Hi akbar,

well it seems that it doesn't take much for your "heart to move out"...I did what moff suggested me to do, and the default passwd for internal is not valid anymore. I admit that it is not quite logical, but removing the old passwd for sys did affect the internal passwd! So I have no idea why moff's idea worked - anyway, it did. i use Oracle 8i. But thanks, akbar, i will have to try your solution as well.
By the way, i appreciate any reply, elaborated or not. The essential is that it leads you on the right track.

Dan