Archos GMINI 500 User Manual

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ARCHOS

™

MOBILE VIDEO RECORDER

Gmini

™

500 SERIES

ARCHOS Gmini

™

MOBILE VIDEO RECORDER

500 SERIES

Video Player / Music Player & Recorder / Photo Wallet & Viewer / USB 2.0 Hard Drive

English Language User Manual

User Manual for ARCHOS™ Gmini™ 500 series Version 1.3 Please visit our website to download the most recent manual and software for this product

Dear Customer,

ARCHOS companion to your home entertainment system. Y ou can connect the Gmini photos or videos as well as connect it to your PC to transfer over your favorite photos, videos, and music onto it. By connecting to a computer, you get the advantage of being able to download legal music and video content from the Internet. Since it is a PlaysForSure on the Internet. For more information about the PlaysForSure

This manual will explain, in detail, the functionality of your device. We 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 Gmini

• Play MPEG-4 SP & WMV video ﬁ les* on the built-in screen, a television or video projector

• Listen to MP3, WMA, or WAV music ﬁ les* or PlaysForSure

• Synchronize your Windows

• View JPEG and BMP digital photos and create slide shows

• Copy Pictures directly from your digital camera via the built in host USB port

• Store .DOC, .PDF, or any type of data ﬁ le – it’s a portable hard drive too!

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thanks you for your choice of this exciting Gmini

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device, you have a wide choice of music and video content available

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500, you can…

Media Player music and video library to your Gmini

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500 product. The Gmini™ 500 is designed to be the

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program, see www.playsforsure.com .

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downloaded music ﬁ les

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500 to your TV system to play back

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500

TTable of contents

We wish you many years of enjoyment from your Gmini website www.archos.com to ensure that you get have access to our help line and to be informed of technical support and free software updates for your product.

Wishing you the best Video, Music, and Photo experience,

The ARCHOS

*For full information on compatible ﬁ le formats, see the technical speciﬁ cations.

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TEAM

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500 product. Please do register your product at our

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.

As our engineers are always updating and improving the software, your device’s software may have a slightly different appearance or modiﬁ ed functionality than presented in this manual.

able of contents

1 INTRO – Buttons and Connections 7 2 INTRO – First Time Usage 10

2.1 Charging the battery 10

2.2 Turning on the Gmini

2.3 Shutting off the Gmini

2.4 Changing the Interface Language 11

2.5 Foreign Character Sets 11

2.6 Caring for the Gmini

2.7 Hardware Reset 12

3 VIDEO – Playing Video Files 13

3.1 Video Playback Action Icons 14

3.2 Resume Function 15

4 VIDEO – Playing Video Files from the Internet 16

4.1 Protected Internet Video content 16

4.2 Non Protected Internet Video Content 16

5 VIDEO – Creating MPEG-4 Video Files with your Computer 18

5.1 Installing the PC Software 19

6 MUSIC – Playing Music Files 23

6.1 Button Control 24

6.2 Play Screen Icons 24

6.3 Browsing through your Music Library 26

6.4 Playing Through your Stereo System 27

6.5 Setting a Bookmark 27

6.6 The Resume Function 28

7 MUSIC – Putting Music onto your Gmini

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500 10

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500 and Battery saving features 10

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500 11

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500 29

7.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media

7.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9 30

7.3 Transferring your CD collection to the Gmini

7.4 Installing Windows Media

7.5 Installing Windows Media

Player 9 (WMP9) 31

Player 10 (WMP10) 31

8 MUSIC – Playlists 32

8.1 Playing a Playlist 32

8.2 Creating a Playlist 32

8.3 Saving a Playlist 33

8.4 Adding songs to a Playlist while listening to Music 34

9 MUSIC – Recording Music 35

9.1 Cable connections for audio recording 35

9.2 Recording Procedure 36

9.3 Where is the Recording Saved? 38

9.4 Audio Editing 38

10 MUSIC – Using iTunes™ with your Gmini™ 500 40 11 PHOTO – Viewing Photos 41

11.1 Viewing Photos 41

11.2 Viewing a slideshow 42

11.3 Transferring photos to your Gmini

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12 BROWSER – Using the Browser 45

12.1 Navigating the Directory Structure 46

12.2 File and Folder Operations 47

12.3 Using the Virtual Keyboard 50

13 Connecting/Disconnecting* the Gmini

13.1 USB Connection Type (‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’) 51

13.2 Connecting the Gmini

13.3 Disconnecting the Gmini

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500 51

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500 from your Computer 53

14 Connecting Devices to the USB Host Port 55

Player (WMP) to the Gmini™ 500 29

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500 31

500 43

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500 to/from your PC 51

15 SETTINGS 56

15.1 Sound Settings 56

15.2 Play Mode Settings 57

15.3 Clock Settings 58

15.4 Display Settings 59

15.5 Appearance settings 60

15.6 Power Settings 60

15.7 System Settings 61

16 Updating the Gmini 17 Replacing the battery 65

17.1 “Thin” version 65

17.2 Standard version 66

18 Technical Support 67 19 Troubleshooting 70

19.1 USB Connection issues 70

19.2 Charging and Power issues 71

19.3 Gmini

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500 locks up (freezes operation) or Stops 71

19.4 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning 71

20 Technical Speciﬁ cations 74 21 Legal 76 22 Index 80

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500 Firmware Operating System (OS) 63

INTRO – Buttons and Connections

a On indicator b Hard drive activity indicator (read/write) c Battery charger indicator (blinks when battery is charged)

d Loud speaker

e Move UP (also increases volume during media playback) f Move DOWN (also decreases volume during media playback) g Move LEFT (also plays previous song or fast reverse through song or video) h Move RIGHT (also plays next song or fast forward through song or video) i Accelerate UP – go up the list of items at high speed j Accelerate Down – go down the list of items at high speed

k Play/Enter/On o – Hold for 3 seconds to switch on the device l Stop/Escape/Off x - Hold for 3 seconds to switch off the device

m UP action button (move up on the list of action icons; in the Settings menus: move UP) n SELECT action button (select the highlighted action icon) o DOWN action button (move down on the list of action icons; in the Settings menus: move DOWN)

INTRO – First Time Usage

2.1 Charging the battery

2.2 Turning on the Gmini

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500

2.3 Shutting off the Gmini

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500 and Battery saving features

a LCD/TV button – Hold down to switch between the LCD and an external TV display b USB Host port – to connect compatible USB devices c Microphone d USB 2.0 High speed device port (USB 1.1 compatible) to connect to your computer e Power Connector (Use only the supplied Archos power charger/adapter) f Multi-connect jack* – for headphones, TV docking pod, FM Remote and AV in/out connections

* Optional accessories such as TV docking pod and FM Remote are available for purchase from the ARCHOS™ web site - www.archos.com.

INTRO – First Time Usage

2.1 Charging the battery

• Use only the included ARCHOS™ charger/adapter.

• You can charge the internal battery of the Gmini device, or you can charge it by plugging the adapter/charger into the optional TV docking pod and connecting your Gmini

• Before using for the ﬁ rst time, charge the battery completely. The charge indicator (CHG) light will start to blink when the battery is charged.

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500 to the Pod.

2.2 Turning on the Gmini

• Hold the PLAY/ON button o for 3 seconds. The green “On” indicator light will turn on. Be patient, it will take a few seconds for the operating system to boot up.

• If the unit shuts off after holding the ON button for several seconds, plug in the ARCHOS make sure the battery gets charged.

2.3 Shutting off the Gmini

To shut off the unit, press and hold the STOP/ESC/OFF button x for 3 seconds. In the Power menu [Display setup screen Power: Battery Operation] there is a

Power Off parameter. Thus, if your Gmini shut itself off. This setting can be changed from one to nine minutes or to never .

In the Power menu [Display setup screen 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). That is, if the Gmini shut off in order to save battery life. To turn the screen back on, just click once on any button. See the section Power in the Settings chapter for a complete explanation.

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500 by plugging the included adapter/charger directly into the

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500

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500 and Battery saving features

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500 is idle for a couple of minutes, it will

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500 is not being used, the screen will

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adapter/charger to

2.4 Changing the Interface Language

2.5 Foreign Character Sets

2.6 Caring for the Gmini

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500

2.7 Hardware Reset

2.4 Changing the Interface Language

The Gmini™ 500 interface can be set to English (default), French, Spanish, German, or Russian.

• Using the UP action button, highlight the Settings icon (showing a wrench) and then click the center SELECT action button.

• Highlight the Display icon and click the PLAY/ENTER button.

• Highlight the Language parameter using the UP/DOWN buttons.

• Click the RIGHT or LEFT button to choose the desired language.

• The language displayed will change immediately.

• Click on the STOP/ESC button to return to the Setup page and again to return to the main menu screen.

2.5 Foreign Character Sets

Y ou have the option of displaying ﬁ le names, folder names, and music tags in various character sets (ex: Korean, Japanese, Simpliﬁ ed Chinese, etc.). You can ﬁ nd the language ﬁ les CodePage_name.4FZ in the font folder under /Data/Asian Fonts on the Gmini for example, you would like to have the Korean language display, then you would copy the ﬁ le CP949.4FZ into the folder /system on the Gmini music tags written using the Microsoft Only one .4FZ can be used at a time, thus you should only put one .4FZ ﬁ le into the /system folder. When an .4FZ language ﬁ le is used, the interface language will be set to English.

2.6 Caring for the Gmini

The ARCHOS™ Video Gmini™ 500 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 well ventilated.

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• Keep the Gmini

500 away from water and excessively humid areas.

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500 hard drive or on the ARCHOS™ website under the heading Software. If,

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500 and shut down and restart the Gmini

codepage for the language will now be displayed in that character set.

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500

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500. File names, folder names, and

• Keep the Gmini™ 500 away from high electromagnetic ﬁ elds.

• Keep any connected cords to the Gmini pulled by a child.

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• Do not open up the Gmini

2.7 Hardware Reset

In the event that your Gmini the Gmini button x will shut down the Gmini

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500 by holding down on the STOP/ESC button x for 15 seconds. In normal operation, the STOP/ESC

500. There are no user serviceable parts inside. Opening will void your warranty .

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500 freezes operation (due to electrostatic phenomena for example), you can reset

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500 neatly arranged. This light product could fall if a cord is accidentally

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500 after being held down for 3 seconds.

VIDEO – Playing Video Files

3.1 Video Playback Action Icons

VIDEO – Playing Video Files

Click on the Video icon in the main menu, highlight the desired video ﬁ le, and then click on PLAY/GO o. The thumbnail images on the right side will show you a frame from the highlighted video ﬁ le (center) as well as a frame from the ﬁ le above and the ﬁ le below the highlighted one. By clicking on the Video icon in the main menu, you will enter into a ‘video only’ mode. Other playable ﬁ le types, for example music ﬁ les, that may be in this folder are only listed if you enter the folder via the Browser.

