Unable to open a tar.gz file

Are there any alternative ways to open a ".tar.gz" file than -xzf or -zxvf or xzvf? I am running Mac OS X 10.7.

My command line returns:

tar: Unrecognized archive format
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors.

I am doing this to open mysql-5.1.33.tar.gz from a sites method to install MYSQL. I have tried many methods to open the tar and something wrong. What I am not seeing?

2 Answers

I would guess that the archive is damaged. Try downloading it again, and even controlling the checksum if an intended value is given at the download site if it does not work.

If it still does not work, try

gunzip mysql-5.1.33.tar.gz

to see if the compression is done correctly, and then

tar xvf mysql-5.1.33.tar

to try to unroll the archive. This will pin point the problem better.

I had the same problem and it turned out that when I had downloaded the .tar.gz file, I had clicked "Download Link" on a page that led to a second page with the actual download.

So, my .tar.gz was just a bunch of HTML.

You can check by posting the address of the .tar.gz in your browser to make sure it's an actual compressed file.