Can't configure 'remove index.php'

Hi,

I just can't succeed in removing index.php  . I googled, found many references to this, unsuccessful. I also search the forum, loads of posts, again without success.

The codeigniter directory is under /var.

• I activated mod_rewrite (apache2 2.4.10)
  
• I edited config.php: $config['index_page'] = ''; $config['uri_protocol'] = 'REQUEST_URI';
  
• I created/modifdied .htaccess file as per instructed in the documentation (CodeIgniter 3.1.0), in three places: /var/www/html, /var/codeigniter
  

I still need to include index.php in the URL. In order to check if one of the three .htaccess is hit, I added garbage as the first line, but got no error.

Within all pages I read, I just can't find the right procedure. What is it ?

Thanks