Button controls while playing a video ﬁ le

Vol + Increase volume Vol - Decrease volume Rew. Fast Forward FF Fast forward HSR High speed reverse HSA High speed advance O Play/Pause X Stop

T o watch your videos on a television, you must hold down the LCD/TV button for two seconds. The Gmini 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 Gmini (NTSC-North America or PAL-Europe) in Display (Setup action icon > Display Icon.

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500 screen will go black and

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500 to your local television standard

Video Browser Action Icons

Hide the Thumbnails

3.1 Video Playback Action Icons

While a video ﬁ le is playing, click on the Select action button. The action icons on the right of the screen allow you to make video adjustments to your personal taste.

Play & Sound Settings

Built-in Speaker

Reset thumbnails. The thumbnail images on the right side of the screen will be reset to their original default setting.

Use this setting if you would like to have the video ﬁ les play one after the other, or just play one and stop. You can also adjust the sound settings and the amount of time the On Screen Display (OSD) information remains on the screen when you start a video ﬁ le.

Turn on or off the built-in loud speaker.

Slow Motion

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 RIGHT button.

Set Screen Format

Video ﬁ les come in various aspect ratios. That is, they can be TV sized (almost a square image), or in cinema size (much longer than high). To change the screen to your personal tastes, the following screen format options are available.

3.2 Resume Function

VIDEO – Playing Video Files from the Internet

4.1 Protected Internet Video content

4.2 Non Protected Internet Video Content

Auto Format Default mode. Adjusts the video size to best adapt to the built-in screen or television. Maximized Image Enlarge the image to ﬁ ll the screen (LCD or TV). Sides may get slightly cut in this mode. Full Picture Format The entire picture will always be seen on the television and the built-in screen. No cutting.

Set a Book mark

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. Highlight the icon and click on the Select action button. This will set a bookmark in the video ﬁ le at the current position. You can only set one bookmark per ﬁ le. When you look at the ﬁ le in your browser, it will have a yellow check mark on its icon indicating that this ﬁ le has a bookmark set within it. You can have a maximum of 16 ﬁ les book-marked. Setting more bookmarks will then start to erase the oldest bookmarks. The next time you play this video ﬁ le, you will be presented with three options:

Resume Start playing from the book-marked position. Ignore Keep the bookmark but start playing from the very beginning. Clear Clear the bookmark from this ﬁ le and start playing from the very beginning.

Save as Thumbnail

Save the current image on the screen as the video ﬁ le’s thumbnail in the Video browser view .

On Screen Display (OSD) off

Select this icon to shut off the On Screen Display (the status bar, action icons, and other overlaid informational graphics).

3.2 Resume Function

When you turn on your Gmini screen is not the Video icon but rather the Resume icon. This icon is highlighted when the Gmini 500 can resume the last played audio or video ﬁ le.

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500 you may notice that the icon which is highlighted on the main

VIDEO – Playing Video Files from the Internet

When using Windows Media content from the Internet. When you see the PlaysForSure Center (PMC)*, then these protected downloads will be playable on your Gmini

Player 10, you will have the advantage of being able to download protected video

4.1 Protected Internet Video content

If you check the PlaysForSure subscription, or purchasable video content. Remember, web sites must carry the PlaysForSure for their videos to play on the Gmini

4.2 Non Protected Internet Video Content

The Gmini™ 500 plays .AVI ﬁ les of MPEG-4 format. It can play such video ﬁ les at a maximum size of 720 x 576 pixels (25 frames/second). It can also play .WMV ﬁ les (WMV9 SP) up to a maximum size of 352 x 288**. The

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Gmini The number of encoding and compression schemes currently used to create video ﬁ les is very extensive and

seems to change on a weekly basis. There are so many standards and formats that it is very possible that the video ﬁ le you download from the Internet will not play right away on your device. Due to certain “variations”, even when video ﬁ les are formatted in “MPEG-4” they may not play right away.

500 will not directly play ﬁ les of type .mov, .mpg, or .mpeg.

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website (www.playsforsure.com) you will ﬁ nd web retailers who offer rental,

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500.

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symbol on a web site for Windows

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500.

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Portable Media

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symbol in order

* MPEG-4: ISOstandard by Moving Picture Experts Group ; A VI: audio/video ﬁ le container by Microsoft . MPEG-4

SP with B-frames AVI up to 704x480@30f/s NTSC or 720x576@25f/s PAL.

** Microsoft WMV9 SP up to 352x288@30f/s and 800 kb/s ; supports WM DRM.

VIDEO – Creating MPEG-4 Video Files with your Computer

If you have some video ﬁ les that do not play directly on your Gmini Windows Media® Player 10 (Available only for Windows XP) will convert your video ﬁ le automatically when you sync the ﬁ le that is on your PC to the Gmini

You can also use the software MPEG-4 Translator included on the Gmini encode your video ﬁ les into the proper MPEG-4 SP format that the Gmini Video – creating MPEG-4 video ﬁ les with your computer for more details.

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500. It will display a little message ‘converting’.

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500, they will have to be converted ﬁ rst.

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500 hard drive to re-

500 can play. See the chapter

VIDEO – Creating MPEG-4 Video Files with your Computer

How to create an MPEG-4 video ﬁ le

Video ﬁ les that come from your digital camcorder, sent to you via e-mail, or which are freely available on the Internet are encoded in many different ways. If not already in the proper MPEG-4 Simple Proﬁ le or WMV9 Simple Proﬁ le format, a transformation operation must be done in order that these video ﬁ les can be played by the

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Gmini There are basically two ways to do this: 1) Use the Synchronize button in Windows Media

the PC tools which are available on the Gmini requires that you synchronize a video ﬁ le in your Media Player library to your Gmini control in this converting process though and Windows Media not re-encode. The second method, though it requires some learning, will allow you to have much more control over the ﬁ nal quality of the re-encoded (converted) video ﬁ le. It is described below. There are other tools available on the Internet, some free and some for sale, that can also convert your video ﬁ les into the appropriate MPEG-4 SP video ﬁ le format for the Gmini

PC Tools

The Gmini Proﬁ le .AVI video ﬁ les. They are the MPEG-4 Translator and Virtual Dub™. The MPEG-4 Translator will call the Virtual Dub program and give it the correct parameters to encode your video from its original format, .avi or .mpg (mpeg 1), and then encode it into an MPEG-4 SP .AVI ﬁ le. The ﬁ le will be scaled in order to be played back properly.

500. This transformation process is called re-encoding.

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500’s hard drive. The ﬁ rst method is very simple and merely

Player determines which video types it will and will

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500. See the web site www.mpegmobile.com for a list of a few of them.

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500 is delivered with two Windows

based programs that allow you to create MPEG-4 Simple

Player 10 or 2) Use

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500. Y ou do not have much

5.1 Installing the PC Software

5.2 Using MPEG-4 Translator

5.1 Installing the PC Software

If your video ﬁ le is not an MPEG-4 Simple Proﬁ le .avi ﬁ le of the proper size, you will need to re-encode it using the following utilities. For the Gmini 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.

MPEG-4 codec (Compression/Decompression)

In order for MPEG4-Translator to compress the video in a ﬁ le of the format MPEG-4 SP that the Gmini read, it requires an MPEG-4 codec to be installed on your computer.If you do not have the approporiate codec installed, MPEG-4 Translator will tell you on start up which codec it requires. You will be able to download it for free from the Internet.

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500, you will need to create an AVI ﬁ le that is MPEG-4 Simple Proﬁ le with a

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500 can

Virtual Dub

A utility for transcoding one video ﬁ le into another. This is a general purpose transfer and cleanup utility which has many options allowing for even the most difﬁ cult video translations. It will prompt you to save it to C:\Program Files\ VirtualDub. Y ou should use this default directory location. Otherwise you will have to instruct the MPEG-4 Translator program where to ﬁ nd it. For more information on Virtual Dub

MPEG-4 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 Dub how to process the video ﬁ le. It sets all the parameters for Virtual Dub speciﬁ cally to create a video ﬁ le in the right size and format to be read by the Gmini the ﬁ rst time, the MPEG-4 Translator will need to locate the Virtual Dub program. If you did not install V irtual Dub in the default location, you will have to show the program where Virtual Dub is. If you forget, Windows you an error when you try to launch it.

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MP3 Sound Codec

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see the website - http://www.virtualdub.org.

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500. When you run it for

will give

If MPEG-4 Translator detects a suitable MP3 codec on your PC, it will use it, and your video ﬁ le sound track will be MP3. Otherwise, it will use the standard IMA ADPCM codec. There are MP3 encoders (usually packaged together as an encoder and decoder) available on the Web for you to download. If you choose to use the LAME codec, make sure that you have a version built with the ACM front-end. You can ﬁ nd other MP3 codecs on the web by using the search terms ACM , MP3 and CODEC in your favorite web search engine. Once this MP3 codec is installed into your system, MPEG-4 Translator will be able to create ﬁ nal video ﬁ les with MP3 sound, even if the source video ﬁ le does not have an MP3 sound track.

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. You will ﬁ nd a list here of all the audio codecs that are installed on your computer. Decoding of MPEG 2 video ﬁ les is currently not supported by MPEG-4 Translator. These are usually .mpg or .mpeg format ﬁ les, not the required A VI ﬁ le. There are other tools found on the Internet (FlaskMPEG, Rippack, etc.) that may be downloaded in order to help you with these ﬁ le types. A good starting place is the website www.mpegmobile.com.

5.2 Using MPEG-4 Translator

Here you see the image of the main MPEG-4 Translator program. When you ﬁ rst run the program, if the required codec has not been installed yet, you will be notiﬁ ed. You should download the codec and install it on your computer. If the Virtual Dub If you have placed the Virtual Dub locate the ﬁ le.

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program has not been installed, you will also be notiﬁ ed, and you should install it.

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program in a folder other than the installer default folder, it will ask you to

Select Source & Destination Files

Change Settings

In this example, a source ﬁ le 24 hours of Lemans.avi has been selected as the source video. Y ou can see on the bottom of the window its original characteristics (width 720, height 576, frame rate 24). Next, you must then tell the program where to place (Set Destination ﬁ le) the newly recoded version of the ﬁ le (don’t worry, it will not erase the original). You should give it a new descriptive name . Make sure you add the .avi extension.

Next, you can change the parameters (Change Settings) of the encoder to adjust the level of quality of the ﬁ nal image. 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 drive. 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.

Target & Priority

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If the Gmini will see a Priority box appear. This control is to allow you to select which feature of the video to be guarded. If for example you are reencoding a video ﬁ le that is 800x600 in resolution and 30 frames per second, this is beyond the maximum resolution that the Gmini

can play. Thus, the MPEG-4 T ranslator program will have to decrease the resolution. Choosing LCD optimizes the ﬁ nal video format 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.

