Greetings Stefan;

I think I've made some progress and the remaining problem
is my inability to label the vtapes.  I think...

I've combined the scripts in your howto, so that its all in
one in case one should have to restart, and it comes in handy
right now since there is nothing precious to lose if I run it
several times in a row.

Here is that script:
-------------mkamandatapes------------
#!/bin/sh
cd /amandatapes/DailySet1
rm -fR *
echo show its empty
ls -l
sleep 2
echo next make new slot dirs
for n in 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
do
mkdir /amandatapes/DailySet1/slot${n}
chmod -v 750 /amandatapes/DailySet1/slot${n}
done
ls -l
sleep 3
echo now we label them
for n in 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
do
rm -f data
ln -s slot${n} data
amlabel DailySet1 DailySet1-${n} slot slot${n}
done
------------EOF-------------

Now, when run, I get this:
----------
[amanda@coyote DailySet1]$  /usr/local/etc/amanda/DailySet1/mkamandatapes
show its empty
total 0
next make new slot dirs
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot00' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot01' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot02' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot03' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot04' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot05' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot06' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot07' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot08' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot09' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot10' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot11' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot12' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot13' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot14' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot15' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot16' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot17' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot18' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot19' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot20' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot21' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot22' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot23' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot24' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot25' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot26' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot27' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot28' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
mode of `/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot29' changed to 0750 (rwxr-x---)
total 120
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot00
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot01
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot02
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot03
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot04
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot05
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot06
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot07
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot08
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot09
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot10
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot11
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot12
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot13
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot14
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot15
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot16
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot17
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot18
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot19
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot20
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot21
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot22
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot23
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot24
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot25
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot26
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot27
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot28
drwxr-x---  2 amanda disk 4096 Sep  8 22:42 slot29
now we label them
amlabel: could not load slot "slot00": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot01": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot02": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot03": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot04": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot05": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot06": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot07": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot08": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot09": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot10": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot11": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot12": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot13": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot14": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot15": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot16": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot17": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot18": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot19": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot20": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot21": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot22": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot23": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot24": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot25": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot26": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot27": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot28": illegal request
amlabel: could not load slot "slot29": illegal request
----------------------------

And I note that the ln -s in the above file leaves it so data-->slot29
when its done spitting out all these errors.

And, an 'amcheck DailySet1' returns this:
Amanda Tape Server Host Check
-----------------------------
Holding disk /dumps: 21138572 KB disk space available, using 20626572 KB
amcheck-server: slot 25: tape_rdlabel: tape open: FILE:/amandatapes/DailySet1: 
No such file or directory
amcheck-server: slot ln:: tape_rdlabel: tape open: creating symbolic link 
`FILE:/amandatapes/DailySet1/data' to `FILE:/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot26': No 
such file or directory: No such file or directory
amcheck-server: slot ln:: tape_rdlabel: tape open: creating symbolic link 
`FILE:/amandatapes/DailySet1/data' to `FILE:/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot27': No 
such file or directory: No such file or directory
amcheck-server: slot ln:: tape_rdlabel: tape open: creating symbolic link 
`FILE:/amandatapes/DailySet1/data' to `FILE:/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot28': No 
such file or directory: No such file or directory
amcheck-server: slot ln:: tape_rdlabel: tape open: creating symbolic link 
`FILE:/amandatapes/DailySet1/data' to `FILE:/amandatapes/DailySet1/slot1': No 
such file or directory: No such file or directory

etc etc.

And I note that the starting point of its scan is advancing
backwards by one "vtape" for every time I run amcheck, just
like it did when using real tapes and the changer.  And that
its definitely out of step with your->my script.

Does the above problem ring any bells for you?
                                              
-- 
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
99.25% setiathome rank, not too shabby for a WV hillbilly
Yahoo.com attorneys please note, additions to this message
by Gene Heskett are:
Copyright 2004 by Maurice Eugene Heskett, all rights reserved.