permissions

[groggy11 mail com]

fbsd 4.4
mc 4.5.54

superuser can run mc and do "cd ftp://ftp.netscape.com"; and things work fine.
other  users  run mc and do "cd ftp://ftp.netscape.com"; and things work fine
 at first, the user logs in, but then is left with an empty panel (no files)
 and the mc message "ftpfs: failed; nowhere to fallback to".

the problem should be permissions it would seem ...  but of what?

all user/system (.)mc files are 0644 and writable by owner, and
all folders are 755 and writable by owner.

please reply offlist as well, thank you.