Wordpress says .htaccess file is unwriteable, but it's definitely writeable

Question

I've just finished moving a Wordpress site to a new server. The domain has not changed, nor has the directory that Wordpress is installed in; the only thing that has changed is the machine it happens to be on.

The only problem I seem to have had as a result is that my permalinks aren't working, and when I go into the permalink settings, it claims that my .htaccess is unwrittable. For testing sake my .htaccess is currently CHMOD777, so it definitely is.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

The permalinks themselves aren't working, i.e. the rules already in the .htaccess file from the previous server aren't taking effect. Mod rewrite, header and expire weren't installed.