do you get the error if you add some text and then properly save and close 
vi??  (which is what you need to do to edit your crontab properly)

... synopsis of what i do...
$ crontab -e
..add/modifiy/delete my crontab rules
[esc] :wq [enter] ...(standard vi save and close)...
...end synopsis..
--joe

On Monday 24 February 2003 11:09 am, Thomas M Clarke wrote:
> Hello Everyone,
>
> As root I'm trying to edit my crontab, I issue the crontab -e command and
> it brings up a vi session with my crontab. If I add any text to this file
> and ^C it immediately throws a wobbly and complains of: ERROR: Input/Output
> Error and bombs out of vi back to the prompt. Any ideas of what I can try
> to get this working?
>
> Thanks
>
> Thomas M Clarke