Re: incorrect copy of modify time in cp

[Bob Proulx]

Paul E Condon wrote:
> However, it does NOT set the mtime the full precision when
> files are extracted from the .tar file. It only restores
> the integral part of the second. The fractional part is all
> zeros.

Perhaps if both cp and tar are doing the same thing then the problem
is outside the control of either?

> Oops! Maybe all this has been fixed. I'm working with Debian
> Sarge. My cp version is cp (coreutils) 5.2.1
> My tar version is tar (GNU tar) 1.14

Most important there is what kernel you are using and upon what
filesystem types you are storing the files.  Debian Sarge has full
support for a linux 2.6 kernel with filesystems with high resolution
timestamps.  For example using linux-2.6.8 and xfs works fine for me.
But using the old linux-2.4 kernel with ext3 or reiserfs filesystems
does not.  I don't have a full table of which work and which do not.
I just know that some combinations work and some don't.

What kernel are you using?  The output of uname -r?
What filesystem type are you using?  The output of df -T?

Also, depending upon the answers to those questions I would ask that
you run cp with strace and observe the data from the system calls to
see if they make sense.

Bob