Specifically: - the setuid bit on binaries is not being preserved (took me ages to figure out why 'su' wouldn't work on fresh installs :) - permissions and owner/group info is not being restored correctly on /dev special files. Way to test. Create a base2_2.tgz file and untar in a temp dir using stock tar then do same using busybox tar in a different temp dir and compare the results. You'll see the difference. Greg