Problem with .htaccess and custom error page

I created a .htaccess file with one entry "ErrorDocument 404 /
404.html" to display the custom error page 404.html. However, as soon
as I put that file in place, I can no longer retrieve existing pages,
but get an error message "The server encountered an internal error or
misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request." If I
remove or rename the .htaccess file, then everything goes back to
normal.

I am using Apache on Linux on a RAQ4.

Thank you in advance ...

On Jun 20, 11:55 pm, "william...@aol.com" <william...@aol.com> wrote:
> I created a .htaccess file with one entry "ErrorDocument 404 /
> 404.html" to display the custom error page 404.html. However, as soon
> as I put that file in place, I can no longer retrieve existing pages,
> but get an error message "The server encountered an internal error or
> misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request." If I
> remove or rename the .htaccess file, then everything goes back to
> normal.
>
> I am using Apache on Linux on a RAQ4.
>
> Thank you in advance ...

this might happen if you dont have the 404.html in the right place,
and if the page you are request triggers a 404 which then loops
looking for the 404, eventually it will return a 500.