Re: cpio errors on install: Bad Magic

Bryan Tonnet wrote: > In <33F8D536.CF613773@echonyc.com> Cosmo Lee > <*NO-SPAM*cosmo@echonyc.com> writes: > > >I'm getting cpio errors when trying to install various versions of > >ESQL/C and Online on Unixware 2.1 machines. The error from cpio is: > > > UX: cpio: HALT: Bad magic number/header > > >Informix has sent us multiple copies of the CDs, but the copies > >repeatedly fail, and the failures occur on multiple Unixware > machines. > >Anybody have this kind of experience or know what to do? > > You can get bad magic numbers for a few reasons. One of the most > common > is trying to read wrong format tapes, or trying to read character cpio > headers > without the "-c" flag. I would try; > > 1) looking at the CD by mounting it as a file system. If you are > trying to > read the CD by "cpio -iduvm </dev/cd0" (you don't say in your > posting), this > will not work if the cpio file has simply been placed on the CD. You > need to > mount the CD and then "cpio -iduvm </mnt/xxxx.cpio". > Yes, this is the case w/ the Informix distribution. Although the distribution instructions are to cpio directly from the device path, you have to, in fact, mount the CD first, then cpio from the *file* path. I've informed Informix awhile ago that their instructions are wrong, but they still haven't corrected them. So, I 1) mount the CD, then issue the following command 2): cpio -icvdumB < /CD-ROM_1/online.cpi > 2) tar (just in case, I've seen badly labelled tapes from Informix > before) > It's definitely a cpio archive, because I am able to extract quite a large number of files before the copy fails with the Bad Magic error. > 3) try with and without the character cpio header. ie cpio -idumvc > and > cpio -iduvm. I have tried this, but no-go. I've also tried copying the online.cpi file to disk, then extracting from there - no luck here either. Just got a new replacement CD for the Online software - same problem as before. And Informix says that they have tested the medium before shipping it out. I don't know what's going on . . . Thanks anyway. -- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ADDRESS ALTERED TO FOIL SPAMMERS: Remove "*NO-SPAM*" to reply. Cosmo Lee Multi-User Computer Systems Brooklyn, NY "JUST SAY 'NO' TO SPAM" * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *