deja-dup not backing up

[michael weaver]

i can't seem to tell if deja-dup is running a backup for me.
i chose to write to a cd or dvd but the furthest i get is a 
message saying "location already mounted" and close and i don't 
know if this is affecting my ability to create my backups and i 
can't even hear my cd and dvd drive spinning so i am assuming 
that something has gone wrong.
whatever i can't even access my progress with ctrl f1.