How do I make xxd -r work with the output of xxd -i?

Question

Can some propose a workaround for this bug:

cat /bin/ls |xxd -g 1 -i | xxd -r
xxd: sorry, cannot seek backwards.

But if you do:

cat /bin/ls |xxd -g 1 | xxd -r

It is ok. Is this a bug?

In the past I was able to execute this, but now I am just wondering if any alternatives exists?

Solution

Try xxd -r -p. This works for me:

:; cat /bin/ls | xxd -g 1 -i | xxd -r -p | md5sum - /bin/ls
fd20b8459b80679cddf83adf58277264  -
fd20b8459b80679cddf83adf58277264  /bin/ls