> --- Original Message ---
> Date: Fri, 09 May 2003 13:11:50 -0500
> From: "Andrew A. Raines" <drew AT phg.mc.vanderbilt DOT edu>
> 
> I'm trying to restore / and /usr from tape.  My AMANDA printout
> tells me to do:
> 
>    dd if=/dev/rmt/0n bs2k skip| /gzip -cd | ufsrestore -if -
> 
> That's dandy, and I use it all the time for other filesystems.
> However, because it's the system drive that failed in my E450, I'm
> in single-user mode from the Solaris CD.  There ain't no gzip.
> There ain't no amrestore.
> 
> Every time I run this:
> 
>    # mt rewind
>    # mt fsf 5
>    # dd if=/dev/rmt/0n bs2k skip| ufsrestore -rvf -
> 
> I get ``Volume not in dump format.''  That doesn't really surprise
> me, because the data is compressed on disk and must be uncompressed
> before ufsrestore can ``understand'' it.
> 
> So my question is, what can I do?  I've never had to bootstrap a
> system from tape like this.
> 
> I would really appreciate any suggestions.  This is an extremely
> critical system.
> 
> -- 
> Drew
> (34)3-5853
> 


I'm not sure if this will work, but you might try it:

Can you burn a cd real quick on another system?  Do you have access to a
gzip binary on another system?  Once you are booted up into single-user
mode from the Solaris cd, do you need to keep the cd mounted?  (I've only
used the cd a couple times, and never needed to use a different cd to get
other programs), or can you unmount it and mount a different cd?

If so, then real quick create a new cd, sort of like a rescue cd, with
some binaries you might need, like gzip, then mount it on the system, and
then your command could work....

Just a thought...