Checking the sources, it looks like bsdtar can read this using a command such as:
$ bsdtar xf archive.cpio —option=cpio:pwb bsdtar automatically recognizes and supports most modern cpio formats; the `cpio:pwb` option prompts it to use PWB file modes when extracting. Tim > On Dec 16, 2022, at 9:25 AM, Alice Lecinski <[email protected]> wrote: > > Thanks Tim. It'll be a fun afternoon. :-) > Thanks for your help, > --Alice > > On Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 10:21 AM Tim Kientzle <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > This appears to be a CPIO archive stored in the original cpio format > introduced as part of Programmer’s Work Bench (PWB), a variant of 6th Edition > UNIX. > > The PWB format differed from that used in 7th Edition Unix in how it > represented file types. > > The first file in this archive, for example, is stored with a file type of > octal 110644. In the PWB format, this indicated a regular file with IALLOC > and ILARG flags set (neither of which is relevant for cpio purposes). In > later 7th Edition, this is nonsense (a “regular file” that is also a “named > pipe”), which explains the errors you are seeing. > > In short, you’ll need to find or write a program that can extract the PWB > format. I’m not sure if GNU cpio can do this — it probably assumes “bin” > format is the 7th Edition Format. I don’t recall if bsdcpio can extract this > or not — I’d have to check the sources. > > Fortunately, cpio format is very easy to read. It has a fixed-layout header > for each entry, followed by the filename and file contents. So if you know > how to read binary data from one file and write it to another, you can > probably cobble up something workable in an afternoon. The header details > can be found online: https://man.archlinux.org/man/cpio.5.en > <https://man.archlinux.org/man/cpio.5.en> > > Tim > > > > > > >> On Dec 15, 2022, at 10:16 AM, Alice Lecinski <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> Thank you so very much for your response. >> >> Please find attached the results of: >> od -xv --address-radix=d FILE_001 > V00063_hexdump.txt >> >> Thank you, >> Alice >> >> >> On Wed, Dec 14, 2022 at 7:10 PM Tim Kientzle <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> Can you provide a hex dump of the first 128 or so bytes of the archive? >> >> Tim >> >> >>> On Dec 14, 2022, at 12:40 PM, Alice Lecinski <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>> I have a very old cpio archive written in approximately 1990. >>> It was most likely written on a VAX VMS (~linux) system. >>> This is historical data and fairly important... >>> >>> When I attempt to get the files using: >>> cpio -iv --no-absolute-filenames --force-local --format='bin' < FILE_001 >>> >>> I get the following output: >>> cpio: ecl9w2: unknown file type >>> ecl9w2 >>> cpio: g: unknown file type >>> g >>> cpio: ssss: unknown file type >>> ssss >>> cpio: t: unknown file type >>> t >>> wwww >>> 5480 blocks >>> >>> When I then do an 'ls', the 'wwww' file has been created. But none of the >>> other files: >>> 'ecl9w2', 'g', 't' >>> exist. >>> The 'wwww' file is ascii and readable. I know the 'ecl9w2' file is binary. >>> >>> Any suggestions? >>> Thank you, >>> Alice >>> >>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> >>> Alice Lecinski >>> Associate Scientist IV >>> High Altitude Observatory www2.hao.ucar.edu >>> <http://www2.hao.ucar.edu/> >>> >>> HAO is a division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, >>> which is operated by the University Corporation for Atmospheric >>> Research under sponsorship of the National Science Foundation. >>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> >> >> <V00063_hexdump.txt> >
