Tar help requested

[Ttang.uci-750a%rand-relay at sri-unix.UUCP]

I am not sure which Unix system you are using, however on 4.1xbsd, tar
used to calculate and store a checksum for each header block written
on the tape.  The message "directory checksum error" might be produced
when you are trying to read a header that represents a directory and
there are some errors thus cause an incorrect checksum.

/ttang