Sony Handycam Video Hi8 - TRV138- cassette - will not play -please reinsert

This happened to me in June.  I used a head cleaner, and this seemed to work for about 2 months.  Then the same problem again...

Everytime I press the record button, a few seconds later the message reads "reinsert the cassette" and keeps beeping until you do. I used a cleaning cassette and was going to get a service on it, but I read someone else's solution and it worked. They said smack the sides and now it's working again.

My Sony DCR-HC26. and after some research, a lot of other Sonys, have this problem. The only solution i have found that works is to smack the side of the camera a few times on either side.

unbelievable, but it works, not even a hard smack. It's always a good idea to clean the heads but i couldnt even get it to play the head cleaner tape. now it seems fine.

I had the same problem. Having immediately played around with it two weeks ago with no success I put it aside and tried again this date. The problem is no longer evident. It cleared up of its own accord as the manual suggested might occur. I will now be more careful with installing tapes since I was not doing it correctly before and this may have had something to do with it. However, I will keep in mind the solutions suggested here should it recur.

Use a head cleaner and then reset the camera. The reset button is inside the little door. This seemed to fix the problem , don't know for how long yet. Hope it helps someone else and avoids someone costly repair bills. This same problem happened to me, missed a couple of important events until I figured it out. I was about to go out and buy a new camera, saved myself that expense for a while.

I just went to Future shop and bought a brand new camcorder for $750 yesterday. I just tried smacking the side of the camcorder today & tried the reset solution and voila! it works perfectly.

Hello Everyone!

My Handy Cam CCD TRV-138 was have a malfunction error by stopping and beeping and telling me to reinsert cassette.
HERE IS HOW YOU GET IT TO WORK.....
Let me first tell you that you need to call the Sony Service Hotline at 1-800-488-7669.

They will have their service tech help you to reset the camera, STEP by STEP and it will work fine after that.

You have to do several things in the right sequence in order for the reset to work. You can't just press the reset button and make it reset.

It doesn't cost anything to have Sony help you over the phone. They are all too happy to make sure that you are satisfied with their product and want to help you.

Mine was out of Warranty by 4 years and they still helped me without charging me.

I followed their steps and it worked. She had me first remove the cassette tape from the camera, turn off camera, remove the battery, then she had me turn the camera back on, then she had me take a pen or pencil and push the reset button, that is below the volume buttons (inside the view finder area). Release the pen then turn camera off again, then unplug the cord and wait 60 seconds so that the residule electric current can completely drain from the Camcorder. After 60 seconds, power on the camera and before you do anything else *YOU MUST RE-ENTER AND SET THE YEAR, DATE, TIME before you go any further. This is crucial to your camera working properly. Then power off again. Power up one more time and this time try to record and playback and see if everything works ok.

Mine worked fine. If this does not work for you it may be because you own a different model and you will need to have Sony give you specific instructions for your model.

Good Luck and let me know on this blog if it works.

Too freakin funny! Just spent $1200 at Best Buy on a new camera. After buying I thought, "maybe I can fix my old one". Got on here and read to "smack" the side of the camera, AND IT WORKS AGAIN! I'm taking back my new recorder:)

I kept getting the same message, "reinsert tape" for about 2mths, I pressed the reset button located under the volume control button, but no success. I gave up, the day that I was determined to buy another updated dvd version, the damb cam started working again, ???? go figure, I guess if you threathen to replace it'll start working again. Definitely use the reset button and give it a rest for day or two, then try it again.

Dear joysparkles, I had the same problem a few months ago, dont freak out, but do go to a video camera repair store, tell them your problem and they will fix it for around $100. The problem is that dust acclumiates inside the compartment where the cassette isinsered. They will clean it out for you. Dont try to do anything yourself as I did, it will only cause more damage. I hope I helped you out.

Dluxdeb

I smacked it on both sides a few times and it started working again. I thought about a head cleaner, but I only have about 15 hours of actual run time between playing and recording. Don't use the camera much, have a feeling a head cleaner would have done me no good. Like I said, not much run time on my camera and kept it in a camera bag when not in use. SAVE YOUR MONEY..... SMACK IT AROUND ON EACH SIDE A FEW TIMES. It worked for me and didn't cost a cent. Just hope it keeps working. ( Didn't have to hit it very hard either )