diff -ur rsync-prerwdevices/flist.c rsync/flist.c
--- rsync-prerwdevices/flist.c	2011-07-20 14:49:33.000000000 +0100
+++ rsync/flist.c	2011-07-20 17:02:08.000000000 +0100
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
 extern int prune_empty_dirs;
 extern int copy_links;
 extern int copy_unsafe_links;
+extern int rw_devices;
 extern int protocol_version;
 extern int sanitize_paths;
 extern int munge_symlinks;
@@ -218,7 +219,7 @@
 #endif
 }
 
-int link_stat(const char *path, STRUCT_STAT *stp, int follow_dirlinks)
+static int link_stat2(const char *path, STRUCT_STAT *stp, int follow_dirlinks)
 {
 #ifdef SUPPORT_LINKS
 	if (copy_links)
@@ -236,6 +237,28 @@
 #endif
 }
 
+int link_stat(const char *path, STRUCT_STAT *stp, int follow_dirlinks)
+{
+	if (link_stat2(path, stp, follow_dirlinks) != 0)
+		return -1;
+	if (rw_devices && S_ISBLK(stp->st_mode) && stp->st_size == 0) {
+		/* On Linux systems (at least), st_size is typically 0 for devices.
+		 * If so, try to determine the actual device size. */
+		int fdx = do_open(path, O_RDONLY, 0);
+		if (fdx == -1)
+			rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to open device %s to determine size", path);
+		else {
+			OFF_T off = lseek(fdx, 0, SEEK_END);
+			if (off == (OFF_T)-1)
+				rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to seek to end of %s to determine size", path);
+			else
+				stp->st_size = off;
+			close(fdx);
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static inline int is_daemon_excluded(const char *fname, int is_dir)
 {
 	if (daemon_filter_list.head
@@ -663,7 +686,7 @@
 #endif
 	strlcpy(lastname, fname, MAXPATHLEN);
 
-	if (S_ISREG(mode) || S_ISLNK(mode))
+	if (S_ISREG(mode) || S_ISLNK(mode) || (rw_devices && S_ISBLK(mode)))
 		stats.total_size += F_LENGTH(file);
 }
 
@@ -1343,7 +1366,8 @@
 #ifdef HAVE_STRUCT_STAT_ST_RDEV
 	if (IS_DEVICE(st.st_mode)) {
 		tmp_rdev = st.st_rdev;
-		st.st_size = 0;
+		if (!rw_devices || !S_ISBLK(st.st_mode))
+			st.st_size = 0;
 	} else if (IS_SPECIAL(st.st_mode))
 		st.st_size = 0;
 #endif
diff -ur rsync-prerwdevices/generator.c rsync/generator.c
--- rsync-prerwdevices/generator.c	2011-07-20 14:49:33.000000000 +0100
+++ rsync/generator.c	2011-07-20 17:02:08.000000000 +0100
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 extern int preserve_xattrs;
 extern int preserve_links;
 extern int preserve_devices;
+extern int rw_devices;
 extern int preserve_specials;
 extern int preserve_hard_links;
 extern int preserve_executability;
@@ -1230,6 +1231,23 @@
 
 		statret = link_stat(fname, &sx.st, keep_dirlinks && is_dir);
 		stat_errno = errno;
+
+		if (statret == 0 && IS_DEVICE(sx.st.st_mode) && sx.st.st_size == 0) {
+			/* On Linux systems (at least), st_size is typically 0 for devices.
+			 * If so, try to determine the actual device size. */
+			int fdx = do_open(fname, O_RDONLY, 0);
+			if ( fdx == -1 ) {
+				rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to open device %s to determine size", fname);
+			}
+			else {
+				OFF_T off = lseek(fdx, 0, SEEK_END);
+				if (off == (OFF_T)-1)
+					rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to seek to end of %s to determine size", fname);
+				else
+					sx.st.st_size = off;
+				close(fdx);
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	if (missing_args == 2 && file->mode == 0) {
@@ -1558,7 +1576,7 @@
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 
-	if (!S_ISREG(file->mode)) {
+	if (!(S_ISREG(file->mode) || (rw_devices && IS_DEVICE(file->mode)))) {
 		if (solo_file)
 			fname = f_name(file, NULL);
 		rprintf(FINFO, "skipping non-regular file \"%s\"\n", fname);
@@ -1595,7 +1613,7 @@
 
 	fnamecmp_type = FNAMECMP_FNAME;
 
