_pb= # to detect missing .so when .so.x is found
for dir in $pth; do
  case "$osname" in
    os2)
      try=`ls $dir/$lib.a 2> /dev/null`;;
    *)
      ok=`(ls $dir/lib$lib.* | head -1) 2> /dev/null`
      if test -n "$ok"; then
        _pb="$ok"
        # for .so and .sl
        try=`ls $dir/lib$lib.s? 2> /dev/null` 
        # for .dylib
        if test -z "$try"; then
          try=`ls $dir/lib$lib.dylib 2> /dev/null`
        fi
        # for .a
        if test -z "$try"; then
          try=`ls $dir/lib$lib.a 2> /dev/null`
        fi
      else
        try=
      fi;;
  esac
  if test -n "$try"; then
    echo ..."Found lib$lib in $dir";
    eval $lib=$dir;
    break
  fi
done
# not found? detect missing lib*.so (missing *-devel package)
if test -z "$try"; then
  if test "$osname" = linux -a  -n "$_pb"; then
    echo "###"
    echo "### lib$lib.so not found. Please install $lib development files."
    echo "### They usually come in $lib-devel (RPM) or lib$lib-dev (Debian) packages"
    echo "###"
  fi
fi