
1
• MPEG-4 Video Player & Recorder
• MP3 & WMA Music Player
• Photo Viewer
• USB 2.0 Hard Disk
• Digital Audio Recorder
User Manual for ARCHOS Pocket AV400
Manual version 2.0 pn: 103090V2
English Language User Manual
Please visit our website to download the most recent manual and software for this product.
Table o f Conte nts
1 INTRO - Ports, Buttons and Connections 6
2 INTRO - First Time Usage 8
2.1 Plugging in the AC Adapter 8
2.2 Turn in g on the AV 400 8
2.3 Shutting off the AV400 and Battery saving features 8
2.4 Changing the Language 9
2.5 Foreign Character Sets 9
2.6 Charging the Batteries 9
2.7 Caring for the AV400 10
2.8 Hardware Reset 10
3 MUSIC - Playing Music Files 11
3.1 Button Control 11
3.2 Playing Through your Stereo System 12
3.3 Artist, Album, Title … ID3 Tags 13
3.4 The ARCLibrary (Browsing by Album, Artist, or Song name) 13
3.5 Setting a Bookmark 14
3.6 The Resume Function 15
4 MUSIC - Playlists 16
4.1 Playing a Playlist 16
4.2 Creating a Playlist 17
4.3 Saving a Playlist 17
4.4 Adding songs to a Playlist while listening to Music 18
5 MUSIC - Recording Music 19
5.1 Cable Connections for Audio Recording 19
5.2 Recording Procedure 19
5.3 Where is the Recording Saved? 21
5.4 Audio Editing 21
6 MUSIC - Using Windows™ Media Player 9 23
6.1 Installing Windows Media Player 9 23
6.2 Installing the WMP9 Service Provider Plug-in 23
6.3 Copying Music to your AV400 24
7 MUSIC - Using iTunes™ with your AV400 25
8 VIDEO - Playing Video 26
8.1 Setting a Bookmark 27
8.2 The Resume Function 27
8.3 Display Format Settings 28
8.4 Playing Video Files from the Internet 28

9 VIDEO - Recording MPEG4 Video Files 29
9.1 Setting the Recording Parameters 30
9.2 Where is the Recording Saved? 32
9.3 Copy Protection 32
9.4 Manually Setting the Scheduler 32
10 Automated Yahoo!® TV Recording Scheduler 35
11 VIDEO – Setting the Infrared Emitter Code 37
11.1 Part 1: Choose your Device, Brand and Model 37
11.2 Part 2: Testing the Emitter codes 38
12 VIDEO - Editing Video Files 40
13 VIDEO - Creating MPEG4 video files with your computer 42
13.1 Installing the PC Software 43
13.2 Using MPEG4 Translator 45
14 PHOTO - Viewing Photos 47
14.1 Viewing Photos 47
14.2 Viewing a slideshow 48
14.3 Tran sferring photos to your AV 400 49
15 BROWSER - Using the Browser 50
15.1 Navigating the Directory Structure 50
15.2 Navigating the Directory Structure 51
15.3 Using the Virtual Keyboard 53
16 Connecting/Disconnecting the AV400 to/from your PC 54
16.1 Connecting the AV400 54
16.2 Disconnecting the AV400 from your Computer 57
17 SETTINGS 59
17.1 Sound Settings 59
17.2 Play Mode Settings 60
17.3 Clock Settings 62
17.4 Display Settings 62
17.5 Power Settings 64
17.6 System Settings 65
17.7 TV control 65
18 Updating the AV400 Firmware Operating System (OS) 66
19 Technical Support 68
20 Troubleshooting 70
20.1 USB Connection issues 70
20.2 Charging and Power issues 71
20.3 AV400 locks up (freezes operation) or Stops 71
20.4 The Computer locks-up (freezes operation) or Stops 72
20.5 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning 72
21 Technical Specifications 75
22 Legal 76

Dear Customer,
ARCHOS thanks you for your choice of this exciting AV400 product. Never
before has one been able to carry with him or her so much information, be
it MP3 digital music, MPEG-4 digital videos or digital photos, and be able
to enjoy these without a computer. We are sure that your AV400 will give
you years of listening and viewing enjoyment. Of course you can always
use it as a regular portable hard disk too.
This guide will explain to you the functions of the AV400. Our engineers
have packed this product with many functions and capabilities. The
better you know how to use it, the more enjoyment you will get from it.
Remember, with the AV400, you can…
•
•
• View JPEG and BMP images and slide shows
•
•
• Use it as a voice recorder
•
• Create music Playlists
•
We wish you many years of enjoyment from your AV400 product. Please do
register your product at our website www.archos.com/register/products.
html to ensure that you get access to our help line and to be informed of
free software updates for your product.
Wishing you the best Video, Music, and Photo experience,
a Hard disk activity indicator (red)
b On indicator (green)
c Battery charger indicator (green)
d Move UP (also increases volume during media playback)
e Move DOWN (also decreases volume during media playback)
f Move LEFT (also plays previous song or fast reverse through song or video)
g Move RIGHT (also plays next song or fast forward through song or video)
h On/Enter/Play/Go
– Hold for 4 seconds to turn on
i Escape/Stop/Off – Hold for 4 seconds to turn off device
j Left function button – Activates the left on-screen menu item (p)
Also buttons lock.
k Center function button – Activates the center on-screen menu item (q)
Also speaker on/off
l Right function button – Activates the right on-screen menu item (r)
m LCD/TV button – Hold down for 3 seconds to switch between LCD and
external TV display
n TFT LCD screen 320 x 240 pixels
o Built-in loud speaker (hold down on button k for three seconds to turn
speaker on and off)
Screen function buttons which correspond to j, k, l
INTRO - Ports, Buttons and Connections

a LCD/TV button – Hold down for 3 seconds to switch between LCD and
external TV display
b Microphone – for making digital voice recordings
c CompactFlash™ Type I slot
a USB 2.0 port (USB 1.1 compatible) to connect the AV400 to your computer
b Power Connector (use only the supplied Archos power charger/adapter)
c Multi-connect jack* – for headphones, TV Cradle, and AV in/out connections
*The optional multi-connect adapter and AV cable allow for audio and video
playing/recording without the TV Cradle.
Multi-connect Adapter AV Cable
Please take the time to read though this manual. There are many
things that this device can do that you may not be aware of.
2.1 Plugging in the AC Adapter
• Use only the included ARCHOS charger/adapter.
•
• You may use the Archos Video AV400 while its battery is charging, but
it will then take longer before the battery is completely charged.
2.2 Turn ing on th e AV 400
•
•
2.3 Shutting off the AV400 and Battery saving features
To sh ut o ff th e un it, pr es s and h ol d t he S TO P/ ES C/O FF bu tt on
for 3 seconds.
In the Power menu [Setup Power: Battery Operation]
there is a Power Off parameter. It is factory set to 2
minutes. Thus, if your AV400 is idle for 2 minutes, it will shut
off. This setting can be changed from one to nine minutes
or to ‘never’.
In the Power menu [Setup
Power: Battery Operation]
there is a Backlight Off parameter to save battery power
(the lighting of the screen consumes a lot of the battery
power). It is factory set to 30 seconds. That is, if there are no buttons
pressed, the screen will shut off in order to save battery life. To turn the
screen back on, just click once on any button. See section 17.5 for a
complete explanation.
INTRO - First Time Usage