Start

Click on Start and the program will call Virtual Dub 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 processes the video ﬁ le. If the Start button is grayed out, it would be for one of two reasons. 1) The source ﬁ le is not a true AVI ﬁ le. Even if the ﬁ le name ends with .avi, the internal ﬁ le data determines if it is truly an AVI ﬁ le. 2) The Virtual Dub program was not located when MPEG-4 Translator was started up. Close the program, restart it, and make sure you locate the Virtual Dub program.

500 device is not listed, select “ARCHOS Default”. You

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500

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to start processing

MUSIC – Playing Music Files

6.1 Button Control

6.2 Play Screen Icons

Status

MUSIC – Playing Music Files

When you click on the music icon in the main screen, you will be sent directly to the ARCLibrary. From here you can choose to either browse your music by the ﬁ le system (Browse hard drive) or by music characteristics (Album, Artist, title, Genre, Year). Use the LEFT, RIGHT, UP, and DOWN buttons to locate one of the factory installed music samples and then click on PLAY. If you hear nothing at ﬁ rst, make sure you have adjusted the volume control on the headphone cord.

Display during music playback

1. Current Directory

2. Play Mode: One Directory

3. Status: Playing

4. Battery level

5. Volume (maximum:99)

6. Song title* or ﬁ le name

7. Artist* or parent folder

8. Album* or current folder

9. Next track to be played

10. Relative location in the track

11. Elapsed, remaining, and total song time

12. Time of Day

13. Album picture*

14. File format and rec info

15. Volume level meters

*If the ﬁ le contains these tag data

10 11

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8

6.1 Button Control

Vol + Increase the Volume HSA High speed advance FF Click once: Play the next song in the folder or playlist. Hold: Fast forward through the song. Rew Click once: Play the previous song in the folder or playlist

Hold: Fast reverse through the song. HSR High speed reverse Vol. - Decrease the Volume o Play/pause/resume X Stop Song

(during ﬁ rst 10 seconds of song) otherwise go to the beginning of the song.

To lock the Gmini button.

The Gmini again to unlock the buttons. You can still use the UP and DOWN buttons to change the volume.

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500 buttons, select the Lock action icon on the main screen and press the Select

500 will display the “locked” icon in the top left corner of the screen. Press the Select button

6.2 Play Screen Icons

Status

Stopped

Blinks while Playing a track Current track is paused Recording a track

Play Order

Play Mode

6.3 Browsing through your Music Library

Play Order

(no icon) Play once Repeat playing Shufﬂ e (Random) track selection

Play Mode

Gmini™ 500 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: Plays ﬁ rst 10 – 90 seconds of each track*

* See the PlayMode section in the Settings chapter of this manual for details.

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500

6.3 Browsing through your Music Library

You can reach the PlayMode settings screen from the Setup action icon > PlayMode . The play mode determines how your music is played (just the current folder of music, all music, one ﬁ le, etc.). See Playmode in the section Settings for a description of how each one works.

The ARClibrary is your Gmini for indexing your music by album, artist, song title, etc. When you synchronize music ﬁ les from your PC using Windows Media to the Gmini™ 500, the ARCLibrary will get updated to include the new songs you have added. As shown in this screen capture, you can select your music by Artist, Album, Song Title, Genre, or Y ear.

All music ﬁ les that you purchase have internal ‘tags’ which identify the artist, the album, and the song title. If your music ﬁ les do not have internal tags (ex: WA V ﬁ le format or untagged WMA or MP3 ﬁ les) then the ARCLibrary will put them under the category ( Unknown ). Audio ﬁ les created with the Gmini Artist = (ARCHOS) and Album = ( Audio Recordings ).

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500’s music library. It is a system

Player

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500 from analog sources are indexed as

6.4 Playing Through your Stereo System

6.5 Setting a Bookmark

6.6 The Resume Function

6.4 Playing Through your Stereo System

To play your music through your stereo system, you can connect your AV cable as shown.

Playing through a Stereo system with an A V Cable

6.5 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. Simply select the Set Bookmark action icon. This will set a bookmark in the audio ﬁ le at the current position. You can only set one bookmark per ﬁ le.

When you look at the ﬁ le in your browser, it will have a yellow check mark on its icon indicating that this ﬁ le has a bookmark set within it. You can have a maximum of 16 ﬁ les bookmarked. Setting more bookmarks will then start to erase the oldest bookmarks. The next time you play an audio ﬁ le which contains a bookmark, you 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: Clear the bookmark from this ﬁ le and start playing from the very beginning.

6.6 The Resume Function

When you turn on your Gmini screen is not the Browser but rather the Resume icon. This icon is highlighted when the Gmini can resume the last played audio or video ﬁ le.

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500 you may notice that the icon which is highlighted on the main

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500

MUSIC – Putting Music onto your Gmini

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500

7.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media

Player (WMP) to the Gmini

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7.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9

Functionality WMP9 WMP10

MUSIC – Putting Music onto your Gmini

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500

Y our Archos™ product is a certiﬁ ed PlaysForSure™ digital device which means that wherever you ﬁ nd music for sale on the Internet with this symbol, you can be certain that it will ‘Play for sure’ on your Gmini

The Gmini 9 and 10. The Windows Media from the Internet to your computer and organize it. You will also use it to synchronize (copy) the contents of your Windows Media comparison chart below for an explanation of the different features available when running Windows Media Player 9 and 10 or check out the web site www.playsforsure.com.

*Subscription services require you to be running Windows Media® Player 10.

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500 is designed to work seamlessly with Windows Media

7.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media

The Synchronize button in Windows Media button. That is, it will add music, video, and photo ﬁ les to your Gmini you have the same digital media on your Gmini Media® Player media library. Of course, you can choose to sync only certain songs,

Set up Sync in the Sync tab and then check the box labeled Synchronize Device Automatically . This is the auto-sync advantage of WMP10. If this box is checked, then each time you connect your Gmini PC, Windows Media photos in your media library, and if so, will then copy them to your Gmini You also have the possibility to decide what types of media automatically sync when you connect your Gmini to be synchronized. On the other hand, with Windows Media to tell it what you want to sync, WMP9 cannot synchronize automatically when you connect your Gmini

videos, or photos, or sync your entire library. On WMP10, you can click the button

Player will automatically start up and check to see if there are any new music, videos, or

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500 to your computer.

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500*.

Player software is used to download digital media content

Player media library to your Archos™ device. See the

Player (WMP) to the Gmini

Player (WMP) is a one way ‘sync’

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500 as you have in your Windows

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500.

500. For example, you may only want music ﬁ les

Player 9, you have

Player (WMP) versions

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500

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500 so that

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500 to your

Note for WMP10 users: Files added to your Gmini™ 500 from another computer or ﬁ les which are recorded from an analog source cannot be added to the Windows Media® Player Library when you connect your Gmini™ 500 to the computer. Songs which have been added, will however , be listed in the device’s ARCLibrary.

7.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9

Windows® Media Player 10 is only available for Windows is worth your while to upgrade to Windows list below shows the advantages.

XP (home or professional) and to Windows

Functionality WMP9 WMP10

Auto-synchronize the WMP library to ARCHOS™ Gmini™ 500 on connecting to PC no* yes Can synchronize subscription music (‘to go’ services) to your Gmini Carefree USB disconnection (no special green arrow unmount procedure) no yes

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Will convert video ﬁ les** to play on your Gmini Supports protected Internet video downloads no yes

PlaysForSure

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audio content yes (download) yes

500 if not in correct format no yes

XP (service Pack 1) and newer operating systems. It

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500 no yes

Media Player 10. The

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* Must use WMP9 manual sync function to copy purchased music to the Gmini **Microsoft reserves the right to limit which video ﬁ le formats it will convert with WMP10

500.

7.3 Transferring your CD collection to the Gmini

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500

7.4 Installing Windows Media

Player 9 (WMP9)

7.5 Installing Windows Media

Player 10 (WMP10)

MUSIC – Playlists

8.1 Playing a Playlist

8.2 Creating a Playlist

7.3 Transferring your CD collection to the Gmini

The process of transferring music from a CD into music ﬁ les for your Gmini known as ‘ripping’. It is actually a re-encoding process, taking the CDA (CD Audio) format and converting it to WMA or MP3 format which the Gmini are many music ripping programs on the market, but ARCHOS™ recommends that you use Windows Media computer, Windows® will ask you if you would like to rip it. Depending on the power of your computer, to rip a 60 minute CD, it will take anywhere from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. Once this is done, the album will become part of your music library. Connect your Gmini™ 500 to your computer with the supplied USB cable. Now, you go to the Sync tab and tell Windows Media

500. It will then transfer that album to your Gmini

Note: Some music CDs have a special copy protection system that will not allow Windows Media® Player to make music ﬁ les from them.

7.4 Installing Windows Media

If you have Windows Microsoft® Website to download the very latest version, or install the version found on the Gmini folder /Data/PC Installation.

ME or Windows® 2000, you should use Windows Media

7.5 Installing Windows Media

You must be running Windows Please visit the Microsoft

Website www.playsforsure.com to download and install the very latest version.

Player 9 (WMP9)

Player 10 (WMP10)

XP (Service Pack 1 or higher) in order to install Windows Media

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500

Player to do it. In fact, when you place a music CD in your

Player to synchronize that album to your Gmini

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500 can read. There

500.

Player 9. You can visit the

™

500 itself in the

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500 is

Player 10.

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MUSIC – Playlists

8.1 Playing a Playlist

shufﬂ e the music entries in a random order, you can click on the Manage Playlist action icon, then choose Shufﬂ e . If you delete a Playlist from your Gmini

8.2 Creating a Playlist

A Playlist is a list of songs that the Gmini The Gmini™ 500 can load one Playlist at a time into its internal memory. You can create new Playlists, add or delete songs from a Playlist, or Save a Playlist to be used another time. There is no limit to the number of Playlists you can save on the Gmini indicated by a special list icon (circled icon to the left).

To play a Playlist, you simply scroll to the Playlist, such as ‘Sample

Playlist’ shown to the left, and click on PLAY o. The list of songs will

be loaded into the internal memory of the Gmini

displayed in a separate panel.

Click on PLAY and the songs will be played in the order shown. To

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500, you are only deleting the list and not the music itself.

To create a Playlist, select the Open Playlist panel action icon while

you are in the Music browser. A second panel will open on the right

side to display the Playlist contents. You can now start adding songs

to the current Playlist. In the left panel, locate the songs you would

like to add to your Playlist. Once the song is highlighted, click on the

RIGHT or ENTER button or select the Add to Playlist action icon 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 and adding songs in this manner until

you are satisﬁ ed. You can select the Add or Insert action buttons

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500 will automatically play one after the other.

