"Remove the Cassette" and "Eject" message Problem...

[altero]

Well, in few days I will know the price, and I'll ask about details.

[Krane]

I consider that this is a malfunction, a bug, not a feature; blaming anything else it's not fair.

Incorrect. In fact, you've produced no verifiable data to prove a malfunction. Even if your conclusions are correct, at this point, those "malfunctions" could have been caused by user abuse--or many other things.

[altero]

Of course I don't pretend my conclusions are scientific, are based only on my experience and what I read about others' problems.
I did everyting I could imagine in order to find a reason. Then, when I saw that I can capture my tape after tapping the camera...

It might not be a malfunction, maybe the mechanism is too sensitive. But Canon didn't tell the camera should only be used in septic and pure air environments. Sorry, of course I'm a bit angry, because I really like the quality of images this camera produces, but when I'm not able to use it because of what I believe is a "cheap malfunction" I get mad. I can see it's some plastic there which gets loose, or something.

[marcolisi]

Altero, I support u 100%..... we did not abused our camcorders.
There is a problem with some kind of canon camcorders.
I am pretty sure that canon knows about it but it is plasying with us. We need to spend money to fix it.
As u , I love my canon, and it is pretty bad the fact that it has this bugs.
I can not thrust my camcorder 100 %. Living in NYC, I do not think I have any humidity problem or other.....
Please, whenever u get the camera back or whenever u get the amount of money that uu have to pay to fix it, can u write us back.....I am thinking to ship my hv1o to get repaired, but if I need to spend 200 or 250 dollars, I may end up buying something else.
Thank u

[altero]

I have more data, but are not at all good news:
- they changed the mechanism, but still the tape is randomly rejected;
- also randomly the camera fails to communicate with the computer;
- again randomly the camera uses more power than normal (if I remember corectly, it consumes 1.6 A)

They have to change the logic board, and that will cost me 270 Euro, which means about 370 USD (!!!). I spoke on the phone with the engineer (a nice person), and he told me that changing the board will solve all problems.
He also told me that probably the issue is due to abnormal tensions from my computer, when connecting the camera. But then I told him I use only Macs (and it would be the first time I hear Macs have problems related to power - electricity), that my electric cables are earthed, that I mainly use the camera with my laptop, and that the problem happened the first time while I was in holiday, far away of any computer. The engineer admitted that it's not because connecting to computers.

Then I remembered that I felt several times that the cam is hot. Now I realise it was probably when it consumed more power than normal; but I didn't worried, because it was a new camera and summer, and didn't know it's not normal to feel that.

So, my conclusion is that I have a faulty camera, it was like that from the beginning, but decided to fail on me just after the 1 year guarantee... Now I have to pay that money, but I am very unhappy with Canon, and will think more than twice if I ever buy or recommend then again. The problem is that I don't like Sony, so I have a narrow choice from now on: Panasonic and Nikon (for photo).

Maybe the memeber "removecasettewarning" can confirm if what the engineer told me is plausible? Changing the logic board will repair for good my cam?

[threegirlsmom]

I have had the ZR100 for 2 years and have only used it only a handful of times. Last month, it started giving me the "Remove the Cassette" error message. I have tried all the usual troubleshooting tricks to no avail. I then called Canon CS and was told of the Canon Loyalty Program which is a great deal but really this camcorder should still work. I finally had a chance to search online today and found this forum. I read about "tapping" it and thought it was worth a try. As it is right now, it is useless to me anyway. It worked!!!!!!!!! It accepted the tape on the first try and is working fine. For how long, who knows but at least I'll be able to use it tonight for my nieces Christmas program. Thanks for the tip!!!!

B in Rome, GA

[Krane]

So, my conclusion is that I have a faulty camera, it was like that from the beginning, but decided to fail on me just after the 1 year guarantee... Now I have to pay that money, but I am very unhappy with Canon, and will think more than twice if I ever buy or recommend then again. The problem is that I don't like Sony, so I have a narrow choice from now on: Panasonic and Nikon (for photo).

Maybe the memeber "removecasettewarning" can confirm if what the engineer told me is plausible? Changing the logic board will repair for good my cam?

No one can dispute your anecdotal experiences; and if thats' how you feel, then that's how you feel.

As for me, I used to have a love for JVC and bought my last big screen rear view from them. Then I noticed a bad pixel, the remote went bad, and the VCR (top of line at the time) just stopped working. Needless to say, they're no longer at the top my electroncs purchase list. For the record, I did write them a letter voicing my disatisfaction.

