Reinsert cassette when I insert a tape, the screen flashes "reinsert cassette". So I guess the camera has a problem recognizing the tape. What might be wrong?

Trust me on this one....with tape still in unit and battery removed, smack both sides of unit firmly 3-4 times with the heel of your hand. It works 9 out of 10 times on all Sony cameras. I was quoted $170 to just look at the camera and then a probable $290 to replace the cassette loader mechanism. I told them it wasn't worth it. I checked other Sony blogs addressing the same issue and with out fail smacking the ...cking thing is the only way around it. Apparently it frees up a stuck part. Give it hell.

I believe I have found the real answer to this "Re-Insert Cassette" problem. My own DCR-HC42 had the same problem. From the Sony Tech I learned that the camera is not recognizing the cassette. From another website, I discovered that the electrical connection between the cassette and camera are 4 gold metal fingers that press against the 4 small notched sections of the cassette shell. FIRST open the tape loading compartment allowing the tape cassette to spring open. SECOND, remove the battery and then SLOWLY remove the cassette and look for the 4 notches in the shell as you remove it from the camera trolley. With a small head flashlight look carefully in the same area of the trolley camera compartment. They are off to one side and a bit tricky to view. Get a Q-tip and soak it in Isopropol Alcohol.
Very carefully and slowly without bending or distorting these fingers, wipe each one with the wet swab to clean off the dirt build up on each. Allow a few minutes to dry. Then put your battery back in first and then the cassette. Load as normal. This is what I did instead of beating up the camera and it worked perfectly. Hitting the camera is a crude way of shifting the position of the 4 electrical fingers to make a better cassette shell contact. Professionals don't beat up equipment to get it working. They find the underlying cause. CLEAN FIRST. One more thing you can try if the cleaning alone doesn't work is to reset the electronics to default settings. On my specific model, there is a small rechargeable battery inside the camera. You cannot get to it. This is the correct discharge method. Remove your regular camera battery. Switch on the camera to playback mode (three shifts of the rotating switch). Then look for the small hole on the body of the camera called "reset". Hold that reset button in for at least 10 seconds. Hit the record button on the camera while you are depressing the reset button all at the same time. What this does is deplete the voltage of the internal battery. Then put your regular battery back in the camera so it can exchange voltage to the internal battery. You'll have to reset your date and time in the camera memory and perhaps other features which you may have altered from their default settings but this method brings the motherboard back to all factory settings. If the cleaning alone didn't cure the first problem, then reset the electronics. If my method doesn't work you can always get physical but hitting a delicate electronic device with a sensitive transport mechanism just can't be a good idea in the long run.

Hai, Please Insert Head cleaning Cassatte & play it. After this Please Insert new cassatte & record the picture & check play back. If the picture is good. check with old cassatte. If it is not worked Please press reset button if it is mechanical problem it will adjust. Thank you & best of luck. Udupi

!!!!!!!??????? i dont know how it worked but it did and i am so amazed! well thank you for writing that tip because i had a movie i just filmed and was upset that my camera was not working. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

WOW! I was very aprehensive about "smacking" my miniVD, but it works like a charm! Thanks!!!

This was amazing! My Sony Handycam DCR-HC28 was saying "Reinsert Cassette" and I spoke to Sony and they wanted me to pay over a hundred dollars to send it to them to get it repaired on top of the $400 I paid for it. I have used my camcorder twice and always kept it in its bag and taken excellent care of it. I was not going to pay to have it fixed. I came across this posting and I figured, sure, why not? What's a little smacking when I will probably end up throwing it against a wall anyway if it doesn't work? So...I beat the sh*t out of it...and...absolute perfection. It works just fine...Thank you so much to whoever it was that figured this out! Works like a charm.

My Sony DCR-HC21 had this problem and I hit the reset button on the side while it was on, and now it works. - I will smack it if it does it again though :)

2nd Aug 08. Seattle.

perfect solution

1. Fully charge the battery
2. remove and put the battery back.
3. remove and put the cassette back
4. smack on all sides. Moderate force :-)

it works !!!!!!!! Smacking does the job actually

Thanks to whoever did it first
mine works just perfect now

Thanks
jon

I didn't have anything to loose, by smacking my DCR-HC42 so I did it. I would never try and fix an electronic device by smacking it. The camcorder is now working, I am very curious as to how long this resolution will work.

I fix things, cars, outlets, what ever is broken. but that little bugger with all its gizmo's and gadgets in it... that I have on loan from school pulled the "reinsert 1 million times" trick. freaked me out cause it not being mine I cant take it apart, and the school would definitely bill me!!! So if their going to bill me they might as well bill me for something legit! so I lightly whacked a few times on the bottom and cassette case side with batt out and cass in. I don't have words to describe how amazed and dumbfounded I am that worked. like the russian in armegedon banging on the ship!

