Archos 400 manual

1 • MPEG-4 Video Player • MP3 & WMA Music Player • Photo Viewer • USB 2.0 Hard Disk • Game player User Manual for ARCHOS Gmini™ 400 V ersion 1.1 English Language User Manual Please visit our website to download the most recent manual and software for this product. Gmini™ 400 Poc ket Music / Phot o / Games / Video[...]

2 T able of Contents 1 INTRO - Ports, Buttons and Connections 6 2 INTRO - First Time Usage 8 2.1 Plugging in the AC Adapter 8 2.2 T urning on the Gmini 400 8 2.3 Shutting off the Gmini 400 and Battery saving featur es 8 2.4 Changing the Language 9 2.5 Foreign Char acter Sets 9 2.6 Charging the Batteries 9 2.7 Caring for the Gmini 400 10 2.8 Hardwar[...]

3 9 VIDEO - Playing Video 29 9.1 Setting a Bookmark 30 9.2 The Resume Function 30 9.3 Display Format Settings 31 9.4 Playing Video Files from the Internet 31 10 V I D EO - C re at in g MP EG 4 vi de o fi le s wi th y ou r co mp ut er 3 2 How to create an MPEG-4 video file 32 PC T ools 32 Macintosh Users 32 10.1 Installing the PC Software 33 DivX™[...]

4 15 Updating the Gmini 400 Firmware Operating System (OS) 56 Download the Update_Gmini400.AOS file 56 Read the History .txt File 56 Copy to Gmini 400 root and Update 56 16 Technical Support 58 17 Troubleshooting 60 17 .1 USB Connection issues 60 17 .2 Charging and Power issues 61 17 .3 Gmini 400 locks up (freezes operation) or Stops 61 17 .4 The C[...]

5 Dear Customer , ARCHOS thanks you for your choice of this exciting Gmini 400 product. With this beautiful device in your pocket, you can enjoy digital music, digital photos, games, or digital video anytime and anywhere. We are sure that your Gmini 400 will give you years of listening and viewing enjoyment. Of course you can always use it as a reg[...]

6 a Hard disk activity indicator (red) b On indicator (gr een) c Battery charger indicator (green) – blinks when the battery is fully char ged d On/Enter/Pla y/Go ► – Hold for 3 seconds to turn on the Gmini 400 e Move UP (also increases volume during media playback) f Mov e DOWN (als o de cre ases vol ume dur ing medi a pl ayback) g M ove LEF[...]

7 a Mult icon nect ada pter – a llows f or an a nalo g au dio inpu t (Line In) b Multi -con nect jac k – fo r he adph ones , A V cabl e, o r FM R emot e co ntrol (opt iona l ac cessory ) c Micr ophone – f or m akin g di gital v oice recor ding s d Compa ctFl ash™ slo t – T y pe I com pati ble e US B 2. 0 por t (U SB 1 .1 c om pa ti bl e) [...]

8 Please take the time to read though this manual. There are man y things that this device can do that you may not be aw are of . 2.1 Plugging in the AC Adapter • Use only the included ARCHOS charger/adapter . • Before using for the first time, charge the bat teries completely . • Y ou may use the Archos Gmini 400 while its battery is chargi[...]

9 2.4 Changing the Language The Gmini 400 interface can be set to English (default), French, German or Spanish. • T o change the language, move the cursor to Setup and then click PLA Y/ENTER ► . • Then move wit h the joy stic k to Di spl ay a nd cli ck P LA Y/ENTE R ► . • Highlight the Language parameter . • Use the Right or Left button[...]

10 the batteries. The Gmini 400 is made with integrated batteries which are designed to last f or the life of the Gmini 400. This means that you will not have to change them. If , in the exceptional case, the batteries need changing, this should only be done by an Archos technician. * depending on how you use it (start/stop/writing, etc.) 2.7 Carin[...]

11 When you click on this icon in the main screen, you will be sent directly to the Music folder . Use the direction buttons to highlight one of the factory installed music selections and then Click on PL AY ► . If you hear nothing at fi rst, make sure you ha ve adjusted the volume contr ol on the headphone cord. B y clicking on the Music icon i[...]

12 T o lock the Gmini 400 buttons, press and hold the left function button for three seconds. The Gmini 400 will display the message “Buttons locked! ” on the bottom of the screen. Press this again for three seconds to unlock the buttons. What the Icons indicate Status Play Order Play Mode Stopped - no icon - Play once See section 14.2 Blinks w[...]