2.4 Changing the Language
The AV400 interface can be set to English (default), French, or German.
• To change the language, move the joystick to Setup and
then click PLAY/ENTER .
•
• Using the joystick to highlight the Language parameter.
• Now move the joystick to the Right or Left to choose the
desired language.
• Choose French, German, or English.
• The language displayed will change immediately.
• Click on the STOP/ESC button to
exit this screen.
2.5 Foreign Character Sets
font folder under /Data on the AV400 hard disk or on the Archos website
under the heading Software. If, for example, you would like to have the
folder /system on the AV400 and shut down and restart the AV400. File
names, folder names, and ID3 tags written using the Microsoft® codepage
for the language will now be displayed in that character set. Only one
will be set to English.
2.6 Charging the Batteries
Other chargers or adapters may damage the AV400. The green CHARGE
indicator lights up to indicate that the external adapter is connected.
The batteries will charge automatically when the AC adapter/charger
is plugged in. Once the batteries are fully charged, this light will blink,
indicating that you can disconnect the charger/adapter. Once charged,
you can get up to 12 hours* of MP3 music playback time and up to
4 hours* of AVI video playback time (on the built-in screen) from the
batteries. Some AV400 models are made with integrated batteries which
are designed to last for the life of the AV400. 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 Caring for the AV400
The Archos Video AV400 is an electronic product that needs to be treated
with more care than typical consumer electronic products.
• Do not subject it to shock.
• Do not subject it to heat. Keep it ventilated (especially when connected
to a computer).
• Keep the AV400 away from water and excessively humid areas.
•
• Keep any connected cords to the AV400 neatly arranged. This light
product could fall if a cord is accidentally pulled by a child.
• Do not open up the AV400. There are no user serviceable parts inside.
Opening will void your warranty.
2.8 Hardware Reset
In the event that your AV400 freezes operation (due to electrostatic
phenomena for example), you can actuate a hardware reset by holding
down on the STOP/ESC button for 10 seconds. In normal operation,
the STOP/ESC button will shut down the AV400 after being held down
for 3 seconds.

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 PLAY
you have adjusted the volume control on the headphone cord. By clicking
on the Music icon in the main menu screen, you will enter into a ‘music
listed if you enter the folder via the Browser.
Current Directory Play Order Play Mode: One Directory Status: Playing Volume (maximum:31)
Song elapsed time
Song time remaining
Song Length
Battery level (full)
Time of Day
*APIC Album picture
Volume l evel m eters
Go to setup options Show Music Options Browse the hard disk for other tracks
3.1 Button Control
Increase the Volume
Click once: Play the previous song
seconds of song) otherwise go to the
beginning of the song.
Hold: Fast reverse through the song.
Click once: Play the next song in the
folder or playlist.
Hold: Fast forward through the song.
Stop Song
Decrease the Volume
Play/pause/resume song
MUSIC - Playing Music Files
To l ock t he AV 40 0 bu tt on s, p re ss a nd h ol d t he l ef t
function button for three seconds. The AV400 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 17.2
Blinks while playing
a track
Repeat playing
Pause
dom)
track selection
Recording a track Playlist
3.2 Playing Through your Stereo System
On your HiFi there are two RCA type connectors that are labeled Aux
in, CD in, or Line-in. Typically they are color coded white and red for
left and right stereo channels respectively. Just
take a stereo mini jack plug to RCA cable (not
included) and connect the mini plug to the
AV400 headphone jack and the other end to the
Aux in, CD
in, or linein of your stereo system. Or better, connect
the Archos TV cradle’s AV Out red and white
connectors directly to your stereo auxiliary
inputs and place AV400 into the TV Cradle.
On the front of your stereo, select the
corresponding auxiliary input or CD input that you plugged into on the
back of your HiFi system. Press Play and then adjust the AV400 volume
(UP/DOWN buttons) in order to supply your stereo system with a signal
that is neither too weak nor too strong. If the sound is distorted, you will
need to reduce the AV400’s volume. You can turn on and off the built-in
speaker by holding the center function button for three seconds.

3.3 Artist, Album, Title … ID3 Tags
ID3 Tags are information about the recording which found inside of an
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 title of the song (Mirror), and a small image
of the album cover (only jpeg images not progressive jpeg). If these data
are present, the AV400 will display them on the screen when it plays the
of the parent folder, the name of the current folder, and then the name
As of the writing of this manual, there are two versions of ID3 tags that
AV400 can read either version of tags, and display the information. If both
sets of tags have information, the data from the ID3 version 2 tag will be
displayed. Other tag information may include year and genre of music.
These other tag data are not displayed by the AV400, but are used to
index your music in the ARCLibrary (see next section).
3.4 The ARCLibrary (Browsing by Album, Artist, or Song name)
The ARCLibrary is a system for choosing your music by its characteristics.
It can be turned On or Off in the settings from Setup > Playmode.
As shown in this screen capture, you can select your music by Artist,
Album, Song Title, Genre, or Year. MP3
data tags to hold information about
you purchase a song from a music
download service, the songs will have
this information. If you have an MP3 or
ithout this tag information,
then you can add or change it by going
®
Explorer. Once you re-index into
the ARCLibrary, you will access to this track with the ARCLibrary. Audio
and Album = Audio Recording. The ARCLibrary indexes all the music on
your AV400’s hard drive regardless of
which folder you placed it in, by using
the ID3 information in each song. When
you transfer music to your AV400 from
your computer, it goes directly to the
AV400 hard disk without the ARCLibrary
knowing about the new song. Thus, in
order for your new songs to be indexed
into the ARCLibrary, you must update
it with the Update button as shown here in the Setup > Playmode
screen. You have the following options to set the ARCLibrary.
Off – From the Music Music.
On – You can browse music by its characteristics (ID3 tags) but you will
have to manually update the ARCLibrary each time you add new music
from your computer to your AV400.
Automatic – The ARCLibrary will be set to On and it will automatically
update the library each time it notices that you have disconnected from a
computer. A message screen will appear indicating that it is updating the
ARCLibrary contents.
3.5 Setting a Bookmark
If you are listening to a song, or perhaps a long recording, and would like
to place a bookmark in it in order to pick up from this point at another
time, you can use the Bookmark function. You simply click on the center
function button labeled Options, then
choose Set Bookmark. This will
at the current position. You can
it will have a yellow check mark on its icon
within it. You can have a maximum of 16
will then start to erase the oldest bookmarks. The next time you play the

Resume: Start playing from the bookmarked position.
Ignore: Keep the bookmark but start playing from the very beginning.
Clear
beginning.
3.6 The Resume Function
When you turn on your AV400 you will sometimes notice that the
icon which is highlighted on the main screen is not the Browser
but rather the Resume icon. This icon is highlighted when the
MUSIC - Playlists
A Playlist is a list of songs that the AV400 will
automatically play one after the other. The AV400
can load one playlist at a time into its internal
memory. You can create new playlists, add or delete
type .m3u) to be used another time. There is no
limit to the number of playlists you can save on the
AV400 hard disk. Playlists are indicated by a special list icon (circled icon
to the left).
4.1 Playing a Playlist
To p la y a Pla yl is t, yo u si mp ly sc ro ll to t he
Playlist, such as ‘Jazz Music’ shown to the
left, and click on PLAY . The list of songs
will be loaded into the internal memory
of the AV400 and then be displayed in a
separate panel.
Click on PLAY and the songs will
be played in the order shown. To
order, you can click on Playlist,
then choose . You can open
on
your computer with a text editor such
your AV400, you are only deleting the list and not the music itself.

4.2 Creating a Playlist
To 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. You 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 highlighted, click on the Add
function button to add it to the Playlist.
The song will be added to the Playlist and a small mark next to the music
icon will be made to indicate that it is in the Playlist. Continue searching
the Add or Insert button when highlighting a folder. All the contents of
the folder and its subfolders will be added or inserted into the current
playlist.
You can jump back and forth between the brow se r and the playlist by
clicking on the LEFT ◄ and RIGHT ► buttons. A Playlist can have a
maximum of 5000 songs. We recommend that you save your Playlists.
4.3 Saving a Playlist
4.4 Adding songs to a Playlist while listening to Music
This can only be done if you have entered your Music
folder via the Music icon and not by the general
browser. To add the song you are listening to or any
other song to the current Playlist, do the following:
• While playing a song, click on Options and choose
Edit Playlist. A browser window and the Playlist will
open.
• Click on the LEFT ◄ button to go to the hard disk
browser window.
• Select the song or folder of songs to add, then click
the button Add.
• Click ESC to return to the playing screen.

