Archos GMINI 100 User Manual

Full User Manual

ARCHOS Gmini™ 100 series

MP3 & WMA Player / USB 2.0 Hard Disk

Please see our web site for the most recent manual and software updates for your Gmini™100.

Full User Manual Version 1.3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 Ports, Buttons, and Connections.......................................................................................5

3 First Time Usage................................................................................................................7

3.1 Plugging in the AC Adapter.............................................................................................7

3.2 Turning on the Gmini....................................................................................................... 8

3.3 Changing the user interface language.............................................................................. 8

3.4 Shutting off the Gmini and Battery saving features........................................................ 8

3.5 Caring for the Gmini........................................................................................................ 8

4 User interface overview.....................................................................................................9

4.1 Main Menu....................................................................................................................... 9

4.2 Familiarizing yourself with the interface......................................................................... 9

4.2.1 Main menu.......................................................................................................9

4.2.2 Browser............................................................................................................9

4.2.3 Settings screen................................................................................................10

4.2.4 Contextual Menus ............................................................................................10

4.2.5 Message boxes ................................................................................................10

4.2.6 Using the Virtual Keyboard...............................................................................11

4.2.7 Locking the Gmini keyboard.............................................................................12

5 Using the Gmini 100 ........................................................................................................13

5.1 Playing music................................................................................................................... 13

5.1.1 Selecting a song...............................................................................................13

5.1.2 Playing a song..................................................................................................14

5.1.3 Using playlists..................................................................................................15

5.1.4 What’s an .m3u file?.........................................................................................17

5.2 Changing the Gmini Settings........................................................................................... 18

5.2.1 Changing the Sound Settings...........................................................................18

5.2.2 Changing the PlayMode Settings .....................................................................19

5.2.3 Setting the Clock..............................................................................................20

5.2.4 Changing the Power Settings........................................................................... 21

5.2.5 Changing the Recording Settings................................................................... 22

5.2.6 Changing the System Settings .........................................................................23

5.3 Using the Browser............................................................................................................ 24

5.3.1 Inside the MUSIC Folder..................................................................................24

5.3.2 Navigating the Directory Structure....................................................................24

5.3.3 File and Folder Operations in Browser Mode ...................................................25

5.4 Recording MP3 Music ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 27

5.4.1 Microphone Recording .....................................................................................28

5.4.2 Line-In Recording.............................................................................................28

5.4.3 SPDIF Input .....................................................................................................29

5.5 Using the photo wallet..................................................................................................... 29

5.5.1 Using the photo browser ..................................................................................29

5.5.2 Copying Files from a CompactFlash™ Card................................................... 29

6 Connecting the Gmini to your Computer ......................................................................31

6.1 Making the USB Connection........................................................................................... 31

6.1.1 Windows Me/NT/2000/XP ................................................................................31

6.1.2 Windows® 98SE...............................................................................................32

6.2 Using the Gmini as an external drive...............................................................................33

6.3 Disconnecting the Gmini from your Computer............................................................... 34

6.3.1 Windows®.........................................................................................................34

6.3.2 Macintosh®.......................................................................................................35

7 Using MusicMatch™ .......................................................................................................36

7.1 Installing Music Match™ ................................................................................................ 36

7.2 Creating MP3 files from your Audio CDs....................................................................... 37

7.3 Getting purchased MP3 files to your Gmini.................................................................... 38

7.4 Transferring MP3 files from your computer to your Gmini............................................ 38

8 Using iTunes® 4 with your Gmini...................................................................................41

9 Updating your Gmini Operating System (OS) software...............................................42

9.1.1 Downloading the GMINI100.AOS file ...............................................................42

9.1.2 Read the History Text File................................................................................42

9.1.3 Copy to Gmini Root Directory...........................................................................42

10 Troubleshooting...............................................................................................................43

10.1 USB Connection issues.................................................................................................... 43

10.2 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning .................................................45

10.2.1 Windows®98SE & ME Running Scan-Disk (Error Checking) ............................46

10.2.2 Windows®XP & 2000 Running Check Disk Utility (ChkDsk).............................47

11 Technical Specifications .................................................................................................. 48

12 Technical Support............................................................................................................49

2 Ports, Buttons, and Connections

Button Symbol Description

ON : Hold down for a few seconds and the Gmini will start up.

STOP/ESC : Stop playing current file or escape from current screen. Long press to shut off.

UP : Move up - also, increases playing volume

RIGHT : Move right - also increases recording gain

PLAY/PAUSE/OK : Play current item, pause, play again. Enter value.

LEFT : Move left – also decreases recording gain

DOWN : Move down - also decreases playing volume

MENU : Contextual Menu - When the menu icon appears in top left of screen, a menu is available.