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500 hard drive. Playlists are

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500 and then be

8.3 Saving a Playlist

8.4 Adding songs to a Playlist while listening to Music

when highlighting a folder, artist, or album. All the contents of the folder, artist, or album will be added (that is, appended) or inserted before the selected song in the current Playlist.

You can jump back and forth between the browser and the Playlist by selecting the Focus buttons. A Playlist can have a maximum of 5000 songs. We recommend that you save your Playlists.

8.3 Saving a Playlist

It is recommended that each time you create a Playlist, you save it to a separate folder called Playlists. These lists take very little space on your hard drive and if well named, give you easy access to your favorite songs. Go to the Playlist by selecting Music from the main menu and then select the Open Playlist panel action icon. Y ou will then see the list of songs in the current Playlist. Use the action button to focus on the right panel, then select the Manage Playlists action icon, and select Save . ATTENTION : Make sure that your left panel is the Playlists folder because the open panel on the left is the location the Gmini your Playlist to.

™

500 will be saving

Save Saves the current playlist to Playlists or the folder open in the left panel. The * after the Playlist name indicates that

Close Clears the Playlist and closes the Playlist panel. Rename Renames the current playlist. Clear Clears the contents of the current playlist. Shufﬂ e Randomly shufﬂ es the order of the songs in the current playlist.

The following Playlist action icons are also available

Icon: Remove Track Will delete the highlighted song from the Playlist. It will not delete the actual song itself from your hard drive, just from

Icon: Move track Allows you to change the place in the list of the highlighted song. Click on Move and then click on UP or DOWN to

this playlist has not been saved.

the current Playlist.

move the song up or down the list. Click OK when ﬁ nished.

Important: Once you save a Playlist it is important that you do not move or rename the actual music ﬁ les since the Playlist searches in the original ﬁ le location. If you need to move your music ﬁ les to a different folder, you’ll have to recreate your Playlist.

8.4 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, choose the action icon Playlist Editor . A new window will open with two panels, the hard

drive contents on the left, and the Playlist on the right.

• Select the Focus on the left panel action icon to go to the hard drive browser panel.

• Select the song or folder of songs to add, then click PLAY or the action icon Add to Playlist .

• Click ESC to return to the playing screen. Remember to save your changes before closing the Playlist.

MUSIC – Recording Music

9.1 Cable connections for audio recording

9.2 Recording Procedure

MUSIC – Recording Music

With the Gmini™ 500 series, you do not need a computer to create digital music ﬁ les. Using the optional multi- connect adapter (AV T ravel cable kit P/N 500671, available at www .archos.com), it is possible to record from any standard analog line source (ex: HiFi system, Boombox, CD Player, etc) into a standard Windows either PCM (uncompressed) or ADPCM (compressed).

9.1 Cable connections for audio recording

Plug the AV cable into the AV In side of the adapter, and then plug the adapter into the Gmini

.WA V format,

™

500.

9.2 Recording Procedure

Before the actual audio recording begins, there is a pre-recording screen which will allow you to adjust your recording settings.

1. On the main screen, select AudioCorder then click on ENTER.

2. In the pre-recording screen, adjust the recording level* by clicking

on the LEFT and RIGHT buttons (only Analog Line-In). Click on the

record action icon (or Enter button) to start recording. Attention, the

ﬁ rst time recording you should adjust your Settings .

* 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.

9.3 Where is the Recording Saved?

9.4 Audio Editing

3. Click on the Settings action icon to reveal the recording parameters screen as shown.

4. Once you have clicked on the Record action icon (or Enter button), you can pause the recording by clicking the Pause action icon (or Enter button) and then stop the recording by clicking on the STOP button.

™

Y ou can record from any line-level audio source to the Gmini a line level and not an ampliﬁ ed signal (turning down the volume on the player will work if you are using the headphone out signal of your audio device). A signal that is ampliﬁ ed too much will make for a terribly distorted recording.

500. Be careful that the source audio is supplying

Microphone

The built-in microphone is located on the top of the Gmini as the input source in the pre-recording Settings screen. The microphone level is preset.

Incremental Recording

While recording, you will notice the incremental recording action icon. This allows you to create incremental recordings. This means that the current recording stops and a new recording instantly begins. The next recording has an additional number appended to its name. Thus if you create multiple

This is good for recording old cassettes and old vinyl records. You can click on this icon during the blank space between each song. That way , each song of the vinyl disk or audio cassette will be one single music ﬁ le.

9.3 Where is the Recording Saved?

The default location for audio recordings is the folder called Music . This can be changed though. For example, you click on the Music icon in the main menu and then you choose Browse Hard Drive . Notice that there is the Launch Audiocorder action icon. Each time you use this button to start the Audiocorder application 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 / Music/Vinyls/Soul . If you go to this folder and then make a recording using the action icon, you will set the default record location to this folder. Now , all your recordings you make with the Audiocorder icon will be saved in the folder /Music/Vinyls/Soul .

incremental recordings, you might, for example, have ﬁ les names of REC0000_01, REC0000_02, etc.

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500. Make sure that you have selected Microphone

9.4 Audio Editing

Audio ﬁ les (only recordings that were made from the AudioCorder icon) can be modiﬁ ed by deleting the sections you do not wish included. If you would like to edit an audio recording, you have the possibility to cut the ﬁ le down to the speciﬁ c part you want to keep. In the example below, 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.

1 10

MUSIC – Using iTunes

™

with your Gmini

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500

To keep just this section (cropping it), you will:

• Locate this ﬁ le via Browse hard drive in the Music application.

• From the action icons, select the File Management action icon and then select Edit .

• In the edit mode, set the Cut In point (12:15 in our example). This will remove the part of the ﬁ le BEFORE the

desired segment.

• Now set a Cut Out point (21:05 in our example. Please note: As you have cut part of the ﬁ le, this position will

actually be earlier in the ﬁ le now).

• Validate and Save the edit. The ﬁ le will be saved with the word ”edit” appended to the ﬁ le name in the same

folder as the original.

• If you do not want to save your modiﬁ cations, click the STOP/ESC button and select OK.

Highlight the ﬁ le to edit and select the File Management action icon.

Choose Edit . Only ﬁ les which have been created with the Gmini

recording function will show Edit in the ﬁ le menu. Files created from

CDs or downloaded cannot be edited. Once you enter the edit mode,

the audio ﬁ le will play in a continuous loop so that you will be able to

hear the changes to the edit as you make them.

Use the fast-reverse and fast-forward buttons (LEFT/RIGHT buttons)

to locate the points you want the new ﬁ le to start and end. These are

the Cut In and Cut Out points. Once you have set these points, you

can save the edit. In this example, a new ﬁ le REC0001_Edit will be

made. Y our original ﬁ le is left untouched. You will notice that your Cut

In and Cut Out times are marked just below the ﬁ le name.

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500

MUSIC – Using iTunes

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with your Gmini

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500

The easiest way to transfer music ﬁ les between a Macintosh Macintosh Finder™ to drag and drop the ﬁ les to and from your Macintosh do want to use the Gmini in the folder /Data/i-Tunes Plug-in on the Gmini™ 500 hard drive or at the ARCHOS™ website. In this folder you will ﬁ nd a plug-in for Mac OS 9.x and another folder for Mac OS 10.x. Y ou will also ﬁ nd a JPEG image illustrating where you need to copy the plug-in to. Once this is done, iTunes™ will recognize the Gmini

Your Gmini

Settings in the Settings chapter or the chapter Connecting/Disconnecting the Gmini™ 500 to/from your PC on how to do this.)

Please keep in mind the following:

1) Music purchased at Apple’s on-line music store are copy protected with a proprietary encryption system. The

ARCHOS created. It will happily play MP3 format ﬁ les without problem.

2) When you create your Playlists with iTunes

to your Gmini not save them to the Gmini Playlists and then save these Playlists in your Playlists folder. (See section Creating a Playlist in chapter Music –Playlists )

3) When you drag and drop MP3 ﬁ les from your iTunes

at the ID3 tag information of the MP3 ﬁ le, and create a folder on the root of your Gmini the 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 Gmini into the Music folder ﬁ rst.

™

device will not be able to play this purchased music or ﬁ les in ACC format which you might have

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500), your Macintosh

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500 with iTunes®, ARCHOS™ has developed a special i-Tunes® plug-in. Y ou will ﬁ nd it

™

500 needs to be set to “Hard drive” mode (see the section System

Attention

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500 Playlists directory. It would be best to use the Gmini

(you can only create Playlists from songs that have been copied

will save these Playlists to the root directory of your Gmini

library to your Gmini

computer and your Gmini

. However, for Macintosh® users who

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500, the i-Tunes® program will look

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500 convention of placing the music

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500 is to use the

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500 as a ‘Device’.

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500 itself to make

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500 using the name of

500. It will

1 11

PHOTO – Viewing Photos

11.1 Viewing Photos

11.2 Viewing a slideshow

PHOTO – Viewing Photos

The Gmini™ 500 series support the viewing of JPEG (.jpg) and Bitmap (.bmp) image formats. Progressive JPEG images or certain camera formats such as NEF or RAW are not supported. The Gmini™ 500 will resize the image to ﬁ t on the built-in screen or on a television screen if you choose the television output. When you are in the Photo mode, it means that only ﬁ les of type JPEG or BMP will be visible in the directory. Other ﬁ le types will not be visible. The three images on the right are thumbnail sized pictures of the highlighted ﬁ le (center) and the picture just before and just after the highlighted ﬁ le. Select the

Photo icon, then click Enter o in order to go to the Photo directory .

11.1 Viewing Photos

When you click Enter o on a highlighted image ﬁ le, the Gmini™ 500 will display the image in full screen mode. Displayed as a full screen image, you can rotate it, magnify it, or set it as the Gmini Save as Wallpaper function in the File Management action icon.

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500 screen background with the

1 x 1 image 2 x 2 images 3 x 3 images (Zoom out 1x) (Zoom out 2x)

• Move up the action icon menu to select a picture option.

• Select the Zoom in/out action icon to change the number of photos in the carrousel view.

Magnifying Photos

Once the picture is displayed in full screen, selecting the Zoom in action icon will magnify the image up to two levels. Each successive click will magnify the picture one more level. Y ou can use your direction buttons to move the picture around in order to see the desired magniﬁ ed area. The small + signs on the bottom left of the screen indicate the level of magniﬁ cation, either + or ++. Click on STOP/ESC to go back to an unmagniﬁ ed view.

Rotate picture 90° left View previous/next photo

Rotate picture 90° right

11.2 Viewing a slideshow

By clicking on the action icon Play a Slideshow , the Gmini™ 500 will present each picture in the current folder for a set amount of time and then go on to the next picture. You can set the amount of time that each picture stays on the screen under the action icon Photo Browser Settings > Picture Pause . This parameter is the number of seconds each picture displays on the screen.