With the AV400 series, you do not need a computer to create digital
an analog line source (ex: HiFi system, Boombox, CD Player, etc) into a
standard Windows® WAV format, either PCM (uncompressed) or ADPCM
(compressed).
5.1 Cable Connections for Audio Recording
If you are using the Archos TV cradle, then you will have to plug the
or other audio device that you are recording from. If you are using the
optional multi-connect adapter and AV cable, you should plug the AV
cable into the AV IN side of the adapter, and then plug the adapter into
the AV400. Now connect the Red and White connectors of the AV cable to
5.2 Recording Procedure
Before the actual audio recording begins, there is a pre-recording screen
which will allow you to adjust your recording settings.
MUSIC - Recording Music
3. Click on Settings to reveal the recording parameters screen as shown
above. Be sure to set the correct
Source. You will hear silence during
recording and playback if the incorrect
source is chosen.
* You should try some test recordings before deciding on which recording level gives the
best sound quality. Don’t be tricked by the volume of the headphones which can be
adjusted independently with the UP and DOWN buttons.
The built-in microphone is located on the top of the AV400 unit. Make
sure that you have selected Microphone as the input source in the
pre-recording Settings screen.
You can record from any line-level audio source to the AV400 . Make
sure that you select the Analog Line-In as the input source in the
pre-recording Setup screen. If you have the TV cradle unit, you can plug
the Red and White connectors of the AV In cables to the output of you
home stereo system or the audio device you are recording from. If you
have the optional multi-connect adapter plug, you can enter a stereo
audio signal into the AV400 directly. Be careful that the source audio
volume on the player will work if you are using the headphone out signal
as the one Archos sells as an option.

5.3 Where is the Recording Saved?
The default location for audio recordings is the folder called Music. If you
click on the Music icon in the main menu, you will go to this folder. Notice
that the right function button is labeled Record. Each time you use this
button to record audio instead of the AudioCorder button on the main
menu, you set the recording default location to the current folder. For
example, let’s say you have a folder called . If you
go to this folder and then make a recording using the right function button
Record, you will set the default record location to this folder. Now, each
time you use the AudioCorder icon to start a recording, your recording will
be saved in the folder
5.4 Audio Editing
wish included. If you would like to edit an audio recording, you have the
possibility to “crop out” the exact section of the recording you would like
to save. For example, you have recorded a lecture of 33 minutes and 22
seconds in length. You would like to cut out and save just one particular
important section from 12 minutes and 15 seconds to 21 minutes and 5
seconds. The diagram below illustrates the situation.
Desired audio section
00:00 (0min 0sec) 12:15 21:05 33:22
To ke ep j ust thi s se ct ion ( cr op pi ng i t) , yo u w il l:
•
• Select Edit from the File menu in order to enter the edit mode
• In the edit mode, set the cut-IN point (12:15 in our example)
• Next, set the cut-OUT point (21:05 in our example)
• Save the edit

MUSIC - Using Windows™ Media Player 9
The AV400 is designed to work seamlessly with
Version 9 of Windows® Media Player (WMP9).
By installing the Archos Service Provider plugin, WMP9 will recognize your AV400 as a
connected music device. You can then easily
copy your CD collection to your AV400. WMP9
will encode each song into the WMA format (preferred compressed
format of Windows™) and then store them on your connected Archos
device. This Service Provider plug-in will also allow you to play purchased
music from on-line music services such as Napster.com, MusicNow.com,
BuyMusic.com, and Liquid.com.
6.1 Installing Windows Media Player 9
If you do not already have
Windows Media Player version
9 running on your computer,
you can install it from the
Archos Installation Utility.
Connect your AV400 to your
computer. In Windows Explorer,
open up the hard drive labeled
JUKEBOX. It may be called
JUKEBOX (E:) or with another
letter. Open the folder Data,
then the folder PC Installation,
E:\Data\PC Installation\setup.exe. Click on the icon according to your
operating system. Follow the on screen instructions.
6.2 Installing the WMP9 Service Provider Plug-in
Player 9 as explained above. To install the Service Provider Plug-in to
Windows Media player, run the Archos Installation Utility as explained
above, and then chose Archos Media Player Service Provider Plug-in.
Follow the on screen instructions. If you have accidentally deleted it,
you can download it from
the Archos website ‘software’
category (www.archos.com).
With your AV400 still
connected to your computer,
start Windows Media Player.
Normally, you will connect
your AV400 to your computer
before you run the WMP9
program. If you connect it after WMP9 has been started, you will have
connected AV400.
6.3 Copying Music to your AV400
Run Windows Media Player.
6.4 Copy Protected Downloads
With music download services such as Napster.com, MusicNow.com,
BuyMusic.com, and Liquid.com, you can purchase music on-line and
Microsoft® copy protection system. When they are downloaded to your
computer then transferred to your AV400, they will play only on your
people’s portable music players.
1. Choose Copy to CD or Device and then check
the songs from your Music Library that you want to
copy to your device.
2. Choose the AV400 device
then select the folder you
want to copy your songs to.
Now click on Copy.

MUSIC - Using iTunes™ with your AV400
Macintosh® computer and your AV400 is to use the
your Macintosh®.
However, for Macintosh
®
users who do want to use the
AV400 with iTunes®, Archos has developed a special i-
Tunes
®
/Data/i-Tunes Plug-in on
the AV400 hard disk or from the Archos website. In this folder you will
Once this is done, iTunes™ will recognize the AV400 as a ‘Device’.
To mak e you r use r ex pe ri en ce e as y as po ss ib le , p lea se ke ep in mi nd the
following.
1) When you create your Playlists with iTunes® ( you ca n o n ly c re ate Pl ay li st s
from songs that have been copied to your AV400), your Macintosh® will
save these Playlists to the root directory of your AV400. It will not save
them to the AV400 Playlists directory. It would be best to use the AV400
itself to make Playlists (section 4.2) and then save these Playlists in your
Playlists folder.
®
library to your
AV400, the i-Tunes® program will look at the ID3 tag information (See
section 3.3 of this manual for an explanation of ID3 tags) of the MP3
Artist as the folder name. Then it will take the Album name ID3 tag, and
create a subfolder with that album as its name. Finally, it will take the MP3
song itself and place it into that album subfolder. Thus, although it is a
clean structure of artists and albums, i-Tunes
®
does not follow the AV400
convention of placing the music into the Music
VIDEO - Playing Video
then click on PLAY/GO . The thumbnail images on the
right side will show you a frame from the highlighted video
By clicking on the Video icon
in the main menu, you will enter into a ‘video only’ mode.
enter the folder via the Browser.
To wa tc h y ou r v id eo s o n a te le vi si on ,
you must hold down the LCD/TV
button for three second. The AV400
screen will go black and the video
will be sent out to your connected
television. Switch your television to
auxiliary video input (often found just
below channel 1 – sometimes called
L1 or L2). If you don’t see a clear
color image, you may have to set your
AV400 to your local television standard (NTSC or PAL) in the Setup >
Display settings menu.
• Use the PLAY/GO button to pause/unpause the video.
Long press to switch between built-in video and external
video.
• Use the UP/DOWN buttons to control the volume.
• Hold down the RIGHT/LEFT buttons to fast forward or
fast reverse through the video.
• Click the right function button to Hide/Show the overlaid video time
information.
• Click the Options function button to set a bookmark, change the screen
presentation. Press and hold for three seconds to turn the built-in
speaker on and off.

• Click on the left function button
to put the video into slow-motion view. You 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 LEFT button.
8.1 Setting a Bookmark
If you are watching a video and would like to place a bookmark in it
in order to continue from this point at another time, you can use the
Bookmark function. You simply click on the center function button labeled
Options, then choose Set Bookmark. This will set a bookmark in the video
will be presented with three options:
Resume: Start playing from the bookmarked position.
Ignore: Keep the bookmark but start playing from the very
beginning.
Clear
very beginning.
8.2 The Resume Function
When you turn on your AV400 you will sometimes notice that the icon
which is highlighted on the main screen is not the Browser but rather
the Resume icon. This icon is highlighted when the AV400 can resume
8.3 Display Format Settings
You 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.
16/9 aspect: Send out a TV signal without the black horizontal bars. Will
not be cropped on the LCD.
No Overscan: Picture will not pass into the overscan area. Entire picture
will always be seen on all televisions.
8.4 Playing Video Files from the Internet
The number of encoding and compression schemes currently used to
basis. There are so many standards and formats that it is very possible
formatted in “MPEG4” they may not play right away. The AV400 series
size of 720 by 576 pixels (25 frames/second). The AV400 will not directly
(compression/decompression) other than the XviD and DivX™ MPEG4
You will have
to use the software Mp4SP included on the AV400 hard disk to re-encode
them into the proper XviD or DivX™ MPEG4 format with an MP3 or IMA-
ADPCM sound track. See chapter 13 for more details.