Lastly, if there are still manufacturers that haven't realized the importance of loyal customers, then they will fail. This is a lesson the Big Three just can't seem to understand.

[altero]

Because my English is not as good as I would like, I was looking for the correct meaning of "anecdotal": not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research. I guess this is an user forum, where we post our experiences. That's what I was doing, describing my problem, the conditions, the steps done trying to solve the issue, and what I learnt from specialists. I did speculate a bit, but I hope I was close to reality in doing so. Krane, I understand you, but you can not dismiss my problem by labeling it as "personal".
I can understand it was my bad luck, and thousand of users are happy with their cameras, but nevertheless my problem is real and I did not abuse the cam. The worst thing I did was the "tapping" on the lid, in order to be able to capture my last tape. Not only that I paid big money for the cam, but I am the kind who takes care of things. So, I am still angry on Canon. Sorry if I step on some toes...

[Krane]

Because my English is not as good as I would like, I was looking for the correct meaning of "anecdotal": not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research. I guess this is an user forum, where we post our experiences. That's what I was doing, describing my problem, the conditions, the steps done trying to solve the issue, and what I learnt from specialists. I did speculate a bit, but I hope I was close to reality in doing so. Krane, I understand you, but you can not dismiss my problem by labeling it as "personal".
I can understand it was my bad luck, and thousand of users are happy with their cameras, but nevertheless my problem is real and I did not abuse the cam. The worst thing I did was the "tapping" on the lid, in order to be able to capture my last tape. Not only that I paid big money for the cam, but I am the kind who takes care of things. So, I am still angry on Canon. Sorry if I step on some toes...

One of the best things about these websites is that many of us get to share experiences. However, we can only come to conclusions when the information is clear and we have ALL the steps that lead up to what caused the problem. Once we get "angry," we tend to lose perspective and form conclusions that may or may not be true.

I'd like this to be a reliable information sharing environment, so please, try and be as complete as you can with what lead up to your difficulty.

Incidentally, I didn't "dismiss" you problem, I only inferred that other variables may be involved.

[altero]

OK, all clear now

I can not think what more to say about my problem. Maybe I will know more after I get the cam back and talk more with the service guy.

[marcolisi]

That sucks.....so it may happen to me too that the pricve that I need to pay to fix my camera ould jump over 300 dollars.....

What a price.....


Than kyou for the feedback. I hope to know u more from your feedback.
Than kyou for sharing

[altero]

I doubt you wil have to pay that much. Here, in Europe, prices are higher than in the US.
But it might be "slighty" more than what removecasettewarning was stating as a fact.

[dmfreeman]

This is from the CanonUSA website:

If the “Remove the Cassette” warning appears on the camcorder's LCD screen:

If your camcorder experiences an error, you may be presented with a “Remove the Cassette” message. There are several reasons that this message may appear, but it is essentially a safety warning that is designed to protect the camcorder and/or tape from damage.

The camcorder’s tape drive mechanism is made up of many precision components that, once damaged, may cause further problems if the mechanism continues to operate. When a problem is detected the safety mechanism is activated. The “Remove the Cassette” warning and the camcorder’s safety mode may be activated by a variety of conditions such as:

Condensation is detected – If condensation is detected by the camcorder, the “Remove the Cassette” warning may occur.
Component failure – If an electrical or mechanical component in the camcorder fails, the safety mode may activate to prevent any further damage to the camcorder.
Sand or grit damage – The camcorder’s tape drive mechanism consists of many tiny gears. Sand or grit can cause a gear to jam and stop turning. This will cause the camcorder's safety mode to activate.
Impact damage – If a camcorder is accidentally dropped or bumped against a hard surface, it is possible that a misalignment of the tape drive mechanism may occur.
Liquid damage – If either the camcorder or the tape is exposed to water or any other liquid, a variety of malfunctions may result. Please avoid this situation.
Improper videotape insertion – If a tape is forced into the cassette compartment, or if the cassette compartment is pressed down while the tape is loading, damage may occur to the tape drive mechanism. Please refer to the User's Manual.
Damaged or defective tape – If a tape becomes damaged, please discontinue its use.
Operational Recovery Steps

Depending on the conditions that caused this message to appear, it is possible that the camcorder operation may recover. Please follow these steps:

Eject the videotape
Insert a new or known good videotape. If the message does not persist, it is possible that the tape was damaged. If the camcorder still displays the message with a new tape, please proceed to step 2.
If condensation had been detected causing the Remove the Cassette warning, remove the cassette, and allow at least one hour for the moisture to dry.
If the "Remove the Cassette" message continues, the camcorder may require service. Please contact Canon USA's Tech Support Center at 1 (800) 828-4040. Technical support hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 12:00 midnight; and Saturday 10:00am - 8:00pm (all times EST). Alternatively, if electronic support is preferred, please send your email to carecenter@cits.canon.com.

