************ ERROR ************
Error opening /home/USERNAME/.openarena/baseoa/maps/test.bsp: No such file or directory
that suggests that it can't find the test.bsp, is that there?
Yup, the .bsp and .map's were there but I figured I'd give it a go the complicated way to I re-installed it from SVN again, applied the patch again, and whatca-now - bob is my uncle...
For some peculiar reason it just decided to work, so most likely I did something to screw up the settings previously. Thanks for the patience..