Pre-record Screen
1. Select VideoCorder on the main
menu screen. In the pre-record screen,
you should see movement on the
sound level bar indicating that sound
will be recorded. Adjust the sound level
by clicking the LEFT/RIGHT buttons.
Before starting the recording, you can
adjust the recording parameters via the
middle function button Settings. Click
on Hide Bar to hide the video recording
overlay information.
Setup Parameters
During Recording
VIDEO - Recording MPEG4 Video Files
9.1 Setting the Recording Parameters
Rename
Auto Stop
Rec
On, Off. If set to On, the AV400 will stop recording after the
duration set in the next line. For example, you want to record
a television show for two hours but do not want to stay around
for the two hours to stop the recording. In the screen above, a
recording that you start manually will last for 2 hours. If set to Off,
the recording will continue until you click on the stop button or
Duration This is the duration of time your recording will last if Auto Stop
Rec above is set to On.
Pre-record This is a safety margin added to the beginning of a scheduled
recording which was set via the My Yahoo!® TV scheduler of your
personal calendar. It affects ONLY those recordings. This is just in
case the clocks between your AV400 and the broadcast station are
different or if the broadcast station starts earlier than expected.
Post-record This is a safety margin added to the end of a scheduled recording
which was set via the My Yahoo!® TV scheduler of your personal
calendar. It affects ONLY those recordings. This is just in case the
clocks between your AV400 and the broadcast station are different
or if the broadcast station runs overtime.
Source Composite, S-Video, Auto. You can choose which video input
you want the AV400 to use. Normally, with a good video signal,
you can set it to Auto, and the AV400 will scan the two inputs to
see which one is receiving video.
Format Auto, 4:3, 5:3, 16:9, 2.35. This is the aspect ratio of the screen
that the AV400 will record. You can set this manually, but in most
cases you can just leave it on Auto.

Resolution
Bitrate
Sampling 32kHz, 48kHz. The sound sampling rate. The higher value gives
a higher quality sound but will take up more space on the hard
drive.
Brightness Use this to increase or decrease the recorded image brightness
Contrast Use this to increase or decrease the recorded image contrast
Saturation
Hue Use this to change the color spectrum in the recorded image
Reset Change the above settings to the AV400 default settings
•
button to return to the pre-record screen.
•
• Click the LEFT/RIGHT buttons to adjust the sound input level. Too far
to the right will often give an overdriven distorted quality. Too far to the
left may make for a very soft sound. Try a few recordings to get a sense
of what is the best sound level. Do not let the headphone volume fool
you. That can be adjusted independently with the UP/DOWN buttons.
• If you would like to make a recording in another folder instead of the
default “Video” folder, go to the desired folder via the main Video icon,
then click on the right function button Record.
9.2 Where is the Recording Saved?
9.3 Copy Protection
9.4 Manually Setting the Scheduler

Notes about setting the Scheduler.
• When the user interface is in English, the Date format is set to Month/
Day.
• If the end time is earlier than the start time, then it is assumed that
you start recording on the start date, and the recording ends on the
the screen above will start recording on the 16th day of June, and end
on the 17th at 2am.
• Once a scheduled recording has been made, or the date of a recording
has been passed, without the recording having been made (the Archos
unit was not in the TV Cradle or not in Standby mode), the schedule
entry will be erased from the scheduler.
•
make long recordings. Thus a long scheduled recording may produce
•

For those who have a My Yahoo!® account and use the calendar feature,
the AV400 can read the TV programs scheduled into your personal
calendar and thus make scheduled recordings this way. You can sign up
for an account and learn how to use the My Yahoo!
®
TV and calendar
functions at the Yahoo!® Website (www.yahoo.com).
You must do the following:
1. Connect your AV400 to your computer.
2. Go to your personal Yahoo!
®
calendar which has your TV programs
scheduled.
3. Choose the Week view – starting with the current day as the
beginning of the week.
4. Click on Printable View to show a cleaner printable version.
5. From your browser menu click on File > Save As…
6. Do not change the File Name, but do change the Save as Type to
Web page, html only System on
your AV400.
7. Once you disconnect the AV400 from you r computer, the AV400 will
automatically update its scheduler with the newly saved TV programs
from your My Yahoo!
®
Calendar. If the AV400 encounters a television
station name that it does not know the channel number for (was
never set), it will indicate so, and direct you to go to the scheduler to
manually assign a channel to the station name.
Notes:
• If the TV programs from your personal calendar do not seem to be
correctly copied to the AV400 scheduler, go to the Archos web site to
• If you change your Yahoo!® personal calendar by deleting some TV
programs and adding new ones, only the new programs will be added
you want to delete scheduled items, you must do this in the AV400
scheduler itself.
• Missed recordings (because you did not have the AV400 in the TV
Cradle connected to your Television at the record time) will be deleted
from the scheduler.
Automated Yahoo!® TV Recording Scheduler
in your list of channels, it will put the event into the scheduler and
mark it with a ?, indicating that you must assign a channel number to
the name. Move the cursor to the line containing the ?, and click on
the center function button “Set Channel”. You can now scroll through
the channel numbers and assign a number to the station name for
that event. You only have to do this once.

VIDEO – Setting the Infrared Emitter Code
11.1 Part 1: Choose your Device, Brand and Model
On the main screen, go to Setup then click on TV Control.
1. Select the type of device that you have stuck your IR Emitter to. You
have the choice of either a VCR (video cassette recorder), Cable
Box, or Satellite Receiver.
2. Select the brand of your device.
3. Click on Tune IR Emitter button.
4. The TV channels button allows you to give names to each channel.
For example, if channel 6 is CNN then you can name it in this screen.
®
personal
calendar to set your recording scheduler, any unknown station name
will be indicated in the scheduler with a ?. You then have the
possibility to assign a channel number to the station name by clicking
all the station names and channel numbers by hand.
11.2 Part 2: Testing the Emitter codes
1.
2.
3. Tune device code (multiple codes available): Some makers of
video equipment don’t use the same set of control codes for all of
their products. They have various code sets for various models and
code works with your device. In the example screen, you see the
code C109. If this code does not work when doing the Test: channel
select, advance it to the next code and then test to see if that next
code works.
4. Test channel select: When you press the Test channel select button
(Highlight test channel select and press ENTER
button – on AV400),
the AV400 will send a signal through the cradle to the Infrared Emitter
stuck to your device and changes the channel. If the Number of digits
parameter is set to three, it will try to select channel 123. If that
parameter is set to 2 or 1, it will send the code for channel 12 and
channel 1 respectively.
5. Test ON/OFF: When you click on the Test On/Off button, the AV400
will send a signal to the TV Cradle, which will then send a signal out to
the Infrared Emitter stuck to your device and turn your device on and

off. Click this test button again and your device should change from on
to off or off to on. If pressing this button does not turn on and off your
device, try the next code for your device (step 3 above). If none of the
codes work, check that the infrared emitter is directly over the infrared
sensor on your tuner device.
Parameter Description
Key: -/-- Set this to On if normally, you have to press this same
key on your device’s remote control in order to select a
channel.
Number of digits Set the number of digits that your device can recognize
for a channel.
Key: Enter Set this to On if normally, you have to press the Enter
key on your device’s remote control after you enter the
channel number.
Key Delay Change the delay between the emission of each digit of a
channel. You may need to adjust this if the AV400 seems
to send only half the digits of a channel or more digits
of a channel.
Beginning of recording
Example 1: You have recorded a music video program and would like to
keep one single music presentation. The rest of the television recording
you do not care to keep. In this case, you would set a Start mark (a) at the
beginning of the desired segment, and an End mark (b) at the end of the
desired segment. You would then choose CROP which would then delete
everything except the designated section.
VIDEO - Editing Video Files
Music Video section to keep
(a) (b)
to delete
to delete
(a) (b)(a) (b)

