Re: [Bug-tar] Problems restoring from multi-volume DLT tape archi ve

[Leonard Sitongia]

Daniel suggested upgrading tar on my Linux system (where I'm reading the 
tapes) to the same as on Cygwin (which is running the latest, 1.19).  
I'm in the process of doing that.  But, I want to note another oddity 
about reading this multi-volume archive.  The first tape has two 
archives on it, written by successive tar commands.  I'm writing three 
directories, one of which is small and the other two are large.  I wrote 
the small directory first, with:

tar -c -M -b 128 -f /dev/nst0 directory1
Then I wrote one of the large directories with a similar command:
tar -c -M -b 128 -f /dev/nst0 directory2
That's where it asked me for the 2nd tape:
Prepare volume #2 for `/dev/nst0' and hit return:

In reading, I used separate commands on the first tape, as with the write:
tar -xv -M -b 128 -f /dev/nst0
It reads the complete directory1.  The oddity is that when I read the 
second archive on the first tape, it acts like it is the second tape:
tar -xv -M -b 128 -f /dev/nst0
Prepare volume #2 for `/dev/nst0' and hit return:
I hit return, and it starts reading.

It's going to be an hour more before it gets to the end of the tape, so 
that I can see if upgrading tar fixes the problem of the lost file 
between the two tapes.  But, I wonder if it is going to end like before, 
just finishing at the end of the first tape, without prompting for the 
2nd tape, because it thinks it is already on the 2nd tape.

Should I be using the "-M" differently?

Thanks for your help.

--
==Leonard E. Sitongia
  High Altitude Observatory
  National Center for Atmospheric Research
  P.O. Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307  USA
  address@hidden  voice: (303)497-2454  fax: (303)497-1589