rsh probl. with Slackware 7

[Borries Demeler]

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic:
I am trying to use rsh without passwords on Slackware 7, and I can't get it to
work. The system is isolated, and I am the only user, so I won't need to 
worry about security. The problem I have is that if I try to login with rsh
I am always prompted for a password. Here is what I have changed:

1. edited $HOME/.rhosts
2. edited /etc/hosts.equiv
3. edited /etc/inetd.conf:
4. edited /etc/securetty to also allow root to connect without passwd 
from remote terminal.

shell   stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/sbin/tcpd  in.rshd -L -h -a

(from the installation it had only option -L)

and killed -HUP inetd.pid

I am still prompted for a password when doing a simple `rsh host`.
Strangely enough, I can do something like this:

rsh remotehost ls /

without being prompted for a password. But why can't I log in?

Any help would be very much appreciated. I guess I could use ssh, but I'd
rather not since the encryption probably slows down the mpi/pvm calls.

Thanks for any help with this, -Borries