Still with index.php problem

[eluser]tpiscotti[/eluser]
I tried adding that to the file...just by itself as well as intermingled in various areas of the Rewrite code I already had in there but still getting only 404 not found error.

Is there another setting elsewhere altogether that isn't allowing .htaccess to work? I mean technically it should work without a .htaccess file if I have mod_rewrite enabled already in httpd.conf. But now I can't even tell if the .htaccess file is being recognized at all to override any of the httpd.conf settings.

I'm also Google-ing to find answers to detecting the presence of .htaccess file, but if you have any suggestions on that I really appreciate it!