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you pause at a given point to make a Start or End
Mark, the actual point of the cut will be the nearest I-Frame. I-Frames are special
can cut ONLY at an I-Frame. It is thus recommended that when you pause at the
point you want to make your Start or End mark, that you click the LEFT button
once (will jump to the previous I-frame) and then click the RIGHT button (shows
the next I-frame) so that you can see your choice of I-Frames to cut at. Go to
the I-Frame you desire and then set your Mark. Trying to set a mark between
I-Frames is ineffective since the AV400 will just choose the closest I-Frame.
at the spot you want to
make your Start mark.
Click the RIGHT button
once, then LEFT once,
and choose the I-frame
you want for the mark.
Click on the Edit function
button and select Start
Mark.
2. Let the video play.
Now click on Pause at
the location you want
to mark the end of your
segment. Choose your
I-frame and then select
End Mark from the
Edit menu. You can now
click on the Edit button
again and choose to Cut
or Crop
segment (blue portion in
the time line.)
3. Continue to mark
other segments that you
would like to delete and
use the edit Cut function.
edits, you can Save Edit
which keeps the edit
points and allows you to
re-edit another time, or
you can Write to new
File which will create a
(old-name_Edit0000).
VIDEO - Creating MPEG4 video files with
your computer

13.1 Installing the PC Software
you will need to re-encode it using the following utilities. For the AV400,
resolution up to 720 x 576 (depending on frame rate) and a sound track
that is stereo MP3 or WAV. In actuality, in all cases, a resolution beyond
640x480 does not add any advantage.
Run the program SETUP.EXE (the Archos Installation Utility) found on the
AV400 hard drive in /Data/PC Installation. Please install the programs
in the following order.
This software will install the DivX™ Compression/Decompression onto
your PC. You should shut off any anti-virus programs when installing this
or other codec software. This is not a program that is run by itself. Rather,
it installs background software which allows your computer to do high
quality video compression. This is the MPEG4 compressed video type that
as an application that allows you to play DivX™ videos on your PC, at the
website www.divx.com. The standard version is one best suited for your
AV400.
purpose transfer and cleanup utility which has many options allowing for
Archos Installation Utility, it will automatically unzip. It will prompt you
to save it to C:\Program Files\VirtualDub. You should use this default
directory location. Otherwise you will have to instruct the Mpeg4 translator
This program, developed by Archos, is a “Front-end” for the Virtual Dub
program. It has a simple interface which you use and it then tells Virtual
need to locate the Virtual Dub program. If you did not install Virtual Dub
in the default location, you will have to show the program where Virtual
Dub is.
If MP4SP detects a suitable MP3 codec on your PC, it will use it, and your
ADPCM codec. There are MP3 encoders (usually packaged together as
an encoder and decoder) available on the Web for you to download. If
you choose to use the LAME codec, make sure that you have a version
by using the search terms ACM, MP3 and CODEC in your favorite web
search engine. Once this MP3 codec is installed into your system, Mpeg4
If you are unsure what codecs (audio and/or video) have been installed
on your computer, you can see the list by going to the following location.
For Windows XP, click on Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds
and Audio Devices Properties >
Hardware > choose Audio Codecs, then
click on Properties
of all the audio codecs that are installed
on your computer. Decoding of MPEG 2
MPG4 Translator. These are usually .mpg
Internet (FlaskMPEG, Rippack, etc.) that
may be downloaded in order to help you
is the website www.digital-digest.com.
13.2 Using MPEG4 Translator

Next, you can change the
parameters (Change Settings) of
the DivX™ encoder to adjust the
Like MP3 music, the higher the bit rate setting is made, the higher the
quality of the music, or video in this case, that you will get. However, this
will also take up more space on your hard disk. A setting of 900 kbps will
give you a nice looking image for viewing on a television. For near DVD
quality, you can set it up to 1200 kbps.
You should select the target as AV400. You will see a Priority b ox appear.
This control is to allow you to select which feature of the video to be
in resolution and 30 frames
per second, this is beyond the
maximum resolution that the
AV400 can play. Thus, the MPG4
Trans lato r p rogra m wi ll have t o
decrease the resolution. Choosing LCD
for viewing on the built in LCD screen. Choosing the TV option will
optimize the movie to keep the highest possible frame rate. You can see
what the size and frame rate will be by looking at the Video Image Size:
Destination parameters. When choosing TV, it is understood that the
output will be optimized for a television, and not the built-in screen.
Click on and the program will call Virtual Dub to start processing the
video. Depending on the power and speed of your computer, this could
take real time (a 60 minute long video re-encoded in about 60 minutes)
or much longer. As shown to the left, you will see the progress as it
button is grayed out, it would be for
Virtual Dub program was not located when
Mpeg4 Translator was started up. Close the
program, restart it, and make sure you locate
the Virtual Dub program.

PHOTO - Viewing Photos
The AV400 series support the viewing of JPEG (.jpg) and
Bitmap (.bmp) image formats. Progressive JPEG images are
built-in screen or on a television screen if you choose the
or BMP will be visible in the directory. The three images on the right are
thumbnail sized pictures of the
the picture just before and just
If you are viewing photos on a
television, it is recommended
that you set the Image Display
setting to Progressive to
eliminate any possible screen
menu Setup > Display.
14.1 Viewing Photos
When you click Enter
the image in the carrousel, either alone, within a group of 4 images, or
within a group of 9 images. A red rectangle will surround the selected
photo. Click on Enter again to display the image in full screen. Once it
is displayed as a full screen image, you can rotate it, magnify it, or set it
as the AV400 screen background (Wallpaper).
1 x 1 image 2 x 2 images 3 x 3 images
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 buttons.
14.2 Viewing a slideshow
14.3 Transferring photos to your AV400
To tr an sf er p ict ur es f ro m yo ur d igi ta l cam era di re ct ly in to t he AV4 00 , yo u
will insert your digital camera’s Compact Flash™ card* into the slot on
the left side of the AV400. Insert the card when the main menu screen
is displayed.

When you insert the card, the AV400 will
recognize it and open up two browser windows.
The left window will show the contents of your
CompactFlash™ (CF) card* and the right window
will show the contents of your AV400’s hard drive.
Navigate to the folder on your CF card which
contains your photos (in this example
). Move to the right window (click right
button) and navigate to the folder you would like
to save your photos to (you can create a new folder if you need to by
BROWSER - Using the Browser
that is found on Windows® based computers. That is, it is a
hierarchical system which includes folders and subfolders.
you include the folders: Data, Music, Playlists, Photo, Video, and Voice.
The folders Music, Photo and Video are special folders in that the icons
on the main screen lead to these folders and then places you directly in
that folder. If these folders are deleted, you will be placed at the root level
(highest level) of the directory hierarchy.
15.1 Navigating the Directory Structure
Just below the top status bar, you
can see the path to the directory
you are currently viewing.
To na vi ga te t he di re ct or y st ru ct ure y ou w ill use :
ENTER Open the highlighted folder (directory) or Play the
ESC/STOP Go back to the main menu.

folder.
15.2 Navigating the Directory Structure
Depending on where you are in the directory system, you will have the
Browser. Attention, there is a setting in the Setup > System menu called
. If this is set to Off
the system setting to On. Files that it cannot play will be
.
Info
made, etc.
Delete
deleted, the AV400 will ask “ ”. U se
the function keys to reply Yes or No. For folder, it will delete
the entire contents of the folder. It will ask “Delete folder:
” Use the function keys to reply
Yes or No.
Rename
will be sent to the virtual keyboard (see section 15.3) to enter
Create: Create a new folder in the current level of the directory. You
will be sent to the virtual keyboard (see section 15.3) to enter
the new folder name.
By using the unique Archos double browser system, you can copy or move
maximum). You simply click on the RIGHT button, and a second browser
window will open. The double browser can be used in:
Photo View: Left browser is an inserted memory card and right
browser the AV400 hard disk.
Music View: Left browser is the AV400 hard disk and right browser
the music Playlist.
Browser View: Two browser windows to browse two different parts of
the AV400 hard disk.
In the Browser mode, you can jump between the two windows using the
that window is the source for the copy. The destination folder will be the
Project X.doc from
the HD/Data/Files from Work folder to the HD/Data/Backed up
Files folder. We must start from the main screen Browser mode.

