pgsql8b5 not launching on OSX system start; otherwise OK

hi all,

i've a new install of pgsql8b5 running on OSX 10.3.6.

i can readily start it from the command line with:

   sudo -u testuser sh -c "nohup /usr/local/pgsql/bin/postmaster -n -i -h
10.0.0.6 -D /var/data/pgsql -c config_file=/etc/pgsql/postgresql.conf
</dev/null >>/var/devlogs/postgres.log &"

after which it behaves as i'd expect =)

however, if i place an identical startup string in my OSX's StartupItem for
pgsql & reboot, pgsql does not start on boot. immediately after, i can launch
... but not on system start.

i've turned debugging (debug5, i think i got 'em all ...) on, and my
"/var/devlogs/postgres.log" after startup only shows:

    LOG:  logger shutting down
    DEBUG:  proc_exit(0)
    DEBUG:  shmem_exit(0)
    DEBUG:  exit(0)

system & kernel logs show nothing of obvious consequence ...

any suggestions as to how to track down the no-start-on-startup problem?

thx!

richard