Preserving timestamps when copying files?

[SpiderDude]

I have a PS3 running kmeaw 3.55, and I've been looking for a way to copy files off of and onto the PS3's hard drive while preserving the timestamp information. This is one of those things what seems like it should be a no-brainer, but I haven't been able to work out how to do it yet. I've tried various PS3 FTP servers, but all of them change the timestamps to when the files was copied, rather than keeping the original timestamps. I've also tried installing Linux onto an external hard drive using AsbestOS/BootOS 2.01. After two hours of downloading/installing, there's no option to boot into the OS I just installed. I gather there might be a problem with the kboot file, but hell if I can get it to work. I've looked at other Linux options, such as using petiboot, but they all seem to involve wiping the internal hard drive, which is just about the opposite of what I'm trying to do.

So, does there exist any tool that can do what I'm trying to do? I just want to copy files from the internal hard drive onto a USB stick (and vice versa) while preserving timestamp information.

[SpiderDude]

I spent last night repeating the Linux install process on an (evidently slow-as-hell) flash drive, with similar disappointing results. Of course, if finally occurred to me somewhere in the middle of the process that even if it had worked, Linux almost certainly wouldn't have the drivers to read a PS3's hard drive anyway.

Which brings me back to the FTP option. The number of views on this thread in just one week demonstrates that there's interest in this topic (or that forum reader are bored and will read anything). So I wonder if it's an issue of it not being possible to preserve timestamps for whatever reason, or if it's just a matter of no homebrew developer taking an interest in it?