[ESS] ess-mode: Wrong type argument: syntax-table-p, nil

[Stephen Eglen]

 > 
 > Ess-mode 5.2.12 produces an error as in the title of this post under
 > GNU Emacs 22.0.50.1.
 > 
 > But after other commands such as 'R', a second run of ess-mode is
 > fine. Is this a bug?

I too use a similar set up with Emacs from CVS  (although
date 2006-01-13), so it could be an Emacs bug rather than ESS.
In the meantime, if the error occurs on start up, try:

emacs --debug-init

and send us the error file generated if there is one. 
Otherwise, if the error comes later, try (from the manual):


   If Emacs reports an error, backtraces can help us debug the problem.
Type "M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET".  Then run the
command that causes the error and you should see a *Backtrace* buffer
containing debug information; send us that buffer.


Stephen