My buddy's holed up in a motel in Dubois, WY, taking a break from hiking the CDT and shooting a video with his new HV30. However, he's got a cleaning tape that's jammed inside and refuses to pop out. Is there any way to mechanically pop it out, a la the old Apple computer paper clip method for floppy discs? Or any other suggestion? Thanks in advance....

My buddy's holed up in a motel in Dubois, WY, taking a break from hiking the CDT and shooting a video with his new HV30. However, he's got a cleaning tape that's jammed inside and refuses to pop out. Is there any way to mechanically pop it out, a la the old Apple computer paper clip method for floppy discs? Or any other suggestion? Thanks in advance....

Is he definitely sure it's not just a completely flat battery? I say that because you mentioned hiking and would presumably be away from AC power most of the time. If he has other batteries or the power adapter with him it's worth trying that while in the motel.

I'm also wondering why he would want to use a cleaning tape on a new HV30.

I've had a few times where the tape drive wouldn't pop up. I persisted by closing the door and reopening it and also applying some inward pressure against the tape holder. I've always been able to eventually get it to pop open and let me retrieve my tape. It wouldn't hurt to have him try and plug it in through the power adaptor to.