I just tried the smacker solution.. held it between my knees and smacked both sides at same time around ten times...brilliant... thanks a million..camera has been out of action for a year, you saved me buying a new one.. many thanks..bridget ..dublin

After my DCR-TRV280 camcorder fell off a bedroom dresser, where it was mounted on a mini-tripod (guess what I was taping?...), I started getting the "reinsert cassette" error message. I tested it with another tape that I knew was fine and got the same message, so I knew it was a camera issue.

I tried various things including disconnecting the power supply and whacking the camera soundly on both sides according to the instructions on this forum. But what finally solved the problem for me was hitting the reset button near the LCD viewfinder control panel, removing the power, and then powering up again. Once I did that it worked fine and no more error messages.

Oh my god i can\'t believe that worked! I called the sny helpiline and they didn\'t know what i was talking about! thanks youve saved so much hastle! xxx

Ignore the hoity toity guy above. The smacking totally works. You don't hit it that hard. Just a little smack does it.

After you smack it, you need to eject the tape. Then when you turn it on, it must reset something, but it should work.

Thrilling but worked Just followed smacking instructions. I cannot beleive that just worked!! Oh godThank you so much!!

I have a handycam and I though it was broke from the reinsert cassette pop up on the screen. That was until I found this site, and deciede what the heck do I have to loose, I was hesitant but in the end I'm very glad i decided to smack my camcorder. This trick really works I smacked like 9 times then turned it on it still beeped to reinsert the cassette so I poped the tape open put it back in and closed the camcorder and to my supprise it was ready to record with no beeping of reinsert cassette. Amazing how something so simple could fix the problem! Thank you everone who posted this trick, my regards to you.

Its been 2 year i didt use my camcoder cuz of this problem and didt go anywhr to fix it cuz of cost..i just googled my problem first time.. and fund this solution ..i cant belive..my cam start working now..
you are best mate..thanks for ya help
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Same problem giving up on it did reset worked again and stop! looked up problem. Smacked it hard 5 time with no cassett on side of cassett and top wife looked at me like !@!@!! Turned it on and works fine.

ThnX ! cant believe !

We have been trying to fix our cam for a while now basically did what everyone else said and smacked the camera on both sides with the battery out and the tape in and it worked perfect. no more error!!! And to think my wife suggested this a while back and i told her she would break it. how was i supposed to know she was right.....

Well, I'll. Be. Damned. The very thing I was stopping myself from doing was the very thing it needed. It worked. THANKS!

I was getting the error "C:31:22 Re-insert Tape" after the dropping my TRV480 camcorder. I did a few smacks on the right side of the camcorder, but it did not work right away. I had just done a reset of the camcorder prior, but that had not worked either.

Once I took the tape, that it messed up on, and rewound it in my 8mm tape rewinder, said a prayer, and put it back in the camcorder, the error "C:31:22 Re-insert Tape" stopped. I was able to play the tape and other tapes that it would not accept at the time.

I am currently transferring all my Digital 8 tapes to DVD before it acts up again.

Thanks a lot friend! ;) unbelievable but true!! Respect!!!! I smaked it and it's working fine!!

HOLY COW! Its so weird. Being an IT pro I actually did not trust it. But then noticed that it worked for each and everyone here, hence gave it a shot. Smacked hard on sideways only. And VOILA!!!! It worked for one more person! Now I think we are more smarter than Sony techies, who would ask $100+ just for checking.

Before reading here I actually smacked it few times mildly, but the problem persisted. Now when smacked harder, it seems ok at least since last few hours. THANKS MATES FOR GIVING CONFIDENCE TO SLAP THE THING. lolz....

This is the truth try it and you will **** yourself! I promise!

At first I could not believe this quack medicine trick. I have a Sony DCR HC42 that give "Reinsert Cassette" message. But 60 people cannot be ignored. I did the whack according to Solution#48. It worked. From time to time the problem comes back but I know how to fix it with a whack. Til it really breaks. Thanks.

OMFG DUDE! HAHA
I HAVE BEEN MISERABLE BECAUSE MY DAMN CAM HAS BEEN DOWN FOR 5 MONTHS.
SMACKED IT RIGHT NOW 3 TIMES
AND IT WORKED..
WHO EVER FOUND THAT OUT.
I LOVE YOU LOL

Camera has been sitting for a year because I did not want to spend the money to have it fixed. Damn.....wish I had Googled this a year ago.......

Works great now!!

My Sony Handycam TRV 138 had the same problem--"reinsert the cassette" in both record or playback mode. It also ate the tapes and snapped a brand new tape at the very first try. I discovered that cleaning tapes are no longer available in stores and no one repairs these "old" cameras locally. When I read the posts on this site, I was skeptical about smacking my camera, so I first tried resetting the camera as recommended by one post. It didn't work. So I removed the battery, left the tape in, and gave a very conservative smack to each side. The tape is currently playing fine...I just hope it lasts!

I thought the suggestion to smack the thing was probably submitted by Sony techies trying to drum up more business. BUT I tried it anyway. I gave it a couple of good whacks while it was still dinging at me to reinsert the cassette and it just kept blinking the error. So, then I shut it off and powered it back on and it worked- it actually worked! Thank you for the brilliant idea!

