I have just purchased the JVC GY-X2B, and know very little about it however I did have the same problem, and did something that got rid of the warning. Your know how, proberly is greater the mine however I did mannageto fix this problem not intitirly sure how I did it. Make sure you have the power butten all the way forward to record. Make sure the zebera switch is off ( this switch is at the front of your camcorder. Can you tell me I'm having trouble recording sound I have a mike pluged in to the back ( audio in/r...termanal ) and am getting nothing through.

vtr warning (hard) is a mechanical problem in the vtr mechanism. could be a bad mode switch, loose/broken belt (yes, this deck still has a belt), worn/broken gear, etc. best bet - call JVC and see if they still work on this cam.