when trying to rsync of a .git repo with --inplace over the network, a partial target packfile with perms -r--r--r--, the transfer fails because rsync cant open the file for write, but the network continues transferring data. mkdir a b dd if=/dev/urandom of=a/file count=1024 touch b/file dd if=a/file of=b/file count=512 chmod 444 b/file # copy b to some other machine # rsync a remote:$(pwd) rsync -avzHi --inplace a remote:$(pwd) rsync: [receiver] open "<pwd>/b/file" failed: Permission denied (13) But the network transfer doesn't stop here. It sends the whole file over though it is not used at the remote end. did this behaviour change at some point? shouldn't rsync abort when the receiver fails. -- Madhu