11.3 Transferring photos to your Gmini

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500

11.3 Transferring photos to your Gmini

The Gmini™ 500 is equipped with a USB host port. This port, along with the USB Host adapter cable will allow you to connect USB Mass Storage Class (MSC) devices to your Gmini

™

Gmini into the Gmini™ 500’s USB Host port and copy your photos with the ARCHOS™ browser. If you do not have an MSC type camera, you can use a USB card reader and plug this into Gmini host adapter cable). Finally if neither of these solutions is available to you, you can always copy the photos to your computer and then copy them from your computer to the connected Gmini

3 methods to copy photos to your Gmini

500. Many cameras produced today are MSC type devices. Thus you can often plug your camera directly

™

500

™

500 and transfer ﬁ les from that device to your

™

500’s USB host port (via the USB

™

500 (via USB 2).

1) Connect your Mass Storage Class camera to USB Host port (via USB host adapter cable).

2) Use a stand alone USB card reader with the USB host adapter cable.

3) Copy photos to your computer and then copy (or Sync with Windows Media

Player 10) to the Gmini

™

500 (via USB 2).

Once you plug an MSC type device into the USB host port (via the

host adapter cable), the browser’s left panel will show the contents of

your external USB device, and the right panel will show the contents

of your Gmini

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500’s hard drive. Navigate to the panel which contains your photos (in this example /DCIM/113CANON ). Move to the right panel (action) and navigate to the folder you would like to save your photos to (you can create a new folder if you need to by selecting the corresponding action icon). See the screen images on the next page.

Method 1

Photos from camera are shown on the left, and your Gmini™ 500 hard drive on the right. By using the Select right pane action icon, move to the right pane and choose the destination folder.

Now return to the left pane and choose the Copy all ﬁ les action icon. Your ﬁ les will be copied to your Gmini right pane. You can now unplug the camera from the Gmini

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, into the folder in the

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500.

1 12

BROWSER – Using the Browser

12.1 Navigating the Directory Structure

BROWSER – Using the Browser

The browser is used to navigate the ﬁ le system on the Gmini type of ﬁ le system that is found on Windows which includes folders and subfolders. Because you will be putting hundreds of ﬁ les on your Gmini 500, it is STRONGLY ADVISED that you keep a neat and orderly ﬁ le structure. Otherwise, you will be spending time searching for ﬁ les and not listening or watching them. ARCHOS™ recommends that you keep the factory created folders: Data, Music, Playlists, Video, and Pictures.

The folders Music , Pictures , 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 or renamed, you will be taken to the root level (highest level) of the directory hierarchy.

based computers. That is, it is a hierarchical system

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500. The ﬁ le system is FAT32, the same

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12.1 Navigating the Directory Structure

To navigate the directory structure you will use:

ENTER: Open the highlighted folder (directory) or Play the highlighted ﬁ le.

ESC/STOP x : Go back to the main menu.

Move the cursor up and down to the previous or next ﬁ le or folder.

RIGHT: Open the currently highlighted folder. LEFT: Go back up one level in the folder hierarchy. Example: Go from folder Gmini500/Music/

Wes Burden/ to Gmini500/Music.

12.2 File and Folder Operations

Depending on where you are in the folder system, you will have the option to manipulate ﬁ les and folders. From the main menu, click on Browser. Files that the Gmini type icon.

Folder Operations File Operations

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500 cannot play will be preceded by the unknown ﬁ le

Info Show ﬁ le information such as song length, video length, photo size, number of kilobytes used of hard drive space,

Create Create a new folder inside the current folder. Delete Delete the ﬁ le permanently from the Gmini

Rename Change the name of the ﬁ le or folder to something new. You will be sent to the virtual keyboard (see section

Create Create a new folder in the current level of the directory. You will be sent to the virtual keyboard (see section

date ﬁ le was made, etc.

“ Delete ﬁ le: xxxxx ? ”. Use the action buttons to reply Yes or No. For folder, it will delete the entire contents of the folder. It will ask “ Delete folder: xxxxx and all ﬁ les therein? ” Use the action buttons to reply Yes or No.

Virtual Keyboard in the Browser chapter ) to enter the new ﬁ le or folder name.

Virtual Keyboard in the Browser chapter) to enter the new folder name.

Copy/Copy all ﬁ les Make a copy of the selected folder or ﬁ le(s) and save it to the other pane. Move Move the selected folder or ﬁ le to the other pane. The folder will be deleted from its current location.

Copying and Moving Files and Folders

By using the unique ARCHOS structure to another (1000 ﬁ les per folder maximum). The double browser can be used in:

Photo View The left panel is the connected USB device (ex: digital camera or hard drive) and the right panel the Gmini™ 500 hard

drive contents.

Music View The left browser is the Gmini Browser View Two panels to browse two different parts of the Gmini

™

500. (Before it is deleted, the Gmini™ 500 will ask

™

double browser system, you can copy or move ﬁ les from one location in the ﬁ le

™

500 hard drive contents and right browser the music Playlist.

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500 hard drive.

In the Browser mode, you can jump between the two panels using the Focus on the left/right panel action icon. Where the cursor is highlighting a ﬁ le or folder, that panel is the source for the copy. The destination folder will be the other panel. For example, we want to copy the ﬁ le Project info.doc from the Gmini must start from the main screen Browser mode.

™

500/Data/Files from Work folder to the Gmini™ 500/Data/Completed projects folder. We

1) Locate and highlight the ﬁ le to be copied. Using the action buttons, move to the right pane.

12.3 Using the Virtual Keyboard

2) In the right pane, locate the destination folder. Then move back to the left pane.

3) Highlight the ﬁ le to be copied and select the Copy ﬁ le action icon.

4) The selected ﬁ le will now be copied into the destination folder.

12.3 Using the Virtual Keyboard

It is recommended that you create folders and rename ﬁ les or folders from your computer when it is connected to the Gmini™ 500. The computer keyboard is much easier to use. However, at times when you are not near your computer and need to enter text directly with the Gmini this, the virtual keyboard screen will appear.

The new text that you are typing Cursor

Please note: You can only copy or move ﬁ les from one folder to another and not within the same folder. If you select the same folder in both panes, these options are therefore not available.

™

500 (ex: renaming a ﬁ le or creating a new folder). For

Press ENTER to enter the highlighted key/letter.

Change keyboard between upper case and lower case Backspace button Clear the entered text Conﬁ rmation to use the entered text.

Hold down on the LEFT or RIGHT buttons to move the cursor within the entry line.

1 13

Connecting/Disconnecting* the Gmini

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500 to/from your PC

13.1 USB Connection Type (‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’)

13.2 Connecting the Gmini

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500

Connecting/Disconnecting* the Gmini

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500 to/from your PC

13.1 USB Connection Type (‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’)

Y our device comes conﬁ gured as a Windows are running Windows version of Windows will need to change the USB (Universal Serial Bus) Port setting on the Gmini the Settings action icon and then to System and USB Port and change it to ‘ Hard Drive ’.

13.2 Connecting the Gmini

Connection order: See the sections below for your particular computer’s operating system.

1) Connect the power adapter to the Gmini

2) With your computer running, plug the USB cable into your computer.

3) With the Gmini

4) Turn on the Gmini unplug it and change the USB Port to Hard Drive.)

* Note that when the Gmini™ 500 is connected to a computer, it will use more energy than usual. Your battery power will be consumed at a higher rate than normal. It is normal that the Gmini™ 500 will get hot. If the Gmini™ 500 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/Gmini™ 500 freeze up. The Gmini™ 500 is not compatible with Windows® NT, Windows® 95, or Windows® 98. While connected to your computer, the Gmini™ 500 buttons are blocked and are no longer functional.

XP (with Service Pack 1 minimum) and Windows Media

, not sure what version of Windows

™

500

™

500 off, plug in the other end of the USB cable to the Gmini

™

500. (If your computer asks to install a new driver for the new hardware, then you must

Device and will be immediately recognized by your computer if you

XP you have, or if you are using a Macintosh

™

500.

Player 10. If you have another

™

500. You will do this by going to

™

500 USB Device port.

, then you

Windows® XP

Please verify** that you have Windows

also have Windows Media of connecting it as a ‘ Windows Device ’. Connect it to your PC as enumerated above and you can then see the Gmini™ 500 in Windows® Explorer and WMP10. Without Windows Windows Media Player instructions for Windows

** Right-click on ‘My Computer’ select ‘Properties’, and then look in the tab labeled ‘General’. It should say “Service Pack 1” or higher.

Windows® ME and 2000

Player 10 (WMP10) installed on your computer. This way, you can take advantage

10, you cannot use it as a Windows

ME & 2000 below.

Attention: Before connecting the Gmini™ 500 to your computer with the USB cable, go to the setup action icon and then to System and USB Port and change it to ‘Hard Drive’.

When connected to your computer, the Gmini™ 500 will be recognized as an external Hard Drive and display automatically within a few seconds of being connected. You will see a new drive letter, such as E: in My Computer called Gmini now use the hard drive called Gmini access it using Windows 500’s hard drive.

XP and it is updated it to at least, Service Pack 1 . You must

Explorer to drag and drop ﬁ les to and from the Gmini

recognized ‘Device’ and will have to follow the

™

500 like any other external hard drive. Simply

XP Service Pack 1 (a free update) or

™

500. You can

™

Macintosh

™

OS X

If you have OS X, you must update to version 10.2.4 or newer. You must also change the Gmini 500’s USB Port setting to ‘ Hard Drive ’. From the main menu, go to the Settings action icon and then to System and USB Port and change it to ‘ Hard Drive ’.

™

You will now simply plug the Gmini few seconds, the Gmini on the desktop. You can now use the hard drive called Gmini drive.

™

500 will be recognized as a mass storage device (Hard Drive) and mount

500 into your Macintosh

as enumerated above, and within a

™

500 like any other external hard

™

13.3 Disconnecting the Gmini

™

500 from your Computer

13.3 Disconnecting the Gmini

™

500 from your Computer

Windows Device Mode

™

If the Gmini transferred between your Gmini ﬂ ickering). You can now safely unplug the USB cable from your Gmini

500 is connected to your computer as a Windows Device, verify that no data is being

™

500 and your computer (the HDD light on your Gmini

™

500 and/or computer.

™

500 is not

Hard Drive Mode

If the Gmini

™

500 is connected to your computer as a hard drive, DO NOT SIMPLY PULL OUT THE

USB CABLE AT ANY TIME!

WARNING: You must properly remove (unmount) your Gmini™ 500 from the computer before disconnecting the USB cable to avoid loss of data or freezing the computer and/or the Gmini

™

500.

