Problem:

During the backup or restore process of BRU Server the following error message occurs:

Unloading tape
Error: (0x05:0x3B0D) Medium destination element full

This then results in other backup or restore operations reporting the following:

Remove tape from drive
Can't tell where the tape in drive 1 of changer0 came from

Solution:

The cause of this is one of two things, either the library has been loaded with too many tapes (11 tapes in a 10-slot autoloader) or the library tried to put a tape back where it came from, only to find that the slot is full.

The first thing, having too many tapes in the library, it most certainly possible.  This happens by putting a tape into every available slot of the library, then after a tape has been loaded into the drive, putting an additional tape into the library in its place.

For example:

1. You have a 10-slot library with one tape drive.  You put ten tapes into the library, one for each slot.
2. A backup process is started and loads the tape from slot 3 into the tape drive.  This results in slot 3 now being empty since the tape has been moved into the tape drive.
3. You notice that slot 3 on the library is empty and mistakenly load a tape into slot 3.  This now causes 11 tapes to be loaded into the library.
4. When the backup process is done, the library tries to move the tape from the drive back into slot 3, only to find that the slot is now full, thus causing the "Error: (0x05:0x3B0D) Medium destination element full" message to appear.

This can be corrected by removing a tape from the library, then manually instructing the library to move the tape that is in the tape drive to the newly emptied tape slot using the library LCD panel or web interface, thereby having only 10 tapes in the library.

If you do not have too many tapes loaded into your library and you see this message (Error: (0x05:0x3B0D) Medium destination element full), it could be caused by moving a tape from one slot to another while a backup is running.

For example:

1. You have a 10-slot library with one tape drive.  You put ten tapes into the library, one for each slot.
2. A backup process is started and loads the tape from slot 3 into the tape drive.  This results in slot 3 now being empty since the tape has been moved into the tape drive.
3. You notice that slot 3 on the library is empty and mistakenly move a tape from slot 6 to slot 3.  Thereby preventing the tape that is currently in the tape drive from being replaced to slot 3.
   
4. When the backup process is done, the library tries to move the tape from the drive back into slot 3, only to find that the slot is now full, thus causing the "Error: (0x05:0x3B0D) Medium destination element full" message to appear.

This can be corrected by instructing the library to remove the tape that is currently in the tape drive to an empty slot using the library LCD panel or web interface.  This must be manually done by a person since the library is now in a state of confusion and can only be corrected by human intervention.

Future Prevention:

To prevent errors of this nature in the future, it is strongly advised that you do not add, remove, or move tapes in a library unless instructed to do so by BRU Server .  If you choose to add, remove, or move tapes in a library while BRU Server is running, you must take extreme precaution at all times to prevent errors of this nature.

When a backup or restore process is running, tapes are loaded and unloaded throughout the whole process and since it's difficult to determine when the loading or unloading is going to occur, it is best to wait until prompted by BRU Server to perform tape changes or when the backup or restore process is completed and BRU Server has removed its lock on the tape device.