I had the same thing happen today and once before which ruined one of my tapings. What happens is that it shows it's recording, but if you look closely, the counter digits are not moving. I used the tape cleaner and then it would tell me to Reset and still doesn't work. I ended up removing the tape, battery, waiting five minutes, and putting it back on Auto. This is crazy. I have an extended warranty on it, but since this is an intermittent problem which cannot be duplicated on demand, it's a lost cause to send it in. So what is the cause of the defect or has anyone seen anything from Panasonic concerning this?