That version of vim doesn't support syntax highlighting at all. No point in trying further. Really, it sounds like it's time to do a backup of your data and reinstall the OS. That would probably take you an afternoon and it sounds like you've spent a lot more time dealing with the symptoms. ;-)
I actually feel like laughing, because its more hopeless than you think, my friend :) The sound, the audio - of any device, wouldn't come on when I first installed Gutsy, including ChucK. I tried many things then which I don't remember now, for weeks. Nothing worked. One fine day, it just worked by itself, I don't even know how. This is like a fork, or a spork, where both paths lead to the same nowhere. (Okay, sorry about going off-topic, but.....damn. ) -- ------- -.- 1/f ))) --. ------- ... http://www.algomantra.com