diff -pruN gpm-1.20.1/src/lib/liblow.c.orig gpm-1.20.1/src/lib/liblow.c
--- gpm-1.20.1/src/lib/liblow.c.orig	2003-08-03 17:55:00.000000000 +0200
+++ gpm-1.20.1/src/lib/liblow.c	2003-08-03 17:59:49.000000000 +0200
@@ -199,8 +199,6 @@ int Gpm_Open(Gpm_Connect *conn, int flag
    Gpm_Stst *new = NULL;
    char* sock_name = 0;
 
-   option.consolename = NULL;
-
 #if 0   
    gpm_report(GPM_PR_DEBUG,"VC: %d",flag);
 #endif
@@ -259,6 +257,10 @@ int Gpm_Open(Gpm_Connect *conn, int flag
             gpm_report(GPM_PR_ERR,"checking tty name failed");
             goto err;
          }   
+         if (option.consolename == NULL) {
+            gpm_report(GPM_PR_ERR,"option.consolename not set");
+            goto err;
+         }   
          /* do we really need this check ? */
          if(strncmp(tty,option.consolename,strlen(option.consolename)-1)
             || !isdigit(tty[strlen(option.consolename)-1])) {