set_bp_map(void)
 
 	bp_map_list = list_create(_bp_map_list_del);
 
+	if (!_have_db2) {
+		error("Can't access DB2 library, run from service node");
+		return -1;
+	}
+
 	if (!getenv("DB2INSTANCE") || !getenv("VWSPATH")) {
 		error("Missing DB2INSTANCE or VWSPATH env var."
 			"Execute 'db2profile'");
diff --git a/src/smap/configure_functions.c b/src/smap/configure_functions.c
index 9b7633be895fd42a317ae21e73bf7a107f495bdf..88c5f1a803206189aec36924b240e28b00d6b2cd 100644
--- a/src/smap/configure_functions.c
+++ b/src/smap/configure_functions.c
@@ -230,6 +230,11 @@ static int _resolve(char *com)
 		
 	memset(error_string,0,255);		
 #ifdef HAVE_BGL_FILES
+	if (!have_db2) {
+		sprintf(error_string, "Must be on BGL SN to resolve\n"); 
+		goto resolve_error;
+	}
+
 	if(len-i<3) {
 		sprintf(error_string, "Must enter 3 coords to resolve.\n");
 		goto resolve_error;
diff --git a/src/smap/smap.c b/src/smap/smap.c
index d570ca729ffb382899939d7bebffe71899304089..e527db7c7e605496b65403888356d451fa4b337b 100644
--- a/src/smap/smap.c
+++ b/src/smap/smap.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*****************************************************************************\
  *  smap.c - Report overall state the system
+ *  $Id$
  *****************************************************************************
  *  Copyright (C) 2004 The Regents of the University of California.
  *  Produced at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (cf, DISCLAIMER).
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@
 
 #include "config.h"
 
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <dlfcn.h>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include "src/smap/smap.h"
 
@@ -40,6 +43,7 @@ smap_parameters_t params;
 int quiet_flag = 0;
 int line_cnt = 0;
 int max_display;
+bool have_db2 = false;
 		
 /************
  * Functions *
@@ -51,6 +55,20 @@ static int _set_pairs();
 #ifndef HAVE_BGL
 static int _scroll_grid(int dir);
 #endif /* HAVE_BGL */
+
+static void _db2_check(void)
+{
+	void *handle;
+
+	handle = dlopen("libdb2.so", RTLD_LAZY);
+	if (!handle)
+		return;
+
+	if (dlsym(handle, "SQLAllocHandle"))
+		have_db2 = true;
+
+	dlclose(handle);
+}
  
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
@@ -86,10 +104,18 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
 	} else {
 		pa_init(new_node_ptr);
-	}	
+	}
 	
+	_db2_check();
+
 	if(params.partition) {
+			
 #ifdef HAVE_BGL_FILES
+		if (!have_db2) {
+			printf("must be on BGL SN to resolve.\n");
+			goto part_fini;
+		}
+
 		if(!mapset)
 			mapset = set_bp_map();
 		if(params.partition[0] == 'r')
@@ -123,7 +149,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 #else
 		printf("must be on BGL SN to resolve.\n");
 #endif
-		pa_fini();
+part_fini:	pa_fini();
 		exit(0);
 	}
 	if(!params.commandline) {
diff --git a/src/smap/smap.h b/src/smap/smap.h
index d24185c1aefda1b93382cc2f414ac88e0b6d21f5..378471be8b91c19f73592b86bab42422ddcb3e39 100644
--- a/src/smap/smap.h
+++ b/src/smap/smap.h
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ typedef struct {
 
 extern smap_parameters_t params;
 extern int DIM_SIZE[PA_SYSTEM_DIMENSIONS];
+extern bool have_db2;
 
 void parse_command_line(int argc, char *argv[]);