diff: "Value too large" error message

[Peter Remirez]

Hi,

I have 2 files(binaries), both of 2.5GB in size. When doing a
% diff bigFile2 bigFile3
diff: bigFile2: Value too large for defined data type
% du -sk bigFile2
2402348 bigFile2
% du -sk bigFile3
2402348 bigFile3

This error is obtained regarless if bigFile2 is greater in size compared to bigFile3 or vice versa.

I tried switching around with the positions of bigFile3 and bigFile2 when doing a diff, and it produced the error:
% diff bigFile3 bigFile2
diff: bigFile3: Value too large for defined data type
diff: bigFile2: Value too large for defined data type
(bigFile3 & bigFile2 in the above scenario are of similar sizes).

May I know how can I resolve this error message? What is the remedy to the "diff" utility for solving such problem?

Thanks.

[Ollie R]

Hi,

"diff" should be used to compare text files only. The comparison is done line by line.

Ollie.

[Ollie R]

Maybe "cmp" is what you require?

[Zeev Schultz]

use bdiff (or -h option of diff)