Solaris

i have an issue where it appears i'm running version 3.24 of xscreensaver but when the screensaver actually activates it shows version 4.12 on the xscreensaver unlock/lock screen. the node is running solaris 8 which is connected to a server running irix. the node has no .xscreensaver in any of the home directories but does have an XScreenSaver populated file in /usr/openwin/lib/app-defaults/. more'ing the XScreenSaver file in the aforementioned path reveals a version 3.24 of xscreensaver. any idea where solaris may actually invoke xscreensaver (version 4.12)? the server also has the same XScreenSaver file showing version 3.24 in the same path.

attempting to diagnose if what appears to be a xscreensaver version location conflict may be causing a monitor to blank in a dual display configuration running off an xvr-100.

Try running:
$ ps -ef | grep xscreensaver
It is most likely /usr/openwin/bin, just because the app-defaults file says it is for V3.24 does not preclude the binary being a different version, if the app-defaults file has not changed format then it may not have been updated.
Try running xscreensaver-demo, this allows to change numerous configuration items and will display a version number somewhere as well.
SunSolve has various bugs and patches for problems with dual screen configurations and the xvr-100 framebuffer, they are worth checking.