Built-in Microphone

Hard drive activity indicator

A Photo Wallet Port (CompactFlash™ type I & II) B Mini USB 2.0 port (USB 1.1 compatible) C Power – To power the unit and charge the internal batteries with the AC adapter. D Headphone Multi-connect jack – To connect headphones, FM remote control, or adapter plug. E Multi-connect Adapter Plug – Allows for Line-In and SPDIF-in connections

3 First Time Usage

Please understand that this device has a CPU, hard drive, and

Operating System (OS) and thus it is more like a computer

than a CD player, cassette player, or radio. If you are not

familiar with using a computer, it would be particularly useful

to read the complete detailed User Manual on the included CD-ROM.

3.1 Plugging in the AC Adapter

Before using your Gmini 100 for the first time, completely charge the internal batteries.

 Use only the included ARCHOS charger/adapter. Plug the AC adapter into the power

jack to start charging the internal batteries. Charging will start automatically when it is plugged in.

 The batteries are fully charged when the happy battery face appears. 

Sad battery: The battery is empty. It must be recharged.

Thinking battery: The battery is being charged.

Happy battery: The battery is completely charged and the AC adapter can by unplugged.

 After the first initial full charge, you may use the Gmini while the AC adapter is plugged in.

3.2 Turning on the Gmini

 Hold down the ON button until the screen comes on, then let off.  If the Gmini shows a sad battery icon or if the Gmini displays nothing at all, you will

have to plug in the Archos adapter/charger to make sure the batteries get charged.

3.3 Changing the user interface language

English is selected as the default language for your Gmini user interface. You can choose another language as explained in chapter 5.2.6.

3.4 Shutting off the Gmini and Battery saving features

 To shut off the unit, press and hold the STOP button for 3 seconds.  If left idle, the screen’s blue backlight will shut off after 10 seconds in ord er to save

battery power. The Gmini will shut itself off after 2 minutes if left idle and no music is playing. You can change these settings under [Setup  Power].

3.5 Caring for the Gmini

The Gmini is an electronic product that needs to be treated with care.

 Do not subject it to shock. You may however go jogging with it or do sports.  Do not subject it to heat. Keep it ventilated when connected to your PC.

 Keep the Gmini away from water and excessively humid areas.  Keep the Gmini away from high electromagnetic fields.  Keep it plugged into the Archos AC adapter/charge when it is connected to your

computer.

4 User interface overview

4.1 Main Menu

Once the Gmini has been turned on, the following screen is displayed. This is the main menu screen from which you can select the main functions.

 Music: Browse through your music files or use the ARCLibrary music selection system.  Browser: Browse through and manage all the files on your Gmini .  Photo : View information about your downloaded photos.  Recorder : Record from any music source (Stereo, portable players, etc.) or from the

built-in microphone.

 Setup: Set the paramaters of your Gmini to your personal taste.

4.2 Familiarizing yourself with the interface

4.2.1 Main menu

Each icon corresponds to a mode. Use the LEFT, RIGHT, UP and DOWN buttons to navigate from one icon to another. Press OK to select the icon and start the action. Press Esc to exit.

4.2.2 Browser

Use the UP and DOWN keys to highlight the item of your choice. If you keep pressing UP or DOWN, the list will scroll for you to see the other items. The vertical black indicator on the right shows your reletive position in the entire list.

Press OK to start the action corresponding to the highlighted item.

4.2.3 Settings screen

Selectable items

Use the LEFT and RIGHT keys to change the parameter value. The new value is immediately taken into account so there is no need to press OK. Click on ESC when done.

Check boxes

Each checkbox corresponds to a different parameter value but only one parameter can be selected at a time. Use the UP and DOWN keys to highlight an item and then press OK to validate it.

Actions

In the settings screens you sometimes need to perform some actions. Actions are shown enclosed with [ ]. Press OK to start the action.

4.2.4 Contextual Menus

When the is present on the top-left corner of the screen you can press the MENU key to display a popup menu with actions related to the current mode. Pressing MENU again or Esc closes it.

Use the UP and DOWN keys to highlight the action you want to start and then press OK to validate it.

4.2.5 Message boxes

From time to time a message box is displayed on the screen. This may be a warning or an error message, or a question to confirm an action.

Message boxes may have up to 3 buttons (for instance yes, no and cancel). If there is more than one button use the left and right keys to highlight the button you want. In all cases press OK to validate your choice which will then exit the message box.

4.2.6 Using the Virtual Keyboard

It is recommended that you create folders and rename files or folders from your computer when it is connected to the Gmini . The computer keyboard is easier to use. Often times, however, you are not near your computer and you would like to enter the text directly with the Gmini . For this, you will use the virtual keyboard. You will be taken to this screen when you rename a file or folder or when you name a recording.

Contextual Menu Current text being typed Backspace (destructive) Space character

You will use the LEFT, RIGHT, UP, and DOWN buttons to move around the keyboard. Click on OK to enter the character that is highlighted. Once satisfied with your text entry, click on the MENU button and select Enter.

The contextual menu will give the following options:

Enter: Validate the current text entry. This is like the Enter key on a keyboard. Delete: deletes the last character entered (like the backspace). Clear all: Clears the text entry line. Shift: toggles between uppercase and lowercase keyboards.