15.3 Using the Virtual Keyboard
from your computer when it is connected to the AV400. The computer
keyboard is much easier. Often times, however, you are not near your
computer and you must enter the text directly with the AV400. For this,
the virtual keyboard screen will appear.
The new text that you are typing in Cursor
Each key has an upper case and lower case
character (lower case mode shown here).
Press ENTER to enter thehighlighted key.
Hold down on the LEFT or RIGHT buttons to
move the cursor within the line.
Change keyboard between upper case and
lower case
Note that when the AV400 is connected to a computer, it will use more
energy than usual. Your battery power will be consumed at a higher
rate than normal. If the AV400 looses power while connected to your
computer you could damage your directory structure and/or loose data.
Thus, you should always use the AC adapter when connected to your
computer. Be careful to understand the disconnection procedure also
since disconnecting incorrectly can lead to data loss or computer/AV400
freeze up. The AV400 is not compatible with Windows® NT, Windows® 95,
or Windows
® ®
(second edition) users
must download the USB driver from the Archos web site. While connected
as a hard disk to your computer, the AV400 buttons are blocked and are
no longer functional.
16.1 Connecting the AV400
1) Use the power adapter to prevent the AV400 from shutting off due to
low power. (This could cause damage to the contents of the hard disk
if not done.)
2) Plug the USB cable into your running computer.
3) Turn on the AV400 – wait until it completely boots up.
4) Plug the other end of cable into your now running AV400.
When connected, the AV400 will be
recognized as a Mass Storage Device and
display automatically within a few seconds
of being connected. You will see a new
drive letter, such as E: in My Computer
called JUKEBOX. You can now use the
hard disk called JUKEBOX like any other
external hard disk. Simply access it using
to and from the AV400’s hard disk. If it is
not automatically recognized, please refer
to the troubleshooting section at the back of this manual.
Connecting/Disconnecting the AV400 to/from
your PC

You must update your operating system to a minimum
of version 9.2. Once done, you will not need any special
drivers or extensions. You simply plug the AV400 into
your Macintosh as enumerated above, and within a
few seconds, the AV400 will be recognized as a mass
storage device (Hard Disk) and mount on the desktop.
You can now use the Hard disk called JUKEBOX like any
other external hard disk.
We highly recommend that you update to Macintosh OS 10.2.4
or later.
version 10.1 may mount the AV400 as a hard disk on your desktop, but
ONLY after a very long wait, up to 10 minutes. Version 10.0 of OS X does
not have the ability to properly recognize a mass storage device such as
the AV400.
If you have OS 10.2, you must update to version 10.2.4 or newer. This is a
free update from Apple
®
Computer. You will not require
any special installation of software drivers or extensions.
You simply plug the AV400 into your Macintosh as
enumerated above, and within a few seconds, the AV400
will be recognized as a mass storage device (Hard Disk)
and mount on the desktop. You can now use the Hard
disk called JUKEBOX like any other external hard disk.
download the driver for this old version of Windows. Go to the section
Download > Drivers and download the ‘All USB Drivers’ package. When
recognize the hardware and ask to have drivers installed. Carefully follow
the instructions below. After installation of the drivers and restarting the
and the AV400 using Windows® Explorer. Be careful also to understand the
correct disconnection procedure in section 16.2. Incorrect disconnection
can cause your computer to freeze or you may loose data.
1. Windows 98SE has recognized a new
piece of hardware (the AV400) and
starts its wizard. Click on
.
2. Click on the button Search for the
best driver. Now click on .
3. 4.

5. Windows will indicate when it has
Finish. Do not unplug the AV400 from
the computer yet.
your computer. Upon restart, it will
automatically recognize the connected
device (the AV400). It will be seen
as another hard disk in Windows®
Explorer.
16.2 Disconnecting the AV400 from your Computer
WARNING: You must properly remove (unmount) your AV400 from the
computer before disconnecting the USB cable to avoid loss of data or
freezing the computer and/or the AV400.
DO NOT SIMPLY PULL OUT THE USB CABLE AT ANY TIME!
To s af el y d isco nne ct th e A V4 00 ha rd di sk , cl ic k o n t he s ys te m t ra y r em ov e
icon (green arrow as shown below) and follow the instructions. Wait 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 Multimedia AV400 if you have an open
in an application, you will have to shut down the application. Using the
green disconnect arrow in the system tray will then allow you to safely
disconnect the AV400.
1. The safe remove icon is in the system tray next to the clock.
Windows® XP Windows® 98SE Windows® 2000 & Windows® ME
2. Click on the icon to eject (unmount) the AV400 from the computer and select
the ‘Safely remove’ message.
Windows® XP Windows® 98SE
3. There will be a message indicating that it is now safe to disconnect the AV400.
You can n ow go ahead and un plug the USB cable from the AV400.
Windows® XP Windows® 98SE
Drag the AV400 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 hard disk
icon will disappear from the desktop. You can now
safely unplug the USB cable from your AV400 and/or
computer.

SETTINGS
From the home screen, select the Setup option to reveal the menu
options for various settings.
17.1 Sound Settings
If you would like to customize the sound quality, you can adjust
the Bass, Treble, and other audio settings to suit your particular
taste. Normally you will do this while listening to music so that you
can hear the changes you make. Simply click on the LEFT function
button Setup while listening to music.
• Once in the Setup screen, move over
to the Sound icon and click again on
ENTER . Use LEFT and RIGHT to
change a parameter’s value. You will
hear these changes instantly.
• Use the UP and DOWN buttons to
select a different parameter.
• Click on STOP/ESC
You will return to the Setup screen.
• Click on STOP/ESC again and
you will return to the music playing
screen.
The Sound Parameters
Parameter Description
Built-in Speaker Tur n s on a n d o f f the b u ilt- i n spe a ker. Same as lo n g pr e s s on
the center function button.
Volume 32 levels of volume (0-31).
Bass 10 levels. Decreases or Increases the low frequencies.
Treble 10 levels. Decreases or Increases the high frequencies.
Balance 10 levels. Favors the right or left channel of the Stereo signal
Bass Boost 10 levels. Increases the very low frequencies
Reset button Readjusts all settings to their default values
17.2 Play Mode Settings
If you would like the AV400 to play through an entire folder of
options, you can set these parameters in the PlayMode settings.
• Click on STOP/ESC to return to the AV400 main menu and click
on Setup. Or, while listening to a song click the LEFT function button
Setup.
• Once in the Setup screen, move over to PlayMode and click again on
ENTER
.
• to check that
option.
• With the setting, choose if the songs are to be
• See section 3.4 for details on using the
ARCLibrary
• Picture Pause sets the amount of
time paused between pictures in the
slideshow mode. See the Photo chapter
for more details.

Play Mode
AV400 is currently playing from a Playlist
Folder: Play all tracks in the current directory
All: Play all tracks on AV400
Single: Play a single track then stop
Queue: User can queue the next track to be played †
Scan:
17.3 Clock Settings
The AV400 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. To set it, go to Setup then select Clock.
Choose parameter Choose Value for
highlighted parameter
click on the ENTER/GO button . The clock time and date are now set.
Click on the STOP/ESC button to go back to the main settings menu.
17.4 Display Settings
These settings regulate the interface language and the presentation
of the screen.

