unexpected EOF encountered in tar file on tape

[jbk at mail2.gis.net (jbk)]

I have just discovered that the backups to tape
seem to be clipped. When I list the records on
tape I get a error mssg "unexpected end of
file.....". When I restore a record to a tmp
directory it seems that more recently created
directories are missing that I know should be
there. The backup script I use calls  'tar -czfX -
| dd b126 of=/dev/nht0' . The script does call an
EXCLUDE file.

I am useing a Travan 4 Seagate Ide tape drive. The
script is called from roots crontab and runs in
two modes depending on the day of the week, Full
or incremental. All of the records (archives on
tape) seem to experience this error.

Has anyone encountered this before? I can provide
more detail but I'm not at my linux box right now.

Jim Kelly-Rand