DOCUMENT ID: 1324-02

SYNOPSIS:    tar & cpio to floppy problems with vold running

OS RELEASE:  2.4

PRODUCT:     Solaris

KEYWORDS:    tar cpio floppy vold


SYMPTOMS:

Trying to tar a file to the floppy diskette by doing something like:

 $ tar -cvf /dev/rdiskette filename

You get a 'device busy' error message.


DESCRIPTION:

This is because vold has taken over control of the device that you are
accessing.  You can either use the proper device name under vold to
access the floppy, or kill vold temporarily, if necessary (this is not
recommended, though). 


SOLUTION:

1. First make sure vold knows that your floppy is inserted.
   If you do not see /vol/dev/aliases/floppy0 (on some floppy devices,
   vold does not detect floppy insertion automatically).  In this case,
   you must run volcheck -v first so that vold will read the floppy.

   $ volcheck -v &

2. Use the correct device name under vold.

   $ tar cvf /vol/dev/aliases/floppy0 filename


DATE APPROVED: 05/08/95