When I put my tape in the camcorder and close the metal door, the tape does not go down. but when empty, the tape holder do go down.

hi,
is it close without a cassette ? if so the reel sensor in the cassette compartment may be faulty. if the head drum not rotates the cassette drive will not work correctly, if so please loosen the head drum with a plastic rod or some tools like that. do not put your finger in hence sometimes will jam your finger. remember don"t touch the scanning chip of the head.

You should open the tape holder meatal ther may be 4 screw! take it off! and release your tape! don't do it again with the power on it might get damage inside! enjoy man n try it!

moisture in the cassette holder. Take out the cassette, leave the holder door open for a couple of hours in a dry, warm location, and it should work again.

Try toggling the opening hatch, tricking the machine into thinking it's being opened and closed...

Just had this problem myself... called Sony. Here is what I did to fix this:

1. Turn off power
2. Open the LCD Display
3. Press "Reset" with paperclip/pen
4. Unplug ANY wires connected to the camcorder
5. Eject battery
6. Plug in DC charger
7. Power on
8. Attempt to eject tape
9. At this point, the metal tape holder comes out but refuses to open... slightly "close" the portion of the camcorder that has the button to eject the tape, and then open it fully again (you'll hear a click, this signals the device that the 'hatch' is open and to eject).
10. The metal door *should* pop out and allow you to withdraw the tape.

I've tried 4 different cassettes and about 2 seconds after hitting play, I get the error every time... my solution: Not going to try to play my tapes on the camcorder anymore... will find another player to play Hi8 MP cassettes. Unknown if able to record to tape as of yet.

Hi
See if this works--If you are on battery there may not be enough power .Charge the battery or use the the mains power through the transformer and see if it works.
Hope this helps
Jay

try and take the door off and straighten the cassette holder assy

Try inserting another tape first. If the trouble is still there,Defective mechanism, a stucked mechanism is present. camcorder are smart it can detects error and shuts down itself for safety. earlier models dominoes the defect if the user is not quick enough to react when something goes wrong with the camera. You need professional service to fix it.

I'm having a similar problem. The camera is a Sony DCR-TRV280. When you put a tape in the tray will not go down. However when the tray is empty and you push it shut it will go down. In other words the mechanism works fine without the tape but with the tape it doesn't. I hope the explanation is clear enough. Thanks

not geting in holder tht mean u must open ur casset holder and put in polethin bag for a hour and it will accept tape