Hard Drive Mode & Windows®

™

To safely disconnect the Gmini

500 hard drive, click on the system tray remove 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.

1. The safe remove icon is in the system tray next to the clock.

Windows

2. Click on the icon to eject (unmount) the Gmini

XP Windows® 2000 & Windows® ME

™

500 from the computer and select the ‘Safely remove’

message.

3. There will be a message indicating that it is now safe to disconnect the Gmini™ 500. You can now safely unplug the USB cable from your Gmini™ 500 and/or computer.

Hard Drive Mode & Macintosh

Drag the Gmini arrow as shown in the screen shot to the left. Drop the hard drive icon onto the arrow. The hard drive icon will disappear from the desktop. Y ou can now safely unplug the USB cable from your Gmini™ 500 and/or computer.

™

500 hard drive icon towards the trash can, the trash can will become a big

1 14

Connecting Devices to the USB Host Port

1 15

SETTINGS

15.1 Sound Settings

Connecting Devices to the USB Host Port

Thanks to the USB Host port, you can connect USB Mass Storage Class (MSC) devices such as many digital cameras and external hard drives in order to transfer pictures or data to/from your Gmini manufacturer’s information to ﬁ nd out whether your device is an MSC device. Non Mass Storage Class devices such as printers, Ethernet adapters, mice, keyboards, etc. are not supported.

To connect an MSC device, use the included short USB host adapter.

™

500. Check your

If your camera follows the Mass Storage Class (MSC) standard for USB connection, then your camera will show up in the ﬁ le browser as the folder /External USB . In this folder you will see your photos or ﬁ les. See the chapter on the Browser for instructions on how to copy ﬁ les.

SETTINGS

From the main screen, select the Settings action icon to reveal the menu items for various settings.

15.1 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 Audio Settings action icon while listening to music.

• Once in the Settings screen, move over to the Sound icon and click again

on ENTER o. Use LEFT and RIGHT buttons to change a parameter’s value. Y ou will hear these changes instantly.

• Use the UP and DOWN buttons to select different parameters.

• Click on STOP/ESC x when ﬁ nished. You will return to the Setup screen.

• Click on STOP/ESC x again and you will return to the music playing

screen.

Parameter Description

15.2 Play Mode Settings

Parameter Description

15.3 Clock Settings

The Sound Parameters

Parameter Description

Volume 0 – 99 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 Re-adjusts all settings to their default values .

15.2 Play Mode Settings

If you would like the Gmini (shufﬂ e), or any of the other playing options, you can set these parameters in the PlayMode settings. Click on the Settings action icon from the main menu or while listening to music and then choose PlayMode .

Parameter Description

Playmode options Single Play a single track then stop. Folder Play all tracks in the current directory or current album. All Play all tracks on the Gmini Queue While the current song is playing, select the Show ARCLibrary action button, ﬁ nd the next song you want to play,

then click PLAY. This is your queued song. You can only queue one song at a time. See the Playlist section to prepare multiple songs to play. Once the current track is ﬁ nished playing, your queued track will be played. If you do not queue another track at this time, the Gmini

™

500 to play through an entire folder of songs, play songs at random

™

500.

™

500 will play the next song in the directory.

Scan Each track in the directory is played for the duration selected for the parameter Intro Duration. This allows a quick

Repeat & Shufﬂ e options Normal Plays your songs one after the other and then stops after the last song. Repeat Continuously plays through the current set of songs (Artist, Album, folder , or Playlist). Shufﬂ e Randomly play through the current set of songs (Artist, Album, folder, or Playlist) .

Intro duration From 10 to 90 seconds. This is the time for which each song will be played when selecting Scan for Playmode

15.3 Clock Settings

The Gmini™ 500 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, select the Settings action icon then select Clock .

sample of each song. If you want to play the whole song, click on the Play button during the “intro”. The Gmini™ 500 will then revert to single directory mode and play the rest of the songs in the directory without scanning.

settings.

Choose parameter Choose value for highlighted parameter

When ﬁ nished setting the parameters, move down to the Set button, then click on the ENTER o button. The clock time and date are now set. Click on the STOP/ESC x button to go back to the main settings menu.

15.4 Display Settings

Setting Description

15.5 Appearance settings

Setting Description

15.6 Power Settings

15.4 Display Settings

These settings regulate the interface language and the presentation of the screen.

Setting Description

Language The Gmini™ 500 can be set to English (default), French, German, Spanish, or Russian. Action icon notes Displays the explanation or name of the action icons when moving up and down through the menu. If set to On, the

TV Standard NTSC (USA), PAL (Europe) . In order to view images or videos on an external television, select one option to send

TV format 4:3 or 13:9 – the ratio at which images are displayed on your television set. Video Output Internal LCD or External TV. To display via the built-in LCD screen or to view the display via an external television.

LCD Brightness 0, 1, 2 . The 3 brightness levels for the built-in LCD screen. Setting to a lower value will give you a longer battery

When accessing the Display settings while playing a video you have an additional display option: Video OSD Time for which the video On Screen Display information will be shown when the video starts playing.

ﬁ rst click on the SELECT action button will show the names of the icons. The second click will select the icon.

the video signal compatible with your country’s television system. Countries other than European or American will use one of these two systems.

Holding the LCD/TV button for two seconds will also alternate between these two options. Be sure your television is selecting the correct external input.

autonomy.

15.5 Appearance settings

Setting Description

Wallpaper On, Off. When set to On, the selected picture (next item)

Picture name This option will display the names of the JPEG images

Font Outline If your screen background is a dark color, it will be difﬁ cult to see the black text on the screen. Set Outlined font to

Color scheme Allows you to choose what color you would like to have for the status bar above and the screen buttons. Cursor color Changes the color of the cursor and its background. Previous settings Click this button to return to the settings last set.

15.6 Power Settings

These settings will help you to save battery power thus allowing a longer battery autonomy.

You can set the Gmini modes of operation (when it is powered from the battery, or when it is connected to the AC charger/adapter (DC-Power operation).

will be displayed as the Gmini™ 500 screen background.

™

in the Gmini screen backgrounds (Wallpaper). You can add your own JPEG images to the System folder by dragging and dropping a JPEG ﬁ le from your computer. You can also set the wallpaper within the Photo mode.

On to have a more visible white outlined font.

500’s System folder that can be used for

™

500 to conserve power for both

Parameter Description

15.7 System Settings

Parameter Description

Power Off 1-9 minutes or Never. The number of minutes of user inactivity (no buttons pressed) before the Gmini™ 500 shuts

Backlight Off 10-90 seconds or Never . The time of user inactivity (no buttons pressed) before the Gmini

Hard drive 10-90 seconds. The number of seconds from the time of the last ﬁ le access before the Gmini

Standby 1-9 minutes or Never. The number of minutes of user inactivity (no buttons pressed) before the Gmini

A typical use of these settings is to set the power off, screen of f, and hard drive 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 Gmini 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 drive are on for long periods of time.

15.7 System Settings

The System settings allow you control over the low level parameters of the Gmini

off. During the playback of music or video ﬁ les, this setting takes effect only after the ﬁ les are ﬁ nished playing.

™

to conserve power. During the playback of video ﬁ les, this setting only takes effect once the ﬁ le is ﬁ nished playing.

hard drive to stop spinning. The longer this time is set, the more often the hard drive is turning and the quicker the response time when accessing ﬁ les. However, as it is set longer, it will quickly consume your battery. Caution: This setting should only be changed by experienced users.

into Standby mode. When powered by the AC charger/adapter (or connected to a powered TV docking pod), the Gmini™ 500 will not completely shut off. It will go into Standby mode. This way , it can wake up to make a scheduled video recording.

™

500 more agreeable. Increasing the hard drive value beyond

™

500.

500 turns off the screen

™

500 tells the internal

™

500 goes

Parameter Description

ARCLibrary Off: From the Music icon, you will just browse music ﬁ les in the folder Music. On: (Only in USB Port mode ‘Hard drive’) Browse music via its tag characteristics but the ARCLibrary must be

Automatic: ARCLibrary is automatically updated when the USB cable is disconnected from your device. Update ARCLibrary This button lets you update the ARCLibrary if you have set the parameter above to ON. USB Port Windows Device (default), Hard drive .

Windows Device When set to , your Gmini

Hard drive When set to Hard Drive , your Gmini

Firmware Version Displays the current version of the OS (Operating System) and DRM (Digital Rights Management) system. Update Firmware Used to update the Gmini

Product Key Each Gmini Hard Drive Displays the amount of free and used space on the Gmini

updated manually.

XP (SP1 or higher) operating system with Windows Media® Player 10 installed. It will be seen as the Gmini™ 500 ‘Device’ in Windows® Explorer. W ARNING: This will not work for earlier Windows® operating systems or MacIntosh® computers.

to a computer. Use this mode for all non-Windows® XP operating systems.

Updating the Gmini™ 500 Firmware Operating System.

is binary based counting (1kb=1024 bytes). Thus each reported MB represents approximately 1.05 megabytes (decimal). Formatting also takes up space.

™

500 will use the MTP (Media Transport Protocol) whenever it is connected to a Windows

™

500 will act as an external hard drive (mass storage device) when connected

™

500 to a new version of the Operating System. See the chapter

™

500 device has a unique product key number.

™

500’s hard drive. Reported number of megabytes

1 16

Updating the Gmini

™

500 Firmware Operating System (OS)

Updating the Gmini

™

500 Firmware Operating System (OS)

ARCHOS™ periodically updates the Operating System (OS) and makes it available for free download on the ARCHOS improvements, and bug ﬁ xes. You should check to make sure that you are running the most recent version of the OS. To check what version you have, click on the Settings action icon and then go to System . You will ﬁ nd the most recent version of the OS and its version number at the ARCHOS™ website (www.archos.com) under the download section.

Download the Update_Gmini

Read the History.txt File

You will also ﬁ nd next to the ﬁ rmware download, a text ﬁ le which details the list of changes from the previous version of the OS.

Copy to the Gmini

™

website (www.archos.com). Updates to the Operating System include new features, feature

™

500.AOS ﬁ le

When you click on the link to download the new OS ﬁ le (the ﬁ le name is Update_Gmini500.AOS), your browser may warn you that the contents of the download may harm your computer. This is because the Windows know what a .AOS ﬁ le is. Be assured that ARCHOS™ has made every effort to ensure that the ﬁ le does not contain viruses. Click on the option Save to download this ﬁ le to a convenient place, such as My Documents , in order to later copy this ﬁ le to your Gmini™ 500. If your Gmini to the Gmini

™

500

When updating your Operating System, you must keep the AC charger/adapter plugged into the Gmini are performing the update. Connect your Gmini relevant chapter if you are unsure about this), and then copy the Update_Gmini500. AOS ﬁ le to the Gmini™ 500.

