gEDA-user: geda hangs/Gtk error reported

[Chris Bryant <lx.lurky@btinternet.com>]

Greetings

I am new to gaf, and not [yet] that familiar with Linux. I'm keen to get using 
gschem/pcb etc for my home electronics (and to contribute some symbols I'm 
going to be creating in the rf area)

I'm running debian (distro is Libranet 2.8) with a mix of 
stable/testing/unstable (as defined/tested ok by Libranet).

I used make xinstall as root as per the instructions and this seemed to run 
fine (much easier than compiling by hand which I've tried before..). I then 
switched to my user account to use gEDA. After editing ld.so.conf to connect 
libgeda.so, gschem seems to run ok and can edit the examples ok when executed 
directly from the shell. I thought I'd use geda to manage my projects, but 
when I start it from the shell I see

bryantc@bonobo:~$ /usr/local/geda/bin/geda

Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate loadable module in module_path: 
"libthinice.so",

I can create a project, but geda hangs if I try to open it. If I close geda 
using the X in the top rh corner of the window, I see

Gtk-WARNING **: invalid cast from `GtkWindow' to `GtkMenuItem'

If I close using exit in the Project menu, geda exits quietly.

I've tried the ld.so.conf trick on the directory that contains libthinince, 
but this doesn't improve matters...

Any ideas please?

Chris Bryant