Tape door will not open

bit late...but. STOP ASAP! by removing the battery, after removing battery, wait 20 seconds, re-fit battery & CLOSE the cassette door.
then wait 10 seconds, slap the closed door twice quite firmly. then open, if it opens, discard that cassette tape, clean the players head using cleaning tape.
use new cassette tape.

I got the tape to eject by removing the battery from the camcorder, putting it back on so that the tape would go back inside the camera. Then I had the tape eject again. Several times the tape would not be ejected but I repeated my steps until the camera released the tape.

the camera has been dropped
or pressed by a heavy object or person

open the door
put down on the tape
move back and forth with significant pressure
caring not to destroy the eject lock mechanism
do it several times

I had the same problem with my sony

Check eject lever near battery, press it downward to open tape compartment, take out old tape and put new tape, close tape door and let it go inside by itself. Close tape compartment.

Below image will help you to locate eject button/ lever in DCR-HC18E camcorder.
Thanks.

take a screw driver and open it up.

got door open and looked in and saw what looked like the tape head sitting very slightly proud of tape and believe it or not inserted a very thin and pointy bladed knife up as far as the head then pressed it down on top of the head very lightly and the head slid down its shaft to its original position switched camcorder back on and tape then ejected as per normal and it has worked normally since and as i did'nt touch the head (face?) no damage was done and it can record and play with no problems, a little unorthodox perhaps but it worked for me and saved me a probable fortune

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.

In case anybody read this....     I have a GS-36 that would not eject the tape. I removed all the screws from the bottom and pulled the bottom plate off. Then I fidgeted with the mechanism near the eject button towards the front of the camera.  In my case it had just become stuck and needed to be gently pried open.    Tested it a bunch of times with tape - seems to be o.k.!

YOUR TAPE MAY BE DAMAGED IF YOU TRY TO OPEN THE CAMCORDER - HOLD EJECT BUTTON DOWN BEFORE ! YOU REATTACH BATTERY THEN READ THE ERROR CODE ? IF IT STILL DOES NOT EJECT .

The tape might be wrapped around the head or the capstan. The mechanism is delicate so you risk more damage by trying yourself - check with some of the repair shops on the Fixya home page for prices to remove the tape.