™

500.

™

500 is connected to your PC, you can even save it directly

™

500 so that it will not shut down due to low batteries while you

™

500 to your computer (refer to the

system does not

‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’?

™

If your Gmini ﬁ le onto this icon, and Windows should not be placed inside any folder within your Gmini (refer to the chapter on Connecting/Disconnecting) the Gmini

If your Gmini Windows there is already an older version of the Update_Gmini500.AOS ﬁ le on your Gmini™ 500, Windows® will ask if you want to overwrite the current ﬁ le. Click on Yes. Disconnect the Gmini

Activate the Update

then move down to Update Firmware and click on it. The Gmini™ 500 will search for the .AOS ﬁ le. Follow the on-screen instructions. When completed, the Gmini that you have updated the ﬁ rmware to the new version.

500 is seen as a hard drive, then you simply need to drag the Update_Gmini500.AOS

™

500 is seen as a Windows

Explorer and drop the Update_Gmini500.AOS into the Data folder (not the Media folder). If

Ensure that your Gmini Next, on hte Gmini

will place the ﬁ le into the top most directory (root) of the Gmini

™

500. Once this ﬁ le is copied, safely disconnect

™

500 from the computer.

Device, then you will have to open the Gmini

™

500 from your computer.

™

500 is still powered through the AC charger/adapter.

™

, go to the System parameters from the Settings action icon and

™

500 will restart and you can go back to this screen to verify

™

500. It

™

500 Device in

Replacing the battery

17.1 “Thin” version

17.2 Standard version

Replacing the battery

Y our Gmini™ 500 has a removable battery . You may want to purchase a second battery for cases when you know that you will be unable to recharge your Gmini™ 500 before the supplied battery runs out. Refer to the chapter Settings – Power Settings for information about getting the most use from the battery.

Before removing the battery, disconnect the charger/adapter and switch of f the device.

17.1 “Thin” version

On the “Thin” version of the Gmini™ 500, the battery is located on the left half at the back of the device. To take out the battery, slide the button on the bottom of the Gmini™ 500 towards the right, then slide the battery towards the top and lift it out. T o replace the battery, lower it straight into the compartment. Be sure to leave a gap between the bottom edge of the Gmini™ 500 and the battery (1). Slide the battery towards the bottom of the Gmini™ 500. This action should anchor the battery in the compartment (2).

Caution: If the battery is incorrectly replaced or short-circuited, this could result in damage to the product and/or serious injuries to the user. Replace only with same or equivalent type of battery.

17.2 Standard version

Y our Gmini™ 500 has a removable battery. You may want to purchase a second battery for cases when you know that you will be unable to recharge your Gmini Settings – Power Settings for information about getting the most use from the battery.

Before removing the battery, disconnect the charger/adapter and switch of f the device. Two batteries are available for the Gmini

in the same way. To take out the battery, move the sliding button on the left hand side of the device downwards. You can now lift the battery from the left edge. To replace a battery, hold it with the 2 plastic notches towards the right and slide it into the battery compartment (1). Then, lower the battery into its compartment (2). Finally, remember to move the slider latch towards the top of the Gmini compartment (3).

™

500 before the supplied battery runs out. Refer to the chapter

™

500. They are located on the back of the device and are exchanged

™

500 in order to secure the battery inside its

1 18

Technical Support

In case you should encounter any technical difﬁ culties using your product, we suggest you go through these steps in order to resolve any issues as efﬁ ciently as possible:

1) Please read carefully through the appropriate sections of this manual. Some subject areas may be treated in

two different chapters depending on how the device is being used.

2) Look at the Troubleshooting section at the back of this manual. In this section, we have included answers to

some commonly asked questions.

3) Look at our Support section on the website (www .archos.com). Here, you will ﬁ nd Frequently Asked Questions

(FAQ) for our different products, and there is a chance that somebody else has already asked your question.

4) If these steps did not help you resolve your technical difﬁ culty, you can always contact us either via email or by

calling the helpline. Telephone support will be provided in the language of the countries listed below. For other countries, please use e-mail technical support.

• For warranty and services purposes, keep your sales receipt for proof of purchase.

• 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).

DO NOT USE phone or e-mail support for marketing and sales questions. These numbers are to aid those who have technical difﬁ culties / malfunctions.

Telephone Support

Canada 949-609-1400 Nederland 020-50 40 510

Danmark 35 25 65 67 Norge 22 57 77 71

Deutschland 069-6698-4714 Schweitz/Suisse 442 004 111

España 09-1745-6224 Suomi 09 2311 3434

France 01 70 20 00 30 Svenska 08 579 290 80

Ireland 01-601-5700 UK 0207-949-0115

Italia 02-4827-1143 USA 877-300-879 (toll free)

Email 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)

1 19

Troubleshooting

19.1 USB Connection issues

WWW.ARCHOS.COM

Worldwide Ofﬁ ces

United States & Canada Europe & Asia

ARCHOS 3, Goodyear - Unit A Irvine, CA 92618 USA

Phone: 1 949-609-1483 Fax: 1 949-609-1414

United Kingdom Germany

ARCHOS PO Box 1420 Southampton SO15 1WF United Kingdom

™

Technology

™

(UK) Limited

ARCHOS 12, rue Ampère 91430 Igny France Phone: +33 (0) 169 33 169 0 Fax: +33 (0) 169 33 169 9

ARCHOS Business Park Vierwinden Konrad-Zuse-Str. 22 41516 Grevenbroich Germany

™

S.A.

™

Deutschland GmbH

Phone: +44 (0) 1264 366022 Fax: +44 (0) 1264 366626

Troubleshooting

19.1 USB Connection issues

Problem: I cannot get my Gmini Solutions:

• If you are running an operating system other than Windows

Player 10 or higher, the USB Port setting should be set to ‘Hard Drive’. Go to Settings > System > USB Port and set it to ‘ Hard Drive ’. Only Windows® XP (Service Pack 1 or higher) with Windows Media will allow for the USB Port ‘ Windows Device ’ setting.

• Shut off and reboot the computer and the Gmini

mentioned in the chapter Connecting/Disconnecting the Gmini

• If using a USB hub, try connecting without using the hub (some hubs are not powered and may not work with

the Gmini

• 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.

• If using a laptop computer and a docking station, try connecting without the docking station.

• Macintosh

• (Hard Drive mode) If the Files Allocation Table (FAT) gets corrupted, the Gmini

Windows XP for over one minute, and then it comes up as local drive . Use DOS Utility ChkDsk as shown below.

• (Hard Drive Mode) Windows

it. Right click on My Computer and select Manage . Then select Storage , then Disk Management . Within this window you may see the hard drive and be able to assign a drive letter by right-clicking on the hard drive, and selecting the option Change drive letter and paths …

™

500).

users must update to OS 10.2.4 or higher.

Tel: + 49 (0) 21 82 – 570 41-0 Fax: + 49 (0) 2182/57041-70

™

500 to be recognized by the computer or it asks for a driver.

XP (Service Pack 1 minimum) with Windows Media

™

XP may recognize the Gmini

500 and then try connecting again in the preferred order

™

500 to/from your PC .

™

500 may not show up in

™

500 hard drive but yet not assign a drive letter to

Player 10 or higher

19.2 Charging and Power issues

19.3 Gmini

™

500 locks up (freezes operation) or Stops

19.4 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning

Problem: (Hard Drive mode) 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 Gmini 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 can shut off your Gmini

™

500 with the Stop/Esc button and then unplug it.

™

500, including Windows

19.2 Charging and Power issues

Y ou do not need to fully discharge the batteries before recharging them.

Problem: A full battery charge does not last as long as the speciﬁ cations suggest. Answer: The speciﬁ cations are under the condition that the screen backlight goes off after 30 seconds (for

music) and the user does not access the machine, it just sits and plays. If you get signiﬁ cantly less time from a full charge, call our technical support hot-line.

19.3 Gmini

™

500 locks up (freezes operation) or Stops

Problem: The Gmini™ 500 locks-up. None of the buttons work. Solution: If the ‘ Lock buttons ’ is set, none of the buttons respond. Hold down the unlock action 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 Gmini seconds and the Gmini

™

500 will shut off. Restart it normally now.

™

500. Hold down on the STOP/OFF button for 15

19.4 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning

Problem: I want to clean up my Gmini

™

500’s hard drive, but Windows

drive cleaning tools.

Answer: This is because Windows

sees your Gmini™ 500 as a Windows Device and not a hard drive (USB Port is set to Windows Device in Setup > System ). Do not change back to hard drive and run a defragmenter program. This will give unexpected results.

will not let me use the standard hard

Explorer. If

Problem: On the Gmini™ 500, I ﬁ nd new ﬁ le names and folder names that I never created and/or they have strange gibberish names.

Answer: (Hard drive mode) Most likely, the Gmini could have been due to the Gmini computer via the USB connection. T o ﬁ x a corrupted FAT problem, you should use the Error Checking utility or the Check Disk utility explained at the end of this section. Attention: Windows and Macintosh often write extra ﬁ les to the hard drive such as ﬁ nder.def or System volume info . These are normal and will not harm the Gmini

Problem: Can I defragment the Gmini Answer: (Windows Device Mode) The Gmini

defragmented. Defragmenting will cause unexpected problems.

Problem: I want to reformat the Gmini Answer: Y ou can do this, but it will erase ALL of the data on your Gmini

if your FAT (File Allocation Table) becomes so corrupted that nothing seems to ﬁ x your ﬁ le problems. First, as explained below, you should run ScanDisk or the DOS chkdsk (Check Disk) program to try to ﬁ x your problem. If this doesn’t ﬁ x your problem and you are sure you must reformat the Gmini screen Settings > System and press and hold the DOWN action button for three seconds. A button “Format HD” will appear. Use this button to format the Gmini on the Gmini

™

500’s hard drive!!!

™

500 shutting down (due to low battery power) while reading or writing to your

™

500’s hard drive?

™

500’s hard drive.

500’s ﬁ le allocation table (FAT) has been corrupted. This

™

500.

500 maintains an optimized ﬁ le system and does not need to be

™

500. Sometimes this may be necessary

™

500 hard drive, then go to the

™

500’s hard drive. Remember, doing this will erase all the data

Windows

ME Running Scan-Disk (Error Checking) – HARD DRIVE mode only

• Quit all running applications.

™

• Properly connect the Gmini

the Gmini™ 500 to/from your PC .

• Make sure external AC adapter is powering the Gmini

• Right click on the Gmini

500 to your computer as explained in the chapter Connecting/disconnecting

™

500 hard drive in Windows

Explorer and select Properties.

• Select the Tools option and run the Error checking program.

• Make sure you check the box to automatically ﬁ x errors .

500.