-	if (statret == 0 && !S_ISREG(sx.st.st_mode)) {
+	if (statret == 0 && !(S_ISREG(sx.st.st_mode) || (rw_devices && IS_DEVICE(sx.st.st_mode)))) {
 		if (delete_item(fname, sx.st.st_mode, del_opts | DEL_FOR_FILE) != 0)
 			goto cleanup;
 		statret = -1;
diff -ur rsync-prerwdevices/options.c rsync/options.c
--- rsync-prerwdevices/options.c	2011-07-20 14:49:33.000000000 +0100
+++ rsync/options.c	2011-07-20 17:02:08.000000000 +0100
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 int keep_dirlinks = 0;
 int copy_dirlinks = 0;
 int copy_links = 0;
+int rw_devices = 0;
 int preserve_links = 0;
 int preserve_hard_links = 0;
 int preserve_acls = 0;
@@ -701,6 +702,7 @@
   rprintf(F," -o, --owner                 preserve owner (super-user only)\n");
   rprintf(F," -g, --group                 preserve group\n");
   rprintf(F,"     --devices               preserve device files (super-user only)\n");
+  rprintf(F,"     --rw-devices            read/write device contents as regular file (implies --inplace)\n");
   rprintf(F,"     --specials              preserve special files\n");
   rprintf(F," -D                          same as --devices --specials\n");
   rprintf(F," -t, --times                 preserve modification times\n");
@@ -878,6 +880,7 @@
   {"no-D",             0,  POPT_ARG_NONE,   0, OPT_NO_D, 0, 0 },
   {"devices",          0,  POPT_ARG_VAL,    &preserve_devices, 1, 0, 0 },
   {"no-devices",       0,  POPT_ARG_VAL,    &preserve_devices, 0, 0, 0 },
+  {"rw-devices",       0,  POPT_ARG_NONE,   &rw_devices, 0, 0, 0 },
   {"specials",         0,  POPT_ARG_VAL,    &preserve_specials, 1, 0, 0 },
   {"no-specials",      0,  POPT_ARG_VAL,    &preserve_specials, 0, 0, 0 },
   {"links",           'l', POPT_ARG_VAL,    &preserve_links, 1, 0, 0 },
@@ -1817,6 +1820,11 @@
 
 	set_output_verbosity(verbose, DEFAULT_PRIORITY);
 
+	if (rw_devices) {
+		inplace = 1;
+		ignore_times = 1;
+	}
+
 	if (do_stats) {
 		parse_output_words(info_words, info_levels,
 			verbose > 1 ? "stats3" : "stats2", DEFAULT_PRIORITY);
@@ -2690,6 +2698,9 @@
 	if (preallocate_files && am_sender)
 		args[ac++] = "--preallocate";
 
+	if (rw_devices)
+		args[ac++] = "--rw-devices";
+
 	if (ac > MAX_SERVER_ARGS) { /* Not possible... */
 		rprintf(FERROR, "argc overflow in server_options().\n");
 		exit_cleanup(RERR_MALLOC);
diff -ur rsync-prerwdevices/receiver.c rsync/receiver.c
--- rsync-prerwdevices/receiver.c	2011-07-20 14:49:33.000000000 +0100
+++ rsync/receiver.c	2011-07-20 17:02:08.000000000 +0100
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 extern int relative_paths;
 extern int preserve_hard_links;
 extern int preserve_perms;
+extern int rw_devices;
 extern int preserve_xattrs;
 extern int basis_dir_cnt;
 extern int make_backups;
@@ -227,6 +228,7 @@
 static int receive_data(int f_in, char *fname_r, int fd_r, OFF_T size_r,
 			const char *fname, int fd, OFF_T total_size)
 {
+	STRUCT_STAT st;
 	static char file_sum1[MAX_DIGEST_LEN];
 	struct map_struct *mapbuf;
 	struct sum_struct sum;
@@ -369,13 +371,17 @@
 	/* inplace: New data could be shorter than old data.
 	 * preallocate_files: total_size could have been an overestimate.
 	 *     Cut off any extra preallocated zeros from dest file. */
-	if ((inplace
-#ifdef PREALLOCATE_NEEDS_TRUNCATE
-	  || preallocated_len > offset
-#endif
-	  ) && fd != -1 && do_ftruncate(fd, offset) < 0) {
-		rsyserr(FERROR_XFER, errno, "ftruncate failed on %s",
-			full_fname(fname));
+	(void)do_fstat(fd,&st);
+	/* Makes no sense to attempt to ftruncate() a block device: */
+	if (!(IS_DEVICE(st.st_mode))) {
+		if ((inplace
+	#ifdef PREALLOCATE_NEEDS_TRUNCATE
+		  || preallocated_len > offset
+	#endif
+		  ) && fd != -1 && do_ftruncate(fd, offset) < 0) {
+			rsyserr(FERROR_XFER, errno, "ftruncate failed on %s",
+				full_fname(fname));
+		}
 	}
 #endif
 
@@ -785,11 +791,25 @@
 			continue;
 		}
 
-		if (fd1 != -1 && !S_ISREG(st.st_mode)) {
+		if (fd1 != -1 && !(S_ISREG(st.st_mode) || (rw_devices && IS_DEVICE(st.st_mode)))) {
 			close(fd1);
 			fd1 = -1;
 		}
 