13 3.3 Artist, Album, Title … ID3 T ags ID3 T ags are information about the recording which found inside of an MP3 music file. When someone creates an MP3 music file, he or she has the option of adding information to it. This information can include, among other things, the name of the artist (Wes Burden), the album name (Brave New World), the [...]

14 from the ARCLibr ary . Audio files created with the microphone will be indexed as Artist = ARCHOS and Album = Audio Recording. The ARCLibrary indexes all the music and playlists that it finds in the folders Music and Playlists on your Gmini 400’s hard drive, by using the tag information in each song. When you transfer music to your Gmini 400[...]

15 the oldest bookmarks. The next time you play the audio file, you will be presented with three options: Resume : Start playing from the bookmarked position. Ignore : Keep the bookmark but start pla ying from the very beginning. Clear : Clear the bookmark from this file and start playing from the very beginning. 3.6 The Resume Function When you [...]

16 4 MUSIC - Playlists A Playlist is a list of songs that the Gmini 400 will automatically play one after the other . The Gmini 400 can load one playlist at a time into its internal memory . Y ou can create new playlists, add or delete songs fr om a playlist, or Sa ve a playlist as a fi le (fi le type .m3u) to be used another time. There is no li[...]

17 4.2 Creating a Playlist T o create a Playlist, press the RIGHT button while you are in the Music browser . A second window will open on the right side to display the Playlist contents. Y ou can now start adding songs to the current Playlist. In the left window , search for the songs you would like to add to your Playlist. Once the song is highli[...]

18 Close – Closes the windows and returns to the main menu screen. Rename – Renames the current pla ylist. Shuffle – Randomly shuffles the order of the songs in the current playlist. Clear – Clears the contents of the current playlist. Button Move – Allows you to change the place in the list of the highlighted song. Click on Move and th[...]

19 With the Gmini 400 series, you do not need a computer to create digital music files. It is capable of recording from the built-in microphone or an analog line source (ex: HiFi system, Boombox, CD Player , etc) into a standard Windows ® WA V format, either PCM (uncompressed) or ADPCM (compressed). 5.1 Cable Connections for Audio R ecording Plug[...]

20 5.2 Recording Procedur e Before the actual audio recording begins, there is a pre-recording screen which will allow you to adjust your recording set tings. 1. From the home screen, select Audio- Corder then click on ENTER/GO ► . 2. In the pre-recording screen, adjust the recording level* by clicking on the LEFT and RIGHT buttons. Click on the [...]

21 Microphone The built-in microphone is located on the top of the Gmini 400 unit next to the headphone jack. Make sure that you have selected Microphone as the input source in the pre-recording Settings screen. The microphone recording level is preset. Analog Line-In Y ou can record from any line-level audio source to the Gmini 400. Make sure that[...]

22 Record , you wil l set the default record location to this folder . Now, each time you use the AudioCorder icon to start a recording, y our recording will be saved in the folder /Music/V oice/Lectures. 5.4 Audio Editing Audio fi les (microphone recordings / analog recordings / FM Remote Control (optional)) can be modifi ed by deleting the sect[...]

23 Highlight the file to edit and select Edit from the file menu. Only files which have been created with the Gmini 400 recor ding function will show Edit in the file menu. Files created from CDs or downloaded cannot be edited. Once you enter the edit mode, the audio file will play in a continuous loop so that you will be able to hear how your[...]

24 6 MUSIC - Using Windows ® Media Player 9 The Gmini 400 is designed to work seamlessly with V ersion 9 of Windows ® Media Player (WMP9). By installing the Archos Service Provider plug-in, WMP9 will recognize your Gmini 400 as a connected music device. You can then easily copy your CD collection to your Gmini 400. WMP9 will encode each song into[...]

25 you can download it from the Archos website ‘software’ category (www .archos.com). With your Gmini 400 still connected to your computer , start Windows Media Player . Normally , you will connect your Gmini 400 to your computer before you run the WMP9 program. If you connect it after WMP9 has been started, you will have to click on View > [...]

26 7 MUSIC - Using iT unes™ with your Gmini 400 The easiest way to transfer music fi les between a Macintosh ® computer and your Gmini 400 is to use the Macintosh Finder™ to drag and drop the files to and fr om your Macintosh ® . However , for Macintosh ® users who do want to use the Gmini 400 with iT unes ® , Archos has developed a speci[...]

