Cannot create backup file(add ! to overwrite)

Question

Need help. I have been editing a text file in vi , and i was able to save the changes before but now i am getting the above error whenever i am typing command to save the file. Please help .

Answer 1

You can, as vi (or, more likely, vim) is saying force a write by doing:

:w!

Alternatively, write the file to an alternative location:

:w! /path/to/other/location

To check where your backup files are being written (normally):

:se backup? backupdir? backupext? 

Try to touch a file in that directory and see if your Operating System gives you an error to enlighten you as to why your editor cannot write there.

Answer 2

Had the same problem. Tried all options as above but it did not work. Then when I checked my disk space, it was full. Once I cleared some space then I was able to write back to file again.
P.S: This was in linux.

Answer 3

Had the same problem. It was because I installed vimconf as root. You need to change rights of files in ~/.vim directory and change owner to your user.

sudo chmod 0750 ~/.vim
sudo chown user ~/.vim

Answer 4

I had this same problem. Turns out it was due to running out of disk space. try creating a file using Ex) touch test.txt. If you get a message saying touch: cannot touch test.txt: No space left on device you will need to clear up space on your disk