Robotic Library not using all the tapes

[Nomarian]

I have Windows 2003 Small Business Edition installed with Backup Exec 11d.  It see the HP 1/8 Autoloader fine and will inventory all the tapes when I choose to inventory the library.  It currently only backs up to a single tape every night instead of rotation through the 8 tapes. 

Where do I change this so it will rotate through all the tapes? 

[Scott_P]

Hi,
This could be any number of things... are the tapes that are in the library overwrite protected by chance? If so, Backup Exec will cycle through the tapes until it locates one that is appendable/overwritable.

If you launch a job and then go to the devices/media tabs can you see the library cycling through the slots, or does it just pick one particular slot every time and start running?

Regards,
Scott

[Nomarian]

I think I have it figured out.  It was not an overwrite issue.  I played with it a bit and found that I could add the other tapes to the media set.  Hopefully, Backup Exec will now cycle through all the tapes in the media set when it backs up.  I will test for a week and let you know.

[Hywel_Mallett]

To give you a better understanding of how it all works, have a look at Understanding Media Sets and How Backup Exec selects media