27 8 GAMES - Playing Mophun ® games Y our Gmini 400 has a built-in Mophun ® game engine. What that means is that it can run games created for the Mophun ® gaming platform. Included with your Gmini 400 is the full version of one of the game titles available from Archos. Y ou wil l also find other sample games on your Gmini 400. 8.1 Downloading G[...]

28 Once disconnected from your computer , the Gmini will notice that there is a new game file on the root dir ectory and will install the game automatically . It will then erase the .MPN file that you copied to the root directory . It is a good idea to keep a copy the installation file on you PC. Even if that file gets lost, you can always go b[...]

29 9 VIDEO - Playing Video Like a music file, you simply highlight the video file and then click on PLA Y/GO ► . The thumbnail images on the right side will show you a fr ame from the highlighted video file (center) as well as a frame from the file abo ve and the file below the highlighted one. By clicking on the Video icon in the main menu,[...]

30 • Click on the left function button to put the video into slow-motion view . Y ou can cycle through the values Normal, ½ , ¼ , and 1/8 speed. The sound is muted when in slow motion. While in slow mode and paused, you can step image per image with the RIGHT button. 9.1 Setting a Bookmark If you are watching a video and would lik e to place a [...]

31 9.3 Display Format Set tings Y ou will notice in the Options button (center function button), that you have a number of display format options. In certain cases, depending on how the original video was recorded, you may want to use these adjustments. Default mode : Adjusts the video size to best adapt to the LCD screen. 4/3 aspect: Enlarge the i[...]

32 How to create an MPEG-4 video file Please understand that video re-encoding is not always a simple one button process. Video segments that come from your digital camcorder or which are freely available on the Internet are encoded in many different ways. If not already in the proper MPEG4 Simple Profile format, transf orming these videos into t[...]

33 10.1 Installing the PC Software If your video file is not an MPEG4 Simple Profile .avi file of the proper size, you wi ll need to re-encode it using the following utilities. For the Gmini 400, you will need to create an AVI file that is MPEG4 Simple Profile with a maximum resolution of 640 x 400 and a sound track that is stereo MP3 or WA V [...]

34 MP3 Sound Codec If MPG4 T ranslator detects a suitable MP3 codec on your PC, it will use it, and your video fi le sound track will be MP3. Otherwise, it will use the standard IMA ADPCM codec. There are MP3 encoders (usually packaged together as an encoder and decoder) available on the W eb for you to download. If you choose to use the LAME code[...]

35 10.2 Using MPG4 T ranslator Here you see the image of the main MPG4 T ranslator program. When you fi rst run the program, if the DivX™ codec has not been installed yet, you will be notifi ed. Y ou should download the codec and install it on your computer . If the Virtual dub program has not been installed, you will also be notifi ed, and yo[...]

36 T arget & Priority Y ou should select the target as Gmini 400. Y ou will see a Priority box appear . This control is to allow you to select which f eature of the video to be guarded. If for example you are re-encoding a video file that is 800x600 in resolution and 30 frames per second, this is beyond the maximum resolution that the Gmini 40[...]

37 11 PHO TO - Viewing Photos The Gmini 400 series support the viewing of JPEG (.jpg) and Bitmap (.bmp) image formats. Progressive JPEG images are not supported. The Gmini 400 will resize the image to fit on the built-in screen or on a television screen if you choose the television output. The yellow bar above the list of files indicates that you[...]

38 Rotate picture 90° left Rotate picture 90° right View next photo View previous photo • Click the left function button # -Pic to change the number of photos in the carrousel view . • Click the center function button Picture to display the picture options. • Click on the right function button Hide to hide the picture name and function butt[...]

39 11.3 T ransferring photos to your Gmini 400 T o transfer pictures from your digital camera directly into the Gmini 400, you will insert your digital camera’ s Compact Flash™ card* into the slot on the left side of the Gmini 400. Open up the door to the slot by unlatching the center clasp with your thumbnail. *Attention: In order to protect t[...]

40 Photos from CompactFlash™ on the left, and your Gmini 400 hard disk on the right. Choose destination folder then choose File > Copy All . Y our files will be copied to the folder on the right side of the screen. Y ou can now pull out the CF card from the Gmini 400. If y our image files are not seen in the left screen, you may have to go t[...]

41 12 BRO WSER - Using the Browser The browser is used to navigate the fi le system on the Gmini 400. The fi le system is F A T32, the same type of fi le system that is found on Windows ® based computers. That is, it is a hierarchical system which includes folders and subfolders. Because you will be putting hundreds of fi les on your Gmini 400[...]

