you are right, it is in my home dir.
it shows everything right, except the box dimensions which are all zeros for
some strange reason....
VMD cannot create something from nothing.
if your input data doesn't provide simulation cell
information, it will not be written out unless you
provide it through some other means.
you have to either set the box dimensions,
e.g. via the pbctools plugin or compute and
assign them.
the main advantage of using topo writelammpsdata
is that it will automatically set image flags and
makes sure that the file you generate is consistent
and has the correct syntax.
if you want miracles, you are looking in the wrong place. 
axel.