% bc bc 1.05 Copyright 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This is free software with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. For details type `warranty'. obase=8 78000 230260 quit % od -b file |less then do /^02302 Note the caret. This will search for "02302" at the beginning of the line.