Media is overwrite protected error

[Jonathan_Embert]

My backups keep failing and the tape is being spit out. The alerts say that the media is overwrite protected. The overwrite and append are both set to infinite. The tapes only have around 4 gigs written to them with 360 gig available. I have been dragging the tapes to scratch media, and that works, but I am afraid this is overwriting the data already on the tape. We only backup data that has been saved for that backup period (Noon and Afternoon), so there is no way the tapes are filling up. Please help!

[Ken_Putnam]

You are indeed overwriting the data on the tapes by dragging them to the scratch media set

If you want multiple jobs to write to the same tape, they need to use the same media set and be created as "Append " or "Append , else Overwrite"

If you want to Overwrite each tape, you need to change the Overwrite period from Infinte (never overwrite) to 6 days for a tape used every week or 27 days for a tape used once a month

[Jonathan_Embert]

That is how they were created. They are set to: Infinite: Dont allow over write and Infinite: Allow Append. Both tapes are new and have 320 gb capacity but are only writing around 4 before they kick out the overwrite protection error.

They are also failing and giving an error (cyclic redundancy check)Message was edited by:
Cayce Harlow

[Ken_Putnam]

The Overwrite vs Append is set in the Job definition, not on the media set.

For the CRC error, the Veritas CRC Troubleshooting Guide is at http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/192216.htm

[Jonathan_Embert]

That is also how the jobs are set up. Nothing has changed in the settings.

I called Quantum and they had me upgrade the firmware on the drive and run diagnostics. It passed all the tests. A scheduled backup was missed during this process. So I ran one manually and I got the same error: Media is overwrite protected.

Message was edited by:
Cayce HarlowMessage was edited by:
Cayce Harlow

[Ken_Putnam]

Again, if Overwrite Protection Period is set to Infinite on the media set, BackupExec will never overwrite the tape.

If you plan on re-using the tapes, set the OPP so that it has expired before the tape is due to be reused

[Jonathan_Embert]

It isn't supposed to overwrite....it is supposed to append. The settings have never changed in three years and we are just now getting these errors.

[Steve_O_2]

If the job is set to just append it will not work either especially if you just erased the tape. Since its not appendable
Have you tried replacing the pvl.mdb file and setup up a new media set or just set the overwrite protection to None?

[Ken_Putnam]

.it is supposed to append. The settings have never changed in three years and we are just now getting these errors.

In that case, I'd say that you have finally started filling up tapes.

If you never run an overwrite job, sooner or later the tape will fill up, and if the job is defined as append, else overwrite, BackupExec will look for an overwriteable tape if the mounted tape is full

Depending on what drive you have and what drivers you are using, BackupExec may be writing a little to the tape, and then trying to remount the same tape to continue, and at that point is giving the overwrite errors, tho usually in this case you will get the infamous "The tape you have provided to contunue the backup already contains ..."

[Jonathan_Embert]

It is a near impossibility that the tape is full. I ran a full backup this weekend, so things aren't as crucial at this point. I was very suprised this morning when I got here and it was 100% completed. I have now started over with blank tapes for my dailys and I am going to monitor how much data is written to them. Hopefully you guys won't hear any more out of me for a while. :)