[wp-hackers] plugin installs failing: "Could not create directory. /wp-content"

[Scott R. Godin]

Howdy plugin gurus,

This just recently started happening, with both 
http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/qoate-simple-code-snippets.zip
and
http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/syntax-highlighter-compress.zip

both of which refused to install (tho I do not think it's directly 
related to either of these plugins, myself) either via the interface or 
manual upload to the interface, resulting in :

	Downloading install package from 
http://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/qoate-simple-code-snippets.zip…

	Unpacking the package…

	Could not create directory. /wp-content

	Actions: Return to Plugin Installer

(of course if I simply unzip the folder and manually ftp/rsync it to the 
server it works fine)

I tried disabling every other active plugin and retrying the install 
(earlier installs worked just fine) but the result is the same. What 
could have changed to cause this, and how do I fix it?

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