can't put T-case into neutral or L4

Hey Tacomaworld! I've been searching a lot and can't find anything on my problem. I have a 2003 Tacoma manual with the button/lever type front drive control, and I can't seem to get it into the "N" or "L4" positon. Two days after buying the truck(dec. 30 2013) I was able to move it into the neutral position and then back into the "H" and never messed with moving it from "H". The "H4" has been working great and goes between "H2" and "H4" perfectly fine. I live in the mountains and just got our first storm of 6 inches and expecting a few more storms this week so I'm going to probably need to use L4 to get to work. Thanks for any help anyone can give!

 

Forgot to mention, when I push the lever forward or pull back, it feels like it does not want to move and feels like I'm pushing against a wall. I've done the basics of depressing the clutch and being in neutral, and driving back and forth to try to align the gears

 

Can you select L4 with the truck turned off ?
This will eliminate any rotating drag from the transmission .