this is the tail of the 'make check' ... fwiw, hope it helps. Hope I have a good build of cairo :) Let me know if you need any more info and I'll try to answer.

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make  check-TESTS
make[2]: Entering directory `/tmp/cairo-1.4.10/src'
make[3]: Entering directory `/tmp/cairo-1.4.10/src'
make[3]: `cairo.def' is up to date.
make[3]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cairo-1.4.10/src'
Checking cairo.def
71d70
< cairo_glitz_surface_create
FAIL: check-def.sh
Checking .libs/libcairo.so for local PLT entries
PASS: check-plt.sh
Checking public headers for missing cairo_public decorators
PASS: check-headers.sh
Checking source files for missing or misplaced #include "cairoint.h"
PASS: check-cairoint.sh
========================================================================
1 of 4 tests failed
Please report to http://bugs.freedesktop.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=cairo
========================================================================
make[2]: *** [check-TESTS] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cairo-1.4.10/src'
make[1]: *** [check-am] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/tmp/cairo-1.4.10/src'
make: *** [check-recursive] Error 1