1)  I think the dsmsched.log has been set to overwrite itself? - I would
like it to append the data and then set the retention to keep 2 weeks worth
of data - how do I do this?  That's done in the dsm.sys - right?

In the dsm.sys add this line  SchedLogRetention 14 D

2)    I'm seeing this message inplace of a "backup completed sucessfully"
message a lot of times, but not all the time...anyone have any ideas why -
or how I can get rid of it?

Where are you seeing this message? in the dsmsched.log? try to find out
what its related to


3)  I have a couple of backups that appear to complete just fine (no failed
files), however when I do a 'q event' it shows the schedule as "FAILED" - I
can't figure out if I have a good backup or not?  Any ideas?

Your scheduled backup could be exceeding the scheduled window you have
defined for the schedule check that on the "duration" parameter defined on
the schedule