simplxml fwrite VERY STRANGE

[cardio5643]

This code creates the file and writes 'test' to its contents

<?php
   $xmlFile = "../etc/someXMLfile.xml";
   $xmlHandle = fopen($xmlFile, "w");
   fwrite($xmlHandle, 'test');
   fclose($xmlHandle);
?>

This code will create the file but have NO contents. Its seems like as long as simplexml is involved the script is crashing.

<?php
   $xmlFile = "../etc/someXMLfile.xml";
   $xmlHandle = fopen($xmlFile, "w");
   $flashXML = simplexml_load_string('<root><number>1</number></root>');
   fwrite($xmlHandle, 'test');
   fclose($xmlHandle);
?>

 

ANY IDEAS?