Capture encountered a problem reading the data on your source tape

Hi

I'm trying to capture a doco shot on DVCAM tapes. Have been using a Sony HVR-M10 deck (Pal format) and began to get the error message: "Capture encountered a problem reading the data on your source tape" on several of the 15 tapes I have captured so far.

Hoping it was not actually tape failure, I tried a number of things including triple checking that the deck and FCP settings were correct, changing the firewire cable, not running other programs while capturing etc. This didn't make any difference. I then tried replacing the deck and now have a Sony HVR-1500. I still get the error, so I guess it must be the tapes.

Usually when I encounter the error, I can fast forward a few minutes and then successfully capture from that point on.

The footage was shot a couple of years ago and the tapes have been stored in a shoebox (by the client) since then.

The faulty tapes appear to be fine when played back on a monitor, though it does sound as though there are 1 - 2 second audio gaps occasionally.

Can anyone suggest what could have caused this problem? Are there any diagnostic tools out there that can report on the faulty areas of a tape so I can capture around them more accurately?