Perhaps you need to use mt on the /dev/nst0 device to skip past the file mark between files? Also, some types of tapes won't accept file marks. Bob Toxen bob at cavu.com transam at cavu.com [ALE & linux-ppp] http://www.mindspring.com/~cavu Fly-By-Day Consulting, Inc. "Venimus, Vidimus, Dolavimus" (We came, we saw, we hacked)