Weird response from cvs log with :pserver

[Jim Howard]

    (Hopefully, this is not an FAQ that I wasn't able to somehow
    track down, but...)

    I'm seeing a strange response *sometimes* from a CVS log
    command.  When I say *sometimes*, I mean that certain users
    can seem to get the problem consistently with a given test case,
    and others cannot - even from the same environment.

    The exact behavior is that issuing the command:

    cvs -d :pserver:user@host:/cvs_dir log module/dir/.file

    will yield the result:

     cvs [server aborted]: no such directory `module/dir'

     RCS file: /cvs_dir/module/file/.file,v
     Working file: module/dir/.file
     head: 1.3
     [...]

    ...so it (apparently) errors out, then proceeds to give the
    result I really expect!  I've also tried going into the
    module/dir directory and issuing the same cvs log command
    (this time against .file, of course), and in this case, I get:

    cvs server: nothing known about .file

     RCS file: /cvs_dir/module/file/.file,v
     Working file: .file
     head: 1.3
     [...]

    Anyone have any ideas?

    Further background: client is Windows NT/Cygwin, CVS
    version 1.10.3 client, the module/dir/.file exists locally, and
    the server is Sun/Solaris 8, CVS version 1.10.