Tip : use the ESC key to cancel any changes you made and exit the virtual keyboard.

4.2.7 Locking the Gmini keyboard

You can prevent the Gmini from executing unintended functions by locking the buttons. This lock feature locks the keys from any accidental pressing or bumping.

To lock the keyboard, hold down on the MENU key until the “lock”

icon appears in the top-left corner of the screen. Now all keys except

the MENU key are disabled. To unlock the keyboard hold down

again the Menu key until the “lock” icon dispappears.

5 Using the Gmini 100

5.1 Playing music

First, select the Music Icon and press OK.

5.1.1 Selecting a song

There are two ways to access your music. You can either access your songs by browsing through the folders, where you keep your music files, or you can choose from Artist, Album, Genre, or Song.

Browsing through the folders

In order to browse through the folders scroll down until “Browse

hard drive” is highlighted and press OK. You will be sent directly to

the Music folder of your Gmini . This is a filtered access to browse

the hard disk. Here you can look at all your music files and the

folders on your Gmini’s hard drive as if you were browsing files with a computer. You will only

see audio files types that are playable on the Gmini. To select a file you can use the UP and

DOWN keys to move upwards or downwards and OK to enter a highlighted subfolder. See chapter 5.3 for more information about using the Browser.

Using the ARCLibrary System

You can search your music by artist, album, song name, genre. Use

the UP/DOWN buttons to scroll to your selection and then click on

OK. Once one of these is chosen, you will see an alphabetical list.

You can now choose the Album, Artist, or song Title (depending

which search type you started) that you desire.

5.1.2 Playing a song

When you get to your desired song, click on OK. If you hear nothing at first, make sure you have adjusted the volume control on the headphone cord.

*If the MP3 file contains these ID3 tag data

Play Status

Play Order

Stopped

(no icon) Play once

Playing a track

Repeat playing

Current track is paused

Shuffle (Random) track selection

Recording a track

Play Mode

Playlist: Gmini is currently playing from a Playlist Folder: Play all tracks in the current directory

All: Play all tracks on Gmini

Single: Play a single track then stop Queue: User can queue the next track to be played † Scan: Gmini plays first 15 seconds of each track ††

Menu available Status: Playing Play Mode: Playlist Play Order Volume Battery level (full)

Artist* or parent folder Song title* or file name Album* or current folder

File format and recording information

Time of Day

Left and Right VU Meters

Song elapsed time Song time remaining Song Length

Keyboard control

Key Symbol Action

Increases the volume

Down

Decreases the volume

Left

Play previous song if playing time < 10s, restart current song otherwise

Right

Play next song

Toggles Pause/Play modes

Esc

Stops playing and return to browser or music library

Displays the playback contextual menu

Playback contextual menu

 Setup: displays the setup screen (same as selecting the Setup icon in the main menu)  Edit Playlist: enters the playlist editor (see below for how to use playlists).  Browser: allows to browse through your files while playing.

5.1.3 Using playlists

A Playlist is a list of songs that the Gmini will automatically play one after the other. The Gmini can handle one Playlist at a time. You can create new Playlists, add or delete songs from a Playlist, or Save a Playlist as a file (file type .m3u) to be used another time. There is no limit to the number of Playlists you can save on the Gmini hard drive.

Creating a new Playlist

To create a Playlist, press the RIGHT button while you are in the

Music browser. A second panel is opened on the right side to display

the playlist contents (shown empty in the picture).

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 OK button to add it to the Playlist. The song will be added to the Playlist and the music icon in front of the

current song is displayed in reverse video to indicate that it is in the playlist. Continue searching and adding songs in this manner until you are satisfied. You can jump back and forth anytime between the

two windows by clicking the LEFT/RIGHT buttons. A Playlist can have a maximum of 1000 songs in it. We recommend that you save your Playlists to the Gmini hard drive (see below) to be used again later. You can also add all the music files of a complete

folder in one operation by highlighting the desired folder, pressing MENU to display the contextual menu, and then selecting either ADD TO PLAYLIST or INSERT TO PLAYLIST.

 Add to playlist: adds all files at the end of the current playlist.  Insert to playlist : inserts all files in the playlist at the current cursor position.

Loading a Playlist

You can load a previously saved playlist or add the files it contains to the current playlist. Use the music browser to select the playlist of your choice (playlists are indicated by a special list icon)

and then press OK. If there were already some items in the Gmini playlist, then the songs of the loaded Playlist will be added to the end of it. You can then check or modify the playlist as usual in the playlist edition window.

Playing a Playlist

There are two ways to play a Playlist.

1) Press the RIGHT key to go into the playlist edition window. Then use the UP and DOWN keys to select which song you want to start with.

2) In the playlist edition window press MENU to display the contextual menu and select START PLAYLIST. The Gmini starts playing from the first track of the playlist.

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