If I recall correctly, that's a bug that is preset on a particular kernel from 6-9 months ago.

It's not a bug:

x86: introduce /dev/mem restrictions with a config option http://lwn.net/Articles/267427/ "This patch introduces a restriction on /dev/mem: Only non-memory can be read or written unless the newly introduced config option is set."

Command-line access to /dev/mem in Ubuntu http://superuser.com/questions/39583/command-line-access-to-...

Oh cool. Thanks.

Sad :(

I was looking forward to catting for llamas.

Huh. Good to know.