+		/* On Linux systems (at least), st_size is typically 0 for devices.
+		 * If so, try to determine the actual device size. */
+		if (fd1 != -1 && IS_DEVICE(st.st_mode) && st.st_size == 0) {
+			OFF_T off = lseek(fd1, 0, SEEK_END);
+			if (off == (OFF_T) -1)
+				rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to seek to end of %s to determine size", fname);
+			else {
+				st.st_size = off;
+				off = lseek(fd1, 0, SEEK_SET);
+				if (off != 0)
+					rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to seek back to beginning of %s to read it", fname);
+			}
+		}
+
 		/* If we're not preserving permissions, change the file-list's
 		 * mode based on the local permissions and some heuristics. */
 		if (!preserve_perms) {
diff -ur rsync-prerwdevices/rsync.c rsync/rsync.c
--- rsync-prerwdevices/rsync.c	2011-07-20 14:49:33.000000000 +0100
+++ rsync/rsync.c	2011-07-20 17:02:08.000000000 +0100
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 extern int preserve_perms;
 extern int preserve_executability;
 extern int preserve_times;
+extern int rw_devices;
 extern int am_root;
 extern int am_server;
 extern int am_sender;
@@ -395,7 +396,8 @@
 
 	if (iflags & ITEM_TRANSFER) {
 		int i = ndx - cur_flist->ndx_start;
-		if (i < 0 || !S_ISREG(cur_flist->files[i]->mode)) {
+		struct file_struct *file = cur_flist->files[i];
+		if (i < 0 || !(S_ISREG(file->mode) || (rw_devices && IS_DEVICE(file->mode)))) {
 			rprintf(FERROR,
 				"received request to transfer non-regular file: %d [%s]\n",
 				ndx, who_am_i());
diff -ur rsync-prerwdevices/syscall.c rsync/syscall.c
--- rsync-prerwdevices/syscall.c	2011-07-20 14:49:33.000000000 +0100
+++ rsync/syscall.c	2011-07-20 17:02:08.000000000 +0100
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 extern int list_only;
 extern int preserve_perms;
 extern int preserve_executability;
+extern int rw_devices;
 
 #define RETURN_ERROR_IF(x,e) \
 	do { \
@@ -306,20 +307,56 @@
 int do_stat(const char *fname, STRUCT_STAT *st)
 {
 #ifdef USE_STAT64_FUNCS
-	return stat64(fname, st);
+	if (stat64(fname, st) != 0)
+		return -1;
 #else
-	return stat(fname, st);
+	if (stat(fname, st) != 0)
+		return -1;
 #endif
+	if (rw_devices && S_ISBLK(st->st_mode) && st->st_size == 0) {
+		/* On Linux systems (at least), st_size is typically 0 for devices.
+		 * If so, try to determine the actual device size. */
+		int fdx = do_open(fname, O_RDONLY, 0);
+		if (fdx == -1)
+			rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to open device %s to determine size", fname);
+		else {
+			OFF_T off = lseek(fdx, 0, SEEK_END);
+			if (off == (OFF_T)-1)
+				rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to seek to end of %s to determine size", fname);
+			else
+				st->st_size = off;
+			close(fdx);
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
 }
 
 int do_lstat(const char *fname, STRUCT_STAT *st)
 {
 #ifdef SUPPORT_LINKS
 # ifdef USE_STAT64_FUNCS
-	return lstat64(fname, st);
+	if (lstat64(fname, st) != 0)
+		return -1;
 # else
-	return lstat(fname, st);
+	if (lstat(fname, st) != 0)
+		return -1;
 # endif
+	if (rw_devices && S_ISBLK(st->st_mode) && st->st_size == 0) {
+		/* On Linux systems (at least), st_size is typically 0 for devices.
+		 * If so, try to determine the actual device size. */
+		int fdx = do_open(fname, O_RDONLY, 0);
+		if (fdx == -1)
+			rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to open device %s to determine size", fname);
+		else {
+			OFF_T off = lseek(fdx, 0, SEEK_END);
+			if (off == (OFF_T)-1)
+				rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to seek to end of %s to determine size", fname);
+			else
+				st->st_size = off;
+			close(fdx);
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
 #else
 	return do_stat(fname, st);
 #endif
@@ -328,10 +365,30 @@
 int do_fstat(int fd, STRUCT_STAT *st)
 {
 #ifdef USE_STAT64_FUNCS
-	return fstat64(fd, st);
+	if (fstat64(fd, st) != 0)
+		return -1;
 #else
-	return fstat(fd, st);
+	if (fstat(fd, st) != 0)
+		return -1;
 #endif
+	if (rw_devices && S_ISBLK(st->st_mode) && st->st_size == 0) {
+		/* On Linux systems (at least), st_size is typically 0 for devices.
+		 * If so, try to determine the actual device size. */
+		OFF_T off_save = lseek(fd, 0, SEEK_CUR);
+		if (off_save == (OFF_T)-1)
+			rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to seek on device inode %lld to read current position", (long long int)(st->st_ino));
+		else {
+			OFF_T off = lseek(fd, 0, SEEK_END);
+			if (off == (OFF_T)-1)
+				rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to seek to end on device inode %lld to determine size", (long long int)(st->st_ino));
+			else
+				st->st_size = off;
+			off = lseek(fd, off_save, SEEK_SET);
+			if (off == (OFF_T)-1)
+				rsyserr(FERROR, errno, "failed to seek to origin position on device inode %lld", (long long int)(st->st_ino));
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
 }
 
 OFF_T do_lseek(int fd, OFF_T offset, int whence)