42 Go t o th e pa rent dir ecto ry ( go back up on e lev el). Exa mple : Go fr om fol der /Mus ic/W es Burd en/ to / Musi c . 12.2 Navigating the Directory Structure Depending on where you are in the directory system, you will have the option to manipulate fi les and folders. From the main menu, click on Browser . Attention, there is a setting in [...]

43 Rename : Change the name of the file or folder to something new. Y ou will be sent to the virtual keyboar d (see next section) to enter the new file or folder name. Create : Create a new folder in the current level of the directory . You will be sent to the virtual keyboar d (see next section) to enter the new folder name. Copying and Moving F[...]

44 3) Click the RIGHT button again to move the cursor to the right browser and fi nd the desired destination folder . 4) Move back to the left browser (LEFT button), highlight the fi le to copy , and select copy from the fi le menu. The fi le will be copied to the folder in the right browser . Entire folders can also be copied or moved in this [...]

45 Note that when the Gmini 400 is conne cted to a comput er , it will use mor e ener gy than usua l. Y our batte ry power wil l be cons ume d at a highe r ra te th an nor mal . If the Gmini 400 loose s pow er while conne cte d to yo ur comp uter y ou cou ld damage yo ur dir ectory struc tur e a nd/o r loos e d ata. Thus , yo u shou ld alw ays use [...]

46 Macintosh™ OS 9.X Y ou must update y our oper ating system to a minimum of version 9.2. Once done, y ou will not need any special drivers or extensions. Y ou simply plug the Gmini 400 into your Macintosh as enumerated above, and within a f ew seconds, the Gmini 400 will be recognized as a mass storage device (Hard Disk) and mount on the deskto[...]

4 7 Windows ® T o safely disconnect the Gmini 400 hard disk, click on the system tray remove icon (green arrow as shown below) and follow the instructions. W ait until you get a message saying that you can safely unplug the device before disconnecting the USB cable. Attention: The operating system will not allow you to safely disconnect the Multim[...]

48 Macintosh ® Drag the Gmini 400 hard disk icon towards the trashcan, the trashcan will become a big arrow as shown in the screen shot to the left (Mac OS 9.x will still retain the trashcan icon. This is OK, don’ t worry . ) Drop the hard disk icon onto the arrow (or trashcan). The har d disk icon will disappear from the desktop. Y ou can now s[...]

49 1 4 SETTINGS From the home screen, select the Setup option to reveal the menu options for various set tings. 14.1 Sound Settings If you would like to customize the sound quality , you can adjust the Bass, T reble, and other audio settings to suit your particular taste. Normally you will do this while listening to music so that you can hear the c[...]

50 The Sound Par ameters Par ameter Description V olume 32 levels of volume (0-31). Bass 10 levels. Decreases or Increases the low frequencies. T reble 10 levels. Decreases or Increases the high frequencies. Balance 10 levels. F avors the right or left channel of the Stereo signal Bass Boost 10 levels. Increases the very low frequencies Reset butto[...]

51 Play Mode Gmini 400 is currently playing from a Playlist Folder : Play all tracks in the current directory All : Play all tracks on Gmini 400 Single : Play a single track then stop Queue : User can queue the next track to be played † Scan : Gmini 400 plays first 15 seconds of each track†† †Queue Mode: While the current song is playing, [...]

52 14.3 Clock Settings The Gmini 400 has an internal real time clock. The time of day is shown on the top right of the screen in either 24 hour or 12 hour display mode. T o set it, go to Setup then select Clock . Choose parameter Choose V alue for highlighted parameter When fi nished setting the parameters, mo ve down to the Set button, then click[...]

53 Setting Description Language The Gmini 400 can be set to English (default), French, German or Spanish. TV Standard NTSC (USA), PAL (Europe) . In order to view images or vid - eos on an external television, select one option to send the video signal compatible with your country’s television system. Countries other than European or American will[...]

54 14.5 Power Settings Thes e s etting s will help you to save bat tery power th us allo wing a long er bat tery au tonomy . Y ou can set the Gmini 400 to conserve power for both modes of operation (when it is powered from the battery , or when it is connected to the AC charger/ adapter (DC-P ower operation). Par ameter Description Power Off 1-9 mi[...]

55 14.6 System Settings The System settings allow you control over the low level parameters of the Gmini 400. Par ameter Description Show all files Off (def ault), On . If set to Off , the Jukebox will only display the file names of file types, with their corresponding icons, that it knows how to play . If set to On , the Jukebox will display th[...]

