Setup should have told you that the file needed upgrade. Perhaps the file permissions prevented it from doing so. You should simply remove your `.htaccess` file and re-run setup. The 1.4.5 `.htaccess` file is much simplified.
As to the error, Setup attempts to use a rewrite url to link to a local script. If that script does not run then it presumes mod_rewrite is not working. So maybe there was an error somewhere in running that script.
Comments
mod_rewrite checked is working for me, however I see this:
`Setup did not detect a working mod_rewrite facility.`
Not sure why the error, since it's working...?
Also, I noticed my .htaccess is from 1.4.4. Is there a way to rebuild htaccess?
As to the error, Setup attempts to use a rewrite url to link to a local script. If that script does not run then it presumes mod_rewrite is not working. So maybe there was an error somewhere in running that script.
So then I deleted my .htaccess, and it gave me an error that it was missing. So I clicked the button to copy and it wouldn't clear the error.
Finally, I ran `touch .htaccess` and `chmod 777 .htaccess` and it worked.
Not sure why your setup wasn't able to do that for me, either permissions or a bug, but I'm all set now it looks like.
(and yes, you're right, a dramatically smaller .htaccess file in 1.4.5)
You should of course not leave the permissions at 777 for anything. Generally the .htaccess file is 444.