TRV-270E with the same problem here, but fear not - another happy slapper emerges! I'm off to kick the fridge. :)

yes indeed thanks people i hit the camcorder on the side too with tape in and it worked, brilliant...

This was my last hope since I do not have the money to get my sony hi-8 analog camera fixed and to my surprise, after I gorilla slapped each side with medium force, it worked perfectly. This was my first attempt to look at what blogs have to say and I just want to thank all those people in 2005 who said slapping it actually works. It's 2007 for me.

I allmost threw it away and got a new one , I figured what the heck and slapped it sharply once upside down and it worked

I slogged my ass off for 3 hours looking for some help on Sony's offical sites on the C:31:23 error that my DCR TRV335E was displaying all of a sudden. Read everyones replys and hit the cam hard. And Holy F*ck Machinegun ! IT worked ! Thanks a lot man...you Indian ? :P

Hi, After reading all your solutions I tried the same thing. I gave it a wack a few times and the fault went away. Thanks

for solve this problem, you need to replace pich roller and chassis ass'y.... ;)

just got back from Disneyland, unable to record because of the "c-31:23" error code. Driven me crazy! Found your post, tried the "percussive maintenance" and...........it worked! thank you! Ron

I read and reread your answer not beleiving it....but after applying this solution....it worked like magic....thanx alot...unfortunetly i missed recording my graduation festival

My TVR310 first started showing this error a couple of years ago. Sometimes it would work sometimes not. Error was random (and very frustrating) either on load, play or rewind/ff. It also ate a few tapes where I had to fix the crinkles by manually rolling tape wheels. I had ad also looked everywhere for possible cause and fix w/o success. Then today, I went to use it for the first time in 6 months and I again received the stupid c-31:23 error. So I googled around for help and found this 'percussive maintenance' solution. With nothing to lose I tried it. I'm happy it say that after giving it a bit of hitting it is now working. Everything is again working (but for how long) on old and new tapes. Thanks!