We were really apprehensive before trying this smacking tips, but trust me guys it really works. This is the best and cost effective way to resolve this technical problem in Sony handicam.

thanks a lot.

My uncle has DCR - TRV285E PAL camera recorcer which has the same problem. We did not want to spend much money on it as it is very old. I smaked it too and after reading comments on net. It really worked. I think SONY should write this method in there troubleshooting manual.

Smack the camera on either side and try it ....this would solve the problem.

I'm sure you can see by now that this works, at least it did for me! I'm now going to smack everything before taking it to a repair center.

Smacking worked great. Thanks for the tip. I had the same problem where it would display "Reinsert the tape". I followed this thread. Removed the battery and tape. Closed the tape compartment. Smack it lightly a few times. Keep it aside. Reinsert the battery and tape after 30 minutes. Worked like a charm.. You guys rock!

I have to give it up to the person who thought of this. My camcorder was reading error message to reinsert the tape and I checked alot of sites who recommended some tips but I cannot believe this one actually works. Just smack it on both sides and wha la, tape read like magic. I thought I had to spend money to fix it but the problem is solved. Thanks so much

WOW WOW WOW SMACK IT!!!! IT REALY DOSE WORK!
And to think i was going to pay 120 quid to get it fixed! thanks!

The smacking does work!!! incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks so much.

Unbelievable! a few smacks, not even hard ones. and it works again.

On vacation right now, Sony TRV480 failed with same problem, :reinsert tape" error message, oh no, but googled and found this solution and it WORKED!!! Took out battery and tape, hard whack a couple of times near top and bottom, reinserted tape and battery, everything now back to normal. Thank you!

WOW. I cannot believed that actually just worked. but thanks.

I have a Sony DCR-HC100 that I bought for $1,300 and I have this problem after having about 20 or so hours of use. I called Sony and they would charge me $300 for fixing it. I have suffered a lot from resetting the camera and reinserting the tape trying to get the workaround. Today I found this website and give the camcoder some good smacks and it works!
What a brilliant idea to fix Sony problem!

Initially I thoght ..someone is trying to fool...
but IT ACTUALLY WORKS...
wow!!!
Thanks
Manoj

Unvelievable. I started getting the error on my DCR-HC42. I couldn't get a tape it as it would get stuck. When it did go in, I got the error to reinsert the tape. I removed the battery, smacked it around a little bit, and now it works!
Thanks for the post!

I am a Sony DCR-HC42E owner had the re-insert cassette error gave it a good old smackarooney as suggested and its now behaving, brilliant thanks a million!!

It worked for my sister in Argentina also, she says thank you very much! She was upset because she couldn't use the camera and now it is fixed...I love it ! thanks!

HAha, thats crazy. Worked for me to! Thanks a bunch!

Insert the cassette. remove the battery. smack the camera a couple of times up, down, sideways...behold and lo....it works!!!!!!!!!! the greatest mantra....all credit to the originator of the solution in this very site... you are awesome man...you should be cheif solution designer for Sony...!!!

I thought, what do I have to loose here, smacked it 4 times each side and wow it works???????????????

thanks for the tip
odd what but its ok again

Hey!! Amazingly the slapping solution works man !!! Great !!
Now my cam works.....

Wow- it worked*****thanks for actually being helpful unlike the BestBuy Folks.....

Smacking works!!! Just do it and dont ask questions.

LOL

Mike M

OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!! i cannot believe this tip worked i was soooo amazed!!!!!

There is NO good explaination for this, but hey... it worked, so I won\'t ask questions...

Haha! I just had the same thing happen with my camcorder. I Googled up reinsert cassette and found this site.

Smacked the camera a couple times and low and behold, it works again. Amazing.

It really works thanks,

UNBELIEVEABLE but true, smacking the living daylights out of it does work!!! Can\'t tell you how thrilled I am, thank you!!

Hey smacker..ur a real techie man...i did exactly as u said n lo!...there are no error messages now and my cam\'s working perfect...thanks for saving the effort n ofcourse the cash!! Thanks..manoj,india

I really dont know how smack the camera please advise, im really scared i will destroy it.

OMFG!!! This freakin works! I went to Best Buy and they told it\'d be $70 to look at it to see what was wrong and offered me to look at what they currently have and see if I find an \'opened\' cam that I can use temporarily and return it when I\'m finished and receive no restock fee. Anyway, I googled troubleshooting reinsert tape and came here.Smacked my cam up, down, and sideways and reinserted the battery. With little faith, turned on my cam and low and behold! IT WORKED!! I just started chuckling. Thanks a lot! I had a lot of capturing work to do and now I won\'t have to rely on my older Sony cam.

Oh, and I had my tape inserted when I smacked it too.

-Rodlfo

I don't know what kind of recreational drugs the rest of these people are on, but I've hit it plenty of times and done just about everything that's been said here, and nothing fixes it. I refuse to believe anything is "stuck" because a camcorder without a tape behaves as normal.