.htacces for mobile phones

Hi everybody.
I was trying this:

Options +FollowSymlinks 
RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^.*iPhone.*$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://frenchmaid.com/a.html [R=301]

Code (markup):

to redirect iphone users, but the rewrite rule didnt work.

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://mobile.frenchmaid.com [R=301]

Code (markup):

on the other hand DOES work.
Does my provider block something or is the first example simply wrong?
THanx and regards
Martin

 

First thing I always do when in doubt, is comment out my RewriteCond and append the variable I'm working with to a rewritten URL to take a look.

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://frenchmaid.com/a.html?ua=%{HTTP_USER_AGENT}

Code (markup):

I'd simplify my pattern and remove the ^.* and .*$, but other than that it looks like it should work.

It wouldn't have anything to do with your second example pointing to a different destination than the first, would it ?

 

Thanx for the tip ( commenting out stuff )
I simplfied it down and then found out that my server was blocking rewrite commands.
Switched servers an now it works.