Setting Description
Language The AV400 can be set to English (default), French, or German.
TV Standard NTSC (USA), PAL (Europe). In order to view images or
videos 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 use one of
these two systems.
Video Output
Internal LCD or External TV. To display via the built-in LCD
screen or to view the display via an external television. Holding the LCD/TV button for three seconds will also alternate between these two options. Be sure your television is selecting the
correct external input.
LCD Brightness
.
Image Display Interlaced, Progressive. This is the way the video output will
be sent to the television. When viewing still images (JPEG and
BMP) on a television screen, set this to Progressive to reduce
LCD Stability This setting is only for some models. Use this to reduce any
and right to get the clearest image.
Appearance Change the interface appearance
Setting Description
Wallpaper On, Off. When set to On, the selected picture (next item) will
be displayed as the AV400 screen background.
Picture name
.
Font Outline
see the black text on the screen. Set Outlined font to On to
have a more visible white outlined font.
Color scheme Allows you to choose what color you would like to have for the
status bar above and the screen buttons below.
Click this button to return to the settingss last set.
17.5 Power Settings
These settings will help
you to save battery power
thus allowing a longer
battery autonomy.
You can set the AV400 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 (DCPower operation).
Parameter Description
Power Off 1-9 minutes, Never. The number of minutes of user
inactivity (no buttons pressed) before the AV400 shuts off.
Backlight Off 10-110 seconds, Never. The time of user inactivity (no
buttons pressed) before the AV400 turns off the screen to
Hard disk 10-110 seconds, Never. The number of seconds from
internal hard disk to stop spinning. The longer this time is
set, the more often the hard disk is turning and the quicker
longer, it will quickly consume your battery. Caution: This
setting should only be changed by experienced users.
Standby 1-9 minutes, Never. The number of minutes of user
inactivity (no buttons pressed) before the AV400 goes into
Standby mode. When powered by the AC charger/adapter
(or connected to a powered TV Cradle), the AV400 will not
completely shut off. It will go into Standby mode. This way,
it can wake up to make a scheduled video recording.
A typical use of these settings is to set the power off, screen off, and hard
disk to low values when used in battery mode. When the power adapter
is plugged in, you do not need to conserve energy and thus keeping the
Power on and the Backlight on makes using the AV400 more agreeable.

Increasing the hard disk value beyond the default may actually discharge
the battery even when the Charger/adapter is plugged in. Note also that
your unit will run hotter when the backlight and hard disk are on for long
periods of time.
17.6 System Settings
The System settings allow
you control over the low level
parameters of the AV400.
Parameter Description
Off (default), On. If set to Off, the Jukebox will only display
that it knows how to play. If set to On, the Jukebox will
a ? icon for unknown types), even if they cannot be viewed
or played, such as .tif or .pdf for example. This setting
is important when inserting memory cards into the
CompactFlash™ slot. Setting it to ON will allow the Jukebox
is capable of playing.
Update Firmware Used to update the AV400 to a new version of the Operating
System. See chapter 18.
Firmware Version Displays the current version of the Operating System (OS).
Product Key Each AV400 device has a unique product key number.
Hard Disk Displays the amount of free and used space on the AV400’s
hard disk. The total is less than 20,40, or 80 GB due to space
taken by formatting.
17.7 TV control
See chapter 11 VIDEO – Setting the Infrared Emitter Code for a complete
explanation of when and how to use this setting.
Updating the AV400 Firmware
Operating System (OS)
Archos periodically 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
running the most recent version of the OS. Each time the AV400 starts
up, the OS version is displayed on the screen (example: OS Version 1.1)
its version number at the Archos website (www.archos.com) under the
category Software.

• For warranty and services purposes, keep your sales receipt for proof of
purchase. The serial number for the AV420 model can be found in the
battery compartment.
• If technical support (Telephone 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
on the website under Support: Product Returns.
• There is an FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions section at the ARCHOS
Website www.archos.com, Support: FAQ that can help answer many of
your questions.
• If you need technical help, you may contact ARCHOS directly in your
own language via these phone numbers. For other countries, please
use e-mail technical support.
------------Telephone Support--------------------------------------------
DO NOT USE PHONE SUPPORT FOR MARKETING AND
SALES QUESTIONS. These numbers are to aid those
949-609-1400 (USA, Canada)
01 70 20 00 30 (France)
0207-949-0115 (UK)
069-6698-4714 (Germany)
09-1745-6224 (Spain)
02-4827-1143 (Italy)
020-50-40-510 (Netherlands)
E-mail Support-------------------------------------------------
tech-support.us@archos.com English (United States and Canada customers)
tech-support.eu@archos.com English or French (Europe and the rest of the planet)
tech-support.de@archos.com German (Germany)
the product name and question type in the Subject of the e-mail.
For example:
To: tech-support.us@archos.com
Subject: AV400 – Playing a Playlist
Technical Support

WWW.ARCHOS.COM
United States & Canada Europe & Asia
ARCHOS Technology
3, Goodyear - Unit A
Irvine, CA 92618 USA
Phone: 1 949-609-1483
Fax: 1 949-609-1414
ARCHOS S.A.
12, rue Ampère
91430 Igny
France
Phone: +33 (0) 169 33 169 0
Fax: +33 (0) 169 33 169 9
United Kingdom Germany
ARCHOS (UK) Limited
3 Galileo Park
Mitchell Close
West Portway Andover
SP103XQ Andover
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (0) 1264 366022
Fax: +44 (0) 1264 366626
ARCHOS Deutschland GmbH
Bredelaerstrasse 63
40474 Düsseldorf
Germany
Tel : + 49 2 11 1 52 0 384
Fax: +49 211 1520 349
Troubleshooting
20.1 USB Connection issues
Problem: I cannot get my AV400 to be recognized by the computer.
Solutions:
•
•
drivers.
• If you installed the Windows 98SE driver on your Windows® XP, 2000,
or ME edition, this could cause problems. Uninstall that driver and then
reinstall the generic Windows® Mass Storage Device driver.
• If using a USB hub, try connecting without using the hub (some hubs
are not powered and may not work with the AV400).
• If using a USB port in the front of your computer, try a USB port in the
back. Front USB ports are often from non-powered hubs.
• Do not connect to a USB port repeated through a keyboard.
• On old computers, the USB driver software on your computer may be
out of date. Find your USB chipset type by going to My Computer >
Properties > Device Driver > Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controllers >
Host Controller. You may have a chipset VIA, Intel, SIS or another. It
is possible that you do not have the latest software drivers for these
chipsets. For VIA updates, check out www.viaarena.com. For Intel
check out www.intel.com. For SIS, uninstall the driver and reinstall the
Windows default USB controller drivers.
• If using a laptop computer and a docking station, try connecting
without the docking station.
• If Macintosh
®
OS 10.1.x says it cannot mount the volume, you can use
Disk Utility to reformat the Jukebox hard disk to type MS DOS FAT32.
®
, not a Windows®
machine. You should update to version 10.2.4 or better.
• On older computers, make sure in your system BIOS the USB port is
checked “ON” not “Off”. Usually this just happens on old machines.
• On older Win98SE computers, if there is a line “lastdrive=” in the
• If the Files Allocation Table (FAT) gets corrupted, the AV400 may not

show up in Windows XP for over one minute, and then it comes up as
local drive. Use DOS Utility ChkDsk as shown below.
•
Problem: What do I do if I try to disconnect via the green arrow but keep
getting “The device ‘Generic Volume’ cannot be stopped now. Try stopping
the device again later.”
Answer: Shut off any program that might be accessing data on the
AV400, including Windows® Explorer. If this does not work, shut down all
programs, wait 20 seconds, then try the green arrow one or two times
again. If this does not work, you should shut down the computer and
disconnect the USB cable once the computer is off.
20.2 Charging and Power issues
You do not nee d to fully discharge the batteries before recharging them.
Problem: You do not need to fully discharge the batteries before
recharging them.
Answer
backlight goes off after 30 seconds (for MP3 music) and the user does not
from a full charge, call our technical support hot-line.
20.3 AV400 locks up (freezes operation) or Stops
Problem: The AV400 locks-up. None of the buttons work.
Solution: If the lock buttons is set, none of the buttons respond. Hold
down the top function button for three seconds to turn off the lock buttons
function. A freeze up could also be caused by electrostatic phenomena.
That is, static electricity has temporarily knocked out the AV400. Hold
down on the STOP/OFF button for 15 seconds and the AV400 will shut
off. Restart it normally now.
20.4 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 AV400 from your
computer.
20.5 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning
Problem
never created or they have strange gibberish names.
Answer
corrupted. This could have been due to the AV400 shutting down (due
to low battery power) while reading or writing to your computer via the
Error Checking utility or the Check Disk utility explained at the end of this
hard disk such as or System volume info. These are normal
and will not harm the AV400.
Problem
between different computers. Will defragmenting the AV400 hard disk do
any harm to it?
Answer: Defragmenting the AV400 hard disk may be useful after having
the defragmenter on the AV400. Make sure no other program is running
while using the Windows
®
defragmenter utility. Make sure you power the
AV400 with the external power adapter during this procedure.
Problem
Answer
screen). The browser will show a ? icon indicating that it is not one of the

