Failed to read configuration file - v0.4.4

[Edward Ocampo-gooding]

I'm using wpa_supplicant v0.4.4, madwifi-driver-0.1_pre20050420-r1
(Gentoo), and a Sony PCWA-C300S (Atheros) card.

A month ago, wpa_supplicant worked without any problems, but after
unknown changes were made (I've just forgotten), it doesn't work
anymore.

e.g.: 
# wpa_supplicant -iath0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf.example -d -Dmadwifi
Failed to read configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf.example'.

# ls -la /etc | grep wpa -rw-r--r--   1 root   root    22131 Aug 31
12:09 wpa_supplicant.conf.example

Trying to feed wpa_supplicant any world-readable file also has it
failing to read.

Any ideas for a fix?

Thanks,
Edward Ocampo-Gooding