[GRASSLIST:1305] Converting sites to rasters

[Gordon Keith]

I'm trying to use grass5b10 with bathymetry data and am having some 
trouble getting started.

I can import my data into a sites file (approx 150,000 sites) but I 
haven't been able to convert it to a raster.

s.to.rast gives me:

     ERROR: error while writing to temp file

Has anyone got any ideas what be causing this?

s.surf.idw seems to take about 1 CPU hour per site on my 400MHz PII (I 
killed it after running all weekend).

s.surf.rst also seems to be taken an enormous amount of time.

My data is basic lat,lon,depth data.

I suspect I'm trying to use the wrong tools for the job, can anyone 
suggest what I should be using?

Regards
Gordon