Problem: I want to reformat the AV400’s hard disk.
Answer: You can do this, but it will erase ALL of the data on your AV400.
Sometimes this may be necessary if your FAT (File Allocation Table)
as explained below, you should run ScanDisk or the DOS chkdsk (Check
and you are sure you must reformat the AV400 hard disk, then go to the
screen Setup > System and press and hold the Right function button
for three seconds. A button “Format HD” will appear. Use this button to
format the AV400’s hard drive. Remember, doing this will erase all the
data on the hard disk!!!
Problem: I would like to partition the AV400 hard disk.
Answer: If you know how to partition a hard disk, this is OK. The AV400
will, however, only recognize a FAT32 partition. Thus it will just see and
use that partition of the hard disk which is a FAT32 partition.
Problem
Answer is set
to ON Browser mode
Photo, Music, or Video.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

ARCHOS VIDEO AV400 series
Storage Capacity Model AV4xx : xx = Size of Hard Drive in Gigabytes*
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, WAV.
Audio Recording Stereo WAV (PCM & ADPCM)
Video Playback
4.0 & 5.0 & XviD) 720 x 576 pixels @ 25fps maximum.
Sound track: MP3 or WAV IMA-ADPCM stereo sound tracks
Screen Depending on model, either a 3.5 or 3.8 inch color TFT LCD (QVGA)
320x240 pixels 262 thousand colors
Te le vi sion Video output in PAL (EU) or NTSC (US) standard
Playback Autonomy*** Model 420: Up to 12 hours MP3, up to 4 hours video
Models 440/480: Up to 16 hrs music, up to 4 ½ hrs video
Scalability
Ports CompactFlash™ slot to read CompactFlash™ type 1 memory cards
AV Connections Audio/video Multi-connect jack. Includes connections for audio/video
IN and audio/video OUT.
Power source Model 420: Removable Lithium-Ion battery pack.
Models 440, 480: Non-removable internal Lithium-Ion battery pack.
All models come with an external charger/adapter.
Physical Dimensions Model 420: 127 x 82 x 21 mm (5.0 x 3.2 x .83 inches) - 274 grams
Models 440, 480: 127 x 82 x 27 mm (5.0 x 3.2 x 1.1 inches) - 315 grams
Te mp er at ur e Ra ng e 5 °C to 35 °C running ; -20 °C to 45 °C storage
System Requirements PC: Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP Pentium II 266MHz with 64MB ram
Mac: OS 9.2 or X (10.2.4), iMac, G3 or higher
*1 GB = 1 billion bytes, formatted capacity is less.
**DivX is a trademark of DivXNetworks, Inc.
***Depending on usage (stop/start/writing)
Technical Specifications
Warranty and Limited Liability
original purchaser in the event the product fails to conform to the limited warranty.
Manufacturer’s liability may be further limited in accordance with its sales contract.
In general, the manufacturer shall not be responsible for product damages caused
or installation, unauthorized repair, alteration or accident. In no event shall the
manufacturer be liable for loss of data stored on disk media.
MANUFACTURER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL
OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. EVEN IF INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY
THEREOF IN ADVANCE.
ARCHOS licensor(s) makes no warranties, express or implied, including,
for a particular purpose, regarding the licensed materials. ARCHOS’s
licensor(s) does not warrant, guarantee or make any representations
regarding the use or the results of the use of the licensed materials in
terms of its correctness, accuracy, reliability, correctness or otherwise.
The entire risk as to the results and performance of the licensed materials
is assumed by you. The exclusion of implied warranties is not permitted by
some jurisdictions. The above exclusion may not apply to you.
employees or agents (collectively ARCHOS’ licensor) be liable to you for
any consequential, incidental or indirect damages (including damages
information, and the like) arising out of the use of inability to use the
licensed materials even if ARCHOS’ licensor has been advised of the
possibility of such damages. Because some jurisdiction do not allow the
exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages,
the above limitations may not apply to you.
Please see your sales contract for a complete statement of warranty rights, remedies
and limitation of liability.
Furthermore, warranty does not apply to:
1.
2.
3. Any product without a warranty or serial number label.
4.
Legal

Warnings and Safety Instructions
CAUTION
Power off and disconnect the power supply cable before opening the unit.
WARNING
Use of this product is for personal use only. Copying CDs or loading music, video,
copyright law. Copyrighted materials, works of art, and/or presentations may require
authorization to be fully or partially recorded. Please be aware of all such applicable
laws concerning the recording and use of such for your country and jurisdiction.
FCC Compliance Statement
FCC Compliance
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with limits for a Class B digital
device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide
reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This
equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not
installed and used in accordance with instructions, may cause harmful interference
to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not
occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference
to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment
off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more
of the following measures:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the
receiver is connected.
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
CAUTION
authority to operate this device.
FCC Part 15 - Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
1. This device may not cause harmful interference;
2. This device must accept any interference received including interference that may
cause undesired operation.
Electrostatic Discharge
Note: During electrostatic discharge, the product may be malfunctioning. Reset to
return normal operation. The AV400 reset is actuated by pressing and holding the
STOP/ESC button for 10 seconds. The unit will power off. Restart normally.
78
Copyright Notice
Copyright ARCHOS © 2003 All rights reserved.
This document may not, in whole or part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced,
translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form without
prior consent, in writing, from ARCHOS. All brands and products names are registered
may not always match contents. Copyright ® ARCHOS. All rights reserved.
LCD Pixel Policy
The LCD screen on your Archos AV400 unit has been manufactured to rigorous
standards to provide a high quality viewing experience. Nevertheless, your LCD
screen may have slight imperfections. This is not particular to the Archos screen,
but to all devices which have LCD screens regardless of the original manufacturer of
the LCD. Each product vendor guarantees that his screen will contain no more than
a certain number of defective pixels. Each screen pixel contains three dot elements
(Red, Blue, and Green). One or all of the dots in a given pixel may be stuck on or
stuck off. A single dot stuck off is the least noticeable. All three dots of a pixel stuck
on is the most noticeable. Archos guarantees that its AV400 screen will have no
more than 1 defective pixel (regardless if that pixel has one or more defective dots).
This means that during the period of guarantee for your country or jurisdiction, if
the screen on your product has two or more defective pixels, Archos will repair or
replace your AV400 product at its cost. Thus, one defective pixel is not grounds for
replacement or repair of the product.
Avoiding Hearing Damage
This product respects the current regulations for limiting the output volume of
consumer audio devices to a safe level. By listening to your device with headphones
or earbuds at high volumes, you run the risk of permanent damage to your ears.
Even if you get used to listening at high volumes and it seems normal to you, you
still risk the possibility of damaging your hearing. Reduce the volume of your device
to a reasonable level to avoid permanent hearing damage. If you hear ringing in your
ears, reduce the volume or shut off your device. This device has been tested with the
Archos supplied earphones. Other manufactures earphones may produces volume
levels higher or lower than the Archos delivered earphones.