smart starting in read-only mode as root

[Keith Roberts]

I have a problem with smart 0.50 on FC6.

Under KDE smart refused to respond so I had to terminate the 
program.

Subsequently restarting smart, it starts up in read-only 
mode - even as root user.

The only way I can get smart to start in RW mode is to use

# smart --ignore-locks --gui

from a terminal in KDE.

Obviously I don't want to keep using smart with locking 
disabled, just in case I corrupt the RPM database.

Why is smart starting in RO mode, and what can I do to fix 
it again please?

TIA

Keith