[wplug] tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

[Jim LaSalle]

I am using a SCSI DAT tape drive to backup. Tar is all I need at this
time. Here's what I'm doing

mt -f /dev/st0 rewind
tar -cvzf /dev/st0 .

This seems to go ok with no error messages. However if I test the backup
with:

mt -f /dev/st0 rewind
tar -tvzf /dev/st0

I get the following message from tar

    gzip: stdin: decompression OK, trailing garbage ignored
    tar: Child returned status 2
    tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

If I just make a tarball on the hdd, the test does not report any
errors.  I suspect the error messages are the result of some padding on
the tape but I am not sure. The errors do not occur if compression is
not used as in:
    tar -cvf /dev/st0 .

I also wonder if it's necessary to rewind the tape if I use the /dev/st0
device.  Is rewinding necessary with /dev/st0  or  even /dev/nst0?

I'm running Red Hat Linux 6.2