Here's what i found. I was able to clear the message by opening and closing and ejecting the cassette. I also had to play with the battery at the same time. Keeping the cassette door open and then pulling out the battery. After is did this a couple of times i got the message to clear. I too haven't used my camcorder for some time and now that the error message has cleared the camcorder tells me that i need to clean the heads. Hope this helps. Below is the message i found that pointed me toward ejecting the cassette. Good Luck, i'm off to buy a tape head cleaning cassette. An error indication (E03 or E04) appears. - (E03 or E04 UNIT IN SAFEGUARD MODE REMOVE AND REATTACH BATTERY) This massage a malfunction of some kind has occurred. In this case the camcorder's functions become unusable. - Eject the cassette once and re-insert it, then check if the indication clears. When it does, you can resume using the camcorder. If the indication remains, consult your nearest JVC dealer or service center

Try Steves solution guys..it just worked for me just before I went on vacation. Phew thought I would have to buy a new camera.All I did was install the tape and try and play it without closing the cover.It ejected on me twice when I did it the 3rd time I closed the cover and it works fine now. Yeah Steve thanks for the information and I did need to get a head cleaner

I tried using my head cleaning tape. But the error pops up when I put it in, and wont let me play it :/.

That's right. I have the same messages with my JVC as well. I left it unused for 1 year. When I started using it, I've got the error. The problem is really about the lens being dirty and moister. Try to clean with alcohol is the best. AFter cleaning I even used the hair dryer to make sure no moister is remained. It is working now.

JVC GR-DVL100. Same Problem E04 "Unit in safeguard mode". Ejected the cassette and just when it was about to eject, pushed it in... and the error is gone. Thanks!!

ALSO, it's only doing this with one tape. My other older tapes work, but this one is brand new, and not taped over..

My camcorder GR-SXM320U give the safeguard mode E04 message and can't get the tape to eject. Anybody know how to release the tape cassette???

I just fired up my camcorder (DVM80) for the first time in a couple years and got this message. The battery coming in and out didn't do anything. Popped the tape out and found that it was being eaten by the camcorder. Wound it back in and tried to rewind. E04! Wound the tape again and tried to play. E04! Fast forward worked just fine, but rewind got the message again when it hit that spot on the tape. Wound it back, forwarded to the end and rewound, E04 at the same spot. Wound the tape in the rewind direction, pulled some extra out, and rewound that, and after that I could rewind the tape to the beginnig and view/record, so I think the message is less a battery problem than it is a tape problem

This solution has worked for me too. Thanks so much!

i have GR-DVL and started the same problem