Philips dvdr3460h 250GB reset?

My DVD recorder won't start.

I turn it off at the mains.
I plug it in and I see the Time (e.g. 09:00) on the external display.
I then press standby/on (either on remote or on front of player).
PHILIPS shows on the external display, the blue HDD light comes on, and the sky blue wallpaper appears on screen.
After 25 seconds, there is a brief noise, the blue HDD light flicks off and on, and then the unit attempts to restart again.
This continues (I have left it for hours) until I turn off at the mains.

I am unable to open the disc tray with eject (there is a disc in there, which I had been recording on).

I have a number of recordings on the hard disc. Ideally I would like to get them back, but if I have to lose them then so be it.

Is there
i) a way of opening the disc tray to recover the DVD ?
ii) a way of resetting the unit ?

PS I have latest firmware on a CD which I applied three months ago to rectify an unrelated issue with finalising discs. I would use that but cannot open the disc tray.

ArrGee
December 2009