Ok, thanks to you guys I got it working. If you're interested, here's what happened (I think). The first time I tried to copy all of the root partition using -axR. This was working until it got to one of the bttv (brooktree tv card) dev files. I think that because the card was in use (but it could be my own incompetence), it started copying data from the card. After I noticed this file at hundreds of megabytes, I cntrl-c'd the copy. I guess in subsequent tries, I left out the -a. So Pete, you were right and "cp is smart about device files".
Thanks again, John Paul Pete Harlan wrote: > > -r was a typo. I meant -R for recursive. It still won't copy the devices in > > /dev. > > Well then I'm not much help, am I? :) > > I use cp -a all the time to copy /dev directories. Do you do anything > 'funny' (e.g., use devfs for your device files)? I've never had a > problem with 'cp -a' since I stoped using '-r' myself... > > Are you sure you didn't make the same typo when you ran the command? > Are you sure you're not running out of disk space? (I'm not trying to > insult you, I just have this deep-rooted conviction that cp is smart > about device files.) > > If you're in a time crunch and don't feel like figuring this out so > much as you do copying a directory, you ought to be able to use tar to > do it > > ( cd /dev; tar cpf - ) | ( cd /mnt/dev; tar xpf - ) > > ought to work, though it's clumsier than using cp. > > -- > Pete Harlan > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
