7.0.2 install doesn't read .conf files

I've installed 7.0.2 from the tarball (not the RPM) on a Redhat 6.1
system.  The server starts up and runs, but it ignores postgresql.conf
and pg_hba.conf.  I have a "postgres" user set up, default location
"/usr/local/pgsql", conf files located in the "data" subdirectory, added
the paths to $PATH & $MANPATH & /etc/ld.so.conf, ran initdb... did I
miss anything?

My startup script (from contrib) executes the following:

    su - postgres -c "(postmaster 2>&1 | logger -p local5.notice) &" > /dev/null 2>&1 &

Note, no "-i" option.  Instead, I added the line "tcpip_socket = yes"
in the file /usr/local/pgsql/data/postgresql.conf to enable TCP/IP
socket access.  But the line in the config file doesn't work.  It only
works if I add the "-i" to the command line.  It doesn't matter if I add
the "-D/usr/local/pgsql/data" option or not.

And even if it starts with Internet access enabled, I've only enabled
"local" access in pg_hba.conf

    local        all                                           trust
    host         all         127.0.0.1     255.255.255.255     trust

However, instead of being denied outright, I can connect to the default
port from the outside world.  In the logs, it shows up as an entry with
a datetime stamp and a message "Invalid packet length".  Is this normal
PostgreSQL behavior?

Any suggestions are appreciated.


--
Eugene Lee
eugene@anime.net