56 15 Updating the Gmini 400 Fir mware Operating Syst em (OS) Archos periodical ly updates the Operating System (OS) and makes it available for free download on the ARCHOS website (www .archos. com). Updates to the Operating System include new features, feature improvements, and bug fixes. Y ou should check to make sure that you are running the mo[...]

57 400 to your computer (section 16.1), and then copy the Update_Gmini400.AOS file to the root directory of the Gmini 400. The root directory is the top most level of the directory hierarchy . Just drag this .AOS file onto the Gmini 400 Hard disk in your file manager and it will place it in the top most directory (outside any folder). If there i[...]

58 • F or warr anty and services purposes, keep y our sales r eceipt for proof of purchase. • If technical support (T elephone or E-mail) determines that your product needs to be returned, please contact the place of purchase to have your product repaired or replaced (depending on problem type). Customers who purchased directly from the Ar chos[...]

59 WWW .ARCHOS .COM W orldwide Offi ces United States & Canada Europe & Asia ARCHOS T echnology 3, Goodyear - Unit A Irvine, CA 92618 USA Phone: 1 949-609-1483 F ax: 1 949-609-1414 ARCHOS S.A. 12, rue Ampère 91430 Igny France Phone: +33 (0) 169 33 169 0 F ax: +33 (0) 169 33 169 9 United Kingdom Germany ARCHOS (UK) Limited 3 Galileo Park M[...]

60 1 7 T r oubleshooting 17.1 USB Connection issues Problem : I cannot get my Gmini 400 to be recognized by the computer . Solutions : • Shut off and reboot the computer and the Gmini 400 and then try connecting again in the preferred order mentioned in section 13.1. • Only if using Windows 98SE, y ou must first install the Windows98SE drivers[...]

61 not show up in Windows XP f or over one minute, and then it comes up as local drive . Use DOS Utility ChkDsk as shown below . • Windows ® XP may recognize the Gmini 400 hard disk but yet not assign a drive letter to it. Right click on My Computer and select Manage . Then select Storage , then Disk Management . Within this window you may see t[...]

62 17.4 The Computer locks-up (freezes operation) or Stops Problem : The computer locks-up. Answer : Most likely because you did not use the green ‘safely remove hardware’ icon in the system tray in order to remove the Gmini 400 from your computer . 17.5 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning Problem : On the Gmini 400, I fi[...]

63 Problem : I want to reformat the Gmini 400’ s hard disk. Answer : Y ou can do this, but it will erase ALL of the data on your Gmini 400. Sometimes this may be necessary if your FA T (File Allocation T able) becomes so corrupted that nothing seems to fix your file problems. First, as explained below, you should run ScanDisk or the DOS chkdsk [...]

64 Windows ® XP & 2000 Running Check Disk Utility (ChkDsk) If you still have pr oblems with the file system on your Gmini 400 y ou can try to fix it using the DOS utility , check disk (chkdsk). Do the following; • Make sure external AC adapter is powering the Gmini 400. • Quit all running applications. • Pr op er ly co nn ec t th e Gm [...]

65 ARCHOS VIDEO Gmini 400 series Storage Capacity 20 GB* Computer Interface High Speed USB 2.0 (compatible USB 1.1) Image Playback JPG and BMP (4, 8, 24 bit) images, any size Audio Playback Stereo MP3 decoding 30-320 kb/s CBR & VBR, WMA, WA V . Audio Recording Analog stereo WA V (PCM & ADPCM) - SPDIF not supported Video Playback Video track[...]

66 Warranty and Limited Liability This product is sold with a limited warrant y and specific remedies are av ailable to the original purchaser in the event the product fails to conform to the limited warranty . Manufacturer’s liabilit y may be further limited in accordance with its sales contr act. In general, the manufacturer shall not be respo[...]

67 Warnings and Safety Instructions CAUTION T o pr ev en t r i sk s o f el e ct r ic s h oc k, th i s un i t m u s t o nl y b e op e ne d b y q ua li fi ed s e rv i ce p e rs o n n el . Power off and disconnect the power supply cable bef ore opening the unit. WARNING T o prevent fire or shock hazard, do not expose the unit to rain or moisture. Us[...]

68 Electrostatic Discharge Note: During electrostatic discharge, the product may be malfunctioning. Reset to return normal operation. The Gmini 400 reset is actuated by pressing and holding the STOP/ESC button f or 10 seconds. The unit will power off . Restart normally . Copyright Notice Copyright ARCHOS © 2004 All rights reserved. This document m[...]