.htpasswd in subfolder on Wordpress Install - wordpress

Question

I have a wordpress install at the root of my home folder, and I have a subfolder that I am trying to protect with an .htaccess based login. In the root there is an .htaccess with these rules:
# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress
Then in my subfolder I have this .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine off
</IfModule>
AuthName "MySQLDumper"
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile "/home/freegame/public_html/msdump/.htpasswd"
require valid-user
With the Wordpress rules active, access the subfolder causes a 404 error. When I delete the wordpress rules, it works fine. Any ideas on what I've done wrong?

Answer 1

Your method will work only for files. For protecting directory you have to perform an additional step. Modify the htaccess file in the your site’s root directory and add the following above the #Begin WordPress comment.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/(failed_auth\.html).*$ [NC]
RewriteRule . - [L]
</IfModule>
This will stop WordPress from giving a 404 error code when you try to access your password protected directory. Instead it will give a 403 (authorization required) and prompt you for a valid username/password instead to access it.
Source: Dreamhost