Tar error: cannot write: invalid argument

kaplan71 · 11-01-2006, 03:53 PM

I am trying to do a tar backup to a locally attached tape drive. The tape drive is attached via an Adaptec 2930 SCSI card, and is a DAT drive with the SCSI ID 3. The device file that I am using is /dev/st0.

Whenever I try to do a backup I use the following syntax:

# tar -cvf /dev/st0 /tmp <directory>

The error message I am getting is the following:

tar: /dev/st0: Cannot write: Invalid argument
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now.

The operating system is Fedora Core 5, and the version of tar is GNU tar 1.15.1.

stress_junkie · 11-01-2006, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaplan71

# tar -cvf /dev/st0 /tmp <directory>

You have too many parameters. Remove /tmp and see what happens.

kaplan71 · 11-02-2006, 07:14 AM

When I run the command tar -cvf /dev/st0 the error message I get is the following:

tar: Cowardly refusing to create an empty archive.

stress_junkie · 11-02-2006, 10:37 AM

Well now you don't have enough parameters. Apparently you removed both the /tmp and the <directory>. Here is an example to back up the /home directory tree to /dev/st0.

Code:

tar -cvf /dev/st0 /home