Is this your GL2 or a school loaner.

Perhaps this is too simple a response but I don't know your familiarity with the GL2 but note that this is your first post. That said, the tape cover door is closed manually. You do this AFTER after you push the tape carrier in where it says PUSH on the carrier. Similarly the carrier is opened by pressing the eject button under the door. A good battery must be installd.

Don, I thought this too, but it was our friend's further assertion that: "Now the tape carriage cover and the compartment door are stuck open because the tape holder has retracted. The tape loading mechanism refuses to come back out even after powering on/off." made me think that it HAD been pushed back in? Yes? No? - But none-the-less a good point!!

Anyways, Don, just where IS this eject button under the cassette door? I have oft wondered at the "blind" recess that is on mine. Do you think this IS a function feature not present on PAL XM2s?

Thanks for the reply, Don and Graham.

Well, I know that the tape compartment door and cover needs to be manually closed, but my problem is that I can't even manually close it because the tape carriage has locked the cover out when it retracted. Now both the tape/carriage door cover and the compartment door on the body are locked open. The carriage itself has retracted back into the body as if the carriage cover (not the compartment door on the body) has closed. The tape loading mechanism was not pushed in, it automatically retracted itself while the carriage cover was still open.

I'm sorry if I did not explain this very well, but the couple of pictures should show the state of the tape loading mechanism now.

Thanks,
Chuck

Hi Chuck. - Is there ANY movement in the door? Any movement at all?

Hi Graham,

The compartment door on the body cannot close (not even a tiny bit), because the carriage cover was locked open when the carriage retracted by itself. The carriage cover cannot be closed either.

Hmmm. Sounds like a position sensing switch in the mechanism maybe bad, or the mechanism jammed possibly by a bit of foreign material, causing it not to want to move. Probably means a trip to Canon.

Graham. I was thinking GL1-style mechanism. I gather taht the GL2 does not have the same eject button. (I know that the A1 does not.)

Lets take a shot at this....
 

Don: Yes the GL-1 has the button and the -2 does not.

Chuck: I would suggest trying an idea from the cell phone insudustry. With cell phones if you power off the unit it is like shuting down a computer. It performs certain functions that are a part of the shutdown sequence before it actually turns off. Sometimes if a cell phone is misbehaving badly a tech will have you do a hard reset in that you simply remove the battery so it can not perform the shut down routine.

I suggest you do the same. Turn the camera on and let it do its power on cycle. When it finally stops doing stuff and is waiting on you remove the power (battery or coupler) so that it is instanty robbed of power. I don't know if there is a shutdown sequence for the switch but it may be that if it crashes due to no power all of a sudden it will perform other self checks when it gets power again.

Also listen to see if you can tell if the carrage moter is turning and binding. It may be trying to extend the carrage and can not because of a wire coming loose, a screw loose that has but the system in a binding situation, etc.

Wish I had a better answer for you but it is at least some things to try.

Randy

I like that idea Randy! I like that a lot.

I think I remember removing the battery and then replacing it, not sure it WAS for this purpose, but I do know that I can sometimes be too quick to open the door and I need to start again - by removing and re-plugging battery. Hmmm...

Remove backup battery.
 

The GL2 can be reset by removing the backup battery. It is inside the area that is covered up by the LCD when the LCD closed. Removing it might make a difference.

I'd also like to hear what happens when the Canon 7.2 volt CA-920 mains adaptor with adaptor plate is used to supply power to the camera.

Try this! Canon GL2 repaired for $50!
 

I decided to call Canon USA service for some information about this whole "remove the cassette" error message business. The service advisor did some research for me and found that there was a service notice a few years back that would allow all repairs for this error at a maximum cost of $50. He advised me to send my GL2 in with a letter stating that I had spoken to him and was aware of this service notice.

I mailed in my GL2 one week ago to the California service center with my letter with some hope. Today I received my accept/deny repair email and sure enough, the only cost was for labor - $50 (plus $12 in shipping)!

Thank you everyone for the replies.

So I have tried doing a hard reset by taking away the main battery and back-up battery. I have tried this both when the camera was on and when the camera was off to try and do the hard reset. I have also tried to supply power to the camera by using a main adaptor. None of these would cause the tape eject process to restart. Does anyone know what else could be wrong?

I've brought it to a local technician, I will keep you guys posted as to what the technician says is wrong.

Thanks,
Chuck

Do you have the details of this service notice (ie a number or a date and r a title) so others might aslso reference it when sending a GL-2 in for this problem?

If it bites them!

Jim,
I should have asked for the information but didn't. I will try and call and see if they will give it to me. The service rep advised that I simply describe the malfunction, state that I was aware of it and ask for them to honor the price of $50 maximum for the repair.

I would love to get a copy of that notice. I think it is really lousy of them charging everyone different prices for this repair when it was a known problem and especially since there seems to be a set policy on fixing it.

Just called Canon. The service rep I spoke with looked up the product advisory, but when I asked him to give me a specific date and/or reference number for the advisory he refused to give it to me (in a very nice way). I mentioned that the last rep told me that the max cost for repair was $50 and he said while that was true it's up to the technicians to determine cost of repair.

Basically he told me the same thing the last guy said which was to tell them I am aware of the advisory. He also said since there is a product advisory, it doesn't matter how long you've had the camcorder they will fix as stated.