Backup Exec 11X ejecting backup tape for no reason

[leer]

I am currently using Backup exec to backup files on one of my servers.  I have run the backup for quite a while now with no problems at all.  All of a sudden the backup tape is ejecting itself at the start of the backup or shortly after the backup as started.  The message it reports is 
"Please insert overwritable media into the drive.

Overwritable media includes scratch, blank, and recyclable media. Please note that depending on the current Media Overwrite Protection setting, imported and allocated media may be overwritable as well. Consult the online help for more information on overwritable media.

Respond Yes to acknowledge.
Respond No to retry the operation.
Respond Cancel t o cancel the operation."

If I click yes or no then the message just returns.  If i click cancel then i get the following message in the backup properties:

"V-79-57344-33039 - Error - Mount failed.
User canceled a Physical Volume Library operation."

I dont know why this has just started happening and why it is only affecting this backup job.  I run another backup on the same server which runs fine.  I have also tried several different tapes to no avail.

I have done Hp Tape tools test on the drive and the media and all this is coming back ok.

Can anybody tell me why this is happening.

Backup exex Version is 11.0 - rev 7170,  running on Server 2003 sp2

[CraigV]

Hi,

It won't be a hardware problem...start by checking out the overwrite protection settings of your media sets, and make sure they are correct.
You can also check and make sure your append settings are correct, assuming you are using them.
Normally when this occurs, the media available in the drive is not overwritable, causing the job to queue, and the tape to eject.

Cheers!

[leer]

Hi Craig thanks for response.

Media sets are set to overwritable, append is set to infinite and media is overwritable.

The job is sometimes queing and ejecting and sometimes backing up some data then ejecting.

Not sure what else to check

[CraigV]

OK...when it happens again, check how much data is on the tape being written too...and how much is available. If it is full, then your overwrite/append periods need to be looked at.

[Ken_Putnam]

Are your jobs all Overwrite? or are some APPEND?

In the situation you describ, the job is either Overwrite and can't find an overwriteable tape to start in, or if it is an Append,  the job sees a tape volume from another media set, so ejects that and asks for an Overwriteable tape, or else the Append jobs finds an almost full tape, writes a little to it, then asks for an Overwriteable to continue the job.

[CraigV]

Hi,

Have you taken a look at the append/overwrite periods as suggested by Ken and myself?