Hi8 sony camera won't play cassettes

SOURCE: Hi8 playback problem

your guides have come loose , probably - the digital sound will be next to go because the bottom edge of your tapes are being folded - open the cassette tape lid by pressing the small pin near one hinge and gently lifting the door - if there are any creases ? get the guides aligned ! to protect your library ; ( if there are no creases , try a sony d8 cleaning tape - once ! before getting a repair quote ) ;

SOURCE: Message reads eject. won't eject

Ihatecanon, Tried the steps you provided above with no luck. Then decided to gently smack the camera twice on the right-top side of the tape compartment. It freaking worked the first time. Got this idea by watching Eric Cartman on South Park... No, really. I read about this in another forum. It's a quick $150 back in your pocket. Just think. You sent the camera to their tech guys and paid them 150 to SMACK-IT :)

SOURCE: cassette loading error 31:23

I have had this same problem several times. In all cases the problem has been a tape that has been run at the very end of it's lenght and it is too tighten. I loose the tape manually just a bit and it helps. Just be careful not to leave the tape too loose.

For loosing the tape you have to push the lock button with e.g. a pen and while doing that just take the tape out just a bit. Tape should be left at the level it was. It must not look like a loosen tape. If you get it out too much, just roll it back by twisting the reel again while pushing the lock button down.

To be able to loose the tape you of course need to open the protective lid first. For this there is a separate lock switch at the side of the cassette.

SOURCE: No playback on DCR-TRV103

In playback mode the lCD displays the battery time, hi8 symbol and the tape counter. all the functions work the tape will play, rewind, fast forward. The screen stays blank on playback and the tape counter stays at 0:00:00 eventhough I can see the tape turning. I also hooke the camera to my tv and I got no picture.

SOURCE: Problems with playback of HI8 tapes...

What's happening is that the tape in the cassette is being chewed on one side by the camera's tape transporting mechanism during playback, hence the distorted image and sound. The mechanism might be damaged (misalignment) or just dirty. Try not to play other tapes on this unit because they will become permanently damaged. The best way is to find another camcorder (if cleaning does not help). Note that some old cassettes of long recording time will exhibit this behavior more often because of thinner tape used.