This contact information is for USA residents only. If you do not reside in the USA, please contact the Canon Customer Support Center in your region.
Customer satisfaction is very important to Canon. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and we hope that the above information will give you a clear understanding of the message condition, the operational recovery steps and, if needed, the process to follow to request hardware service. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

[altero]

Thanks dmfreeman for the quote.

In my case it was a faulty logic board, which was replaced. That cost me around 360 USD.

[devinhfox]

My HV20 is doing this now also. I insert a tape and the motor starts whining really loud, then the tape is ejected and the message in red letters appears "REMOVE THE CASSETTE" or something like that.

Seems that as is too often they created a product with great digital processing, but a lousy tape mechanism inside. Yet another product brought down with mechanical problems.

Bummer, I was looking forward to using the firmware hack, but I think I'm just gonna move on.

Cheers!

[blackcoffee]

HI folks, first time poster.

I have a brand new HV30 purchased from BH Photo.

THe first time I tried to load a cassette I had the problem.

I am continuing to get the "Remove the cassette" message frequently with my Panasonic tapes...so the problem has not been fixed with Canon.

So far I've hit the reset button and used Sony tapes to get a successful tape launch.

But it is a drag.

So is it a repair situation?...or Standard Operating Procedure with this camera to just have to fool around with tapes?

[rszebras]

I had the same problem. Check out the suggestions on the thread I posted: http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=22371

I had to send it to Canon for repairs. They replaced the recorder assembly.

[vince]

Not really a solution for everyone, but after I had this problem and had it repaired, I do all my recordings directly to harddrive through the firewire port to a laptop with OnLocation. No more problems for whatever it is worth.

[marcolisi]

Hi Vince, I was wondering, how do u recordthe videos directly to hard disk ?

Do u lose quality in the videos in comparison to minidv that records up to 25 mps ?

Can u describe pls yor setup ?

Have u tried of using an external hd that has ability to record, in compariso to a laptop that is huge and less portable.

Thank you

Not really a solution for everyone, but after I had this problem and had it repaired, I do all my recordings directly to harddrive through the firewire port to a laptop with OnLocation. No more problems for whatever it is worth.

[rszebras]

Recording to OnLocation all the time to avoid using the tape drive is a big hassle! If that's the way my HV30 was I'd get a different camera. But my HV30 was repaired. You can't record direct to a hard drive from the firewire port on the HV. The port outputs a 1080i signal that has to be captured. Thus you have to have a computer running OnLocation, and that computer has to have a second 7200 rpm hard drive to write the file to.

My setup is a 15" core duo laptop that works great. OnLocation provides a lot of great tools to improve your shooting, e.g., calibrated field monitor,waveform, and vectorscope. I especially like switching to full screen mode for the field monitor. That way I can frame my shot better using a 15" laptop monitor as opposed to the small lcd. You can also switch the monitor to underscan mode so you can see the entire image area.

But carrying around a laptop with a usb drive attached is not convenient, and it won't work for moving shots. So there are tradeoffs. Hope that helps.

Here's a link to an Adobe TV video about OnLocation CS4: http://tv.adobe.com/#vi+f1598v1001

[newage]

Hi guys!
I have a Canon MV5i cam. It gradually developed the above mentioned problem. At first once in a while, untill it was impossible to play any tape on it. I sent it to the Canon service (in Bulgaria), they charged me a fortune to replace the frame and drive. Yet the problem persisted. I re-sent it again to Cannon for calibration, they fixed it, 6 months later it started giving me the same error.

Then I got another Canon NV5 from Ebay.co.uk - it developed exactly the same problem a month later!
It is trully a horror story, considering that this camcorder sold for over $1400

[cgbier]

I only had that issue so far when using the aircon in the car. Solution: Open the tape drawer, turn on the car's heater, put the fan on full speed, close all vents beside one, direct vent to tape drawer. Problem solved after fifteen minutes

The other passengers in the car were happy with the heater on at 95 Fahrenheit outside temperature