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Camcorder reset/repair?

Pinecones

Jan 13, 2021
5
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Jan 13, 2021
Messages
5
First post to this forum. It's a shot in the dark, but I hope someone can help.

I have a camcorder that's acting up. It's a Sony Handycam DCR-SX45. 4 years ago I was recording a video and it died on me. I thought I had it plugged in but turns out it wasn't plugged in while recording, dang. So the battery died while actively recording, to be clear.

Over and over and over I've tried to get it running again, but I can't. When you kick it on it says:

"Writing to the memory card was not completed correctly. Do you want to recover the data?"
Yes/No

Problem is, I can't click yes or no. It's touch screen only. Yes/No are on the bottom of the screen. Nothing happens when I touch the bottom of the screen. The top 1/3 of the screen reacts to touch; if I tap anywhere in the top 1/3rd of the screen it changes to:
"Cancel? Unless recovered, images may not be recorded or played correctly."
Yes/No
There's also now a "<-" back arrow at the top of the screen. Pressing anywhere in the top 1/3rd of the screen takes me back to the first message.

It had no touch screen issues when it died 4 years ago.

I have tried EVERYTHING I can think of. I've let the battery drain completely and . Taken battery out, SD card, hit the factory reset button, and every possible combination of these things. I've tried button combos and off-the-wall timings and sequences and who knows what. Anything I can do to somehow reset it's memory of this incident. Nothing changes.

Today I took apart the touch screen, inspected all of the cable wires, took things apart, took the entire screen apart, put it all back together, it all looked great, nothing of concern, no loose connections. No change.

Is there ANY way I can recover this camcorder? I have zero attachment to recovering data. All the data that was previously on it was recorded on an SD card that isn't damaged. The unit is virtually unused. This happened shortly after I got it and it's annoying as heck.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you much.
 

shrtrnd

Jan 15, 2010
3,876
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Messages
3,876
My thought is to Google your model Sony and if there's nothing listed on the manufacturer troubleshooting chart, to see if anyone
else posted a remedy for your problem.
I suppose Sony doesn't have support for this product now, but it wouldn't hurt to send them an email and ask if they have a solution.
 

Pinecones

Jan 13, 2021
5
Joined
Jan 13, 2021
Messages
5
My thought is to Google your model Sony and if there's nothing listed on the manufacturer troubleshooting chart, to see if anyone
else posted a remedy for your problem.
I suppose Sony doesn't have support for this product now, but it wouldn't hurt to send them an email and ask if they have a solution.

I came here after scouring the internet high and low, alas -_-'
 
Last edited:

shrtrnd

Jan 15, 2010
3,876
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Messages
3,876
Your model is apparently popular. I found plenty of places on Google that offer repair services if you're up for that.
Also places the have operating and service manuals. Utube videos.
Operating Manual at places like:
manualslib.com/manual/216414/Sony.Dcr. Sx45.html?page=48#manual
You might consider contacting a repair shop if troubleshooting yourself doesn't work out.
Good luck trying to get your Handycam up and running again.
 

Pinecones

Jan 13, 2021
5
Joined
Jan 13, 2021
Messages
5
Your model is apparently popular. I found plenty of places on Google that offer repair services if you're up for that.
Also places the have operating and service manuals. Utube videos.
Operating Manual at places like:
manualslib.com/manual/216414/Sony.Dcr. Sx45.html?page=48#manual
You might consider contacting a repair shop if troubleshooting yourself doesn't work out.
Good luck trying to get your Handycam up and running again.
Thanks for the link! I found and searched manuals for keywords (recover, recovery, touchscreen, data, etc) and read through troubleshooting sections, but haven't found anything related to this problem. I've read loads of forum Q&A'a on handycams and searched Sony's website, but haven't seen anyone with my specific issue yet. I watched some youtube videos, which is what lead me to taking the thing apart. I'll keep searching though, I'd really like to use this thing right now!
 
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