2 20

Technical Speciﬁ cations

ARCHOS

™

Gmini

™

500

• Be patient, this may take a while.

Windows

If you still have problems with the ﬁ le system on your Gmini disk (chkdsk). Do the following;

• Make sure external AC adapter is powering the Gmini

• Quit all running applications.

• Properly connect the Gmini

Gmini™ 500 to/from your PC .

• Wait patiently (up to 5 minutes) for Windows XP to show the local drive as mounted.

• Open a DOS window. Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt.

• At the prompt, type chkdsk e: /f . Use e: or f: or whatever drive letter is representing your Gmini

argument tells the program to automatically ﬁ x errors.

• Be patient, this may take a while.

• When ﬁ nished, exit the DOS Window and properly disconnect the Gmini

XP & 2000 Running Check Disk Utility (ChkDsk) – HARD DRIVE mode only

™

500 you can try to ﬁ x it using the DOS utility, check

™

500.

™

500 to your computer as explained in chapter Connecting/disconnecting the

™

500 from your computer.

™

500. The /f

Technical Speciﬁ cations

ARCHOS

™

Storage Capacity See packaging for internal hard drive size Display 4” LCD 480x272 pixels, 262 000 colors and TV output Video playback MPEG-4 SP with B-Frames

Audio recording From an analog source in stereo sound for WAV (PCM & ADPCM) format. Audio Playback Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 kb/s CBR & VBR, WMA with protected ﬁ les, WAV (PCM &

Photo viewer JPEG (not progressive jpegs) and BMP formats AV Connections Earphones Audio & Video line out (TV output). Television output Video output in P AL (EU) or NTSC (US) standard Computer Interface USB 2.0 high-speed device, compatible USB 1.1, PC & Mac. USB Host port compatible Mass Storage Device Playback Autonomy* Up to 15 hours for music. Up to 4 hours for video on the built-in LCD. Scalability Free Operating System updates downloadable from ARCHOS Power source Rechargable Lithium-Ion battery External: AC charger/adapter . Use ONLY the speciﬁ ed Archos adapter/charger supplied with this product. Physical Dimensions Approx.: 7.6 x 12.4 x 1.8/2.4 cm - 3” x 4.9” x 0.7”/0.9” ; weight: 256/312 g (slim/standard version) Temperature Range 5 °C to 35 °C running ; -20 °C to 45 °C storage

Gmini

™

500

720x576 @ 25 f/s (PAL), AVI ﬁ le format. WMV9 Simple Proﬁ le up to 352x288 @ 30 f/s and 800Kbit/s.

ADPCM)

with stereo sound. Near DVD quality up to 720x480 @ 30 f/s (NTSC),

™

website

2 21

Legal

Minimum Requirements Computer conﬁ guration:

PC with Windows® ME, or 2000, and USB 2.0 port. Macintosh® G3 with MAC OS v10.2.4 or higher, Macintosh® G3 and USB 2.0 port. For Playsforsure PC with Windows® XP SP1 or higher operating system, Windows Media® Player 10 or higher, and USB 2.0 port.

*Depending on usage (stop/start/writing) (1) External video output disabled for Marcovision®-protected contents. (2) DivX: has not been certiﬁ ed by DivX, Inc., may not read all DivX® 4.0, 5.0 & 6.0 ﬁ les; does not read Divx® 3.11 ﬁ les.

MPEG-4: ISO standard by Moving Picture Experts Group ; A VI: audio/video ﬁ le container by Microsoft. MPEG-4 SP with B-frames A VI up to 720x480@30f/s NTSC or 720x576@25f/s PAL..

(3) Only cameras compatible with Mass Storage Class USB.

All brands and product names are registered trademarks and the property of their respective owners. Speciﬁ cations are subject to change without notice. Errors or omissions excepted. Images and illustrations may not always match contents. Copyright® 2005. ARCHOS. All rights reserved.

™

content:

Legal

Warranty and Limited Liability

This product is sold with a limited warranty and speciﬁ c remedies are available to the 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 by natural disasters, ﬁ re, static discharge, misuse, abuse, neglect, improper handling or installation, unauthorized repair, alteration or accident. In no event shall the manufacturer be liable for loss of data stored on disk media.

MANUF ACTURER 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, without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability and ﬁ tness 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.

In no event will ARCHOS’s licensor(s), and their directors, ofﬁ cers, employees or agents (collectively ARCHOS’ licensor) be liable to you for any consequential, incidental or indirect damages (including damages for loss of business proﬁ ts, business interruption, loss of business 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. Damages or problems resulting from misuse, abuse, accident, alteration or incorrect electrical current or voltage.

2. Any product tampered-with or damaged warranty seal or serial number label.

3. Any product without a warranty or serial number label.

4. Batteries and any consumable items delivered with or in the equipment. The end user is required to use this product only in conformity with its original purpose and is strictly forbidden to

make any technical modiﬁ cations that could potentially impinge on the rights of third parties. Any modiﬁ cation to the hardware, software, or physical enclosure of the product must be approved in writing by ARCHOS™. Non approved modiﬁ ed products are subject to the withdrawal of any or all guarantee clauses.

Warnings and Safety Instructions

CAUTION

To prevent risks of electric shock, this unit must only be opened by qualiﬁ ed service personnel. Power off and disconnect the power supply cable before opening the unit.

W ARNING

To prevent ﬁ re or shock hazard, do not expose the unit to rain or moisture. Use of this product is for personal use only. Copying CDs or loading music, video, or picture ﬁ les for sale or

other business purposes is or may be a violation of 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 : Modiﬁ cations not authorized by the manufacturer may void users 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

Normal functioning of the product may be disturbed by ESD. If so, simply reset the product to resume normal operation by following the instruction manual. During ﬁ le transmission, please handle with care and operate in a static-free environment.

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 volume levels higher or lower than the ARCHOS™ delivered earphones.

Copyright ARCHOS 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 trademarks and the property of their respective owners. Speciﬁ cations are subject to change without notiﬁ cation. Errors and omissions accepted. Images and illustrations may not always match contents. Copyright

Disclaimer of warranty: to the extent allowed by applicable law, representations and warranties of noninfringement of copyrights or other intellectual property rights resulting from the use of the product under conditions other than as here above speciﬁ ed, are hereby excluded.

™

supplied earphones. Other manufactures earphones may produces

Index

LCD Pixel Policy

The LCD screen on your ARCHOS a high quality viewing experience. Nevertheless, your LCD screen may have slight imperfections. This is not particular to the ARCHOS 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 Gmini than 2 defective pixels (regardless if these pixels have 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 three or more defective pixels, ARCHOS not grounds for replacement or repair of the product.

Environmental Considerations

Protection of the environment is an important concern to ARCHOS actions, ARCHOS entire cycle of its products; from fabrication to consumer usage, to ﬁ nal disposal.

Batteries : If your product contains a detachable battery pack, you should only dispose of it in a designated collection point for used batteries.

The Product : The crossed-out garbage can symbol on your product signiﬁ es that it falls into the category of electric/electronic equipment. Products of this type contain substances that are potentially dangerous to the environment and to human health. Therefore, you should not dispose of the ARCHOS electronic device in a regular trash. As such, the current European directives ask that this device be collected:

- At places of distribution in the case of a purchase of a similar electronic product.

- At locally created disposal areas (waste disposal centers, sorted trash system, etc.) By doing this, you are actively participating in the reuse and recycling of disposed electronic and

electric equipment that could have potential effects on the environment and human health.

™

will repair or replace your Gmini

™

has consciously included a set of methods that favor a respect for the environment into the

™

Gmini™ 500 unit has been manufactured to rigorous standards to provide

™

screen, but to all devices which have LCD screens regardless of the original

™

500 screen will have no more

™

500 product at its cost. Thus, two or less defective pixels is

™

. In order to put this concern into tangible

Index

Please note: This index refers to both the abridged USER GUIDE and the complete PDF user manual (this document). Refer ences to this PDF user manual are marked *.

Activating panel

MUSIC – Creating a Playlist 8.2* BROWSER – Using the Browser 12* 7

ARCLibrary

MUSIC – Playing Music Files 6* 6 MUSIC – Browsing through your Music Library 6.3* SETTINGS – System Settings 15.6* 10.2

ARCLibrary update

MUSIC – Browsing through your Music Library 6.3* SETTINGS – System Settings 15.2*

Audio recording/editing

MUSIC – Recording Music – Audio Editing 9*,9.4*

Available disc space

SETTINGS – System Settings 15.6* 10.2

Background image (Wallpaper)

SETTINGS – Appearance Settings 15.5*

Battery autonomy and consumption

Connecting/Disconnecting the Gmini SETTINGS – Power Settings 15.5* Battery replacement 17*

Bookmarks

VIDEO – Playing Video Files – Set a bookmark 3.1* MUSIC – Setting a Bookmark 6.5*

Buttons not working

MUSIC – Button Control 6.1* 4.1

Card readers

PHOTO – Transferring photos to your AV 11.3* 6.2

™

500 to/from your PC 13* 8

Codecs

VIDEO – Installing the PC Software – MPEG-4 Codec (Compression/Decompression) 5.1* VIDEO – Installing the PC Software – MP3 Sound Codec 5.1*

Compression

VIDEO – Playing Video Files from the Internet 4* VIDEO – Creating MPEG-4 Video Files with your Computer 5* MUSIC – Putting Music onto your Gmini

Connecting 2 USB devices

Connect Devices to the USB Host Port 14* 9

Date and time

SETTINGS – Clock Settings 15.3* 10.1

Default location

MUSIC – Where is the Recording Saved? 9.3*

Delete Playlist

MUSIC – Playing a Playlist 8.1* BROWSER – Using the Browser 12*

Delete section from audio ﬁ le

MUSIC – Audio Editing 9.4*

Delete song from Playlist

MUSIC – Saving a Playlist 8.3*

Deleting ﬁ les

BROWSER – File and Folder Operations 12.2*

Display

SETTINGS – Display settings 15.4*

Equalizer

SETTINGS – Sound Settings – Sound parameters 15.1*

External speaker off/on

VIDEO – Video Playback Action Icons – Built-in speakers 3.1* SETTINGS – Sound Settings – Sound parameters 15.1*

File system

BROWSER – Using the Browser 12* 7

Files: Locating a ﬁ le

MUSIC – Browsing through your Music Library 6.3* MUSIC – Where is the Recording Saved? 9.3* BROWSER - Navigating the directorey structure 12.1* 7.1

™

500 7*

Files: Moving or copying ﬁ les

MUSIC – Transferring CD collection to the AV 7.3* MUSIC – Using iTunes PHOTO – Transferring photos to your Gmini BROWSER – Using the Browser 12* Connect Devices to the USB Host Port 14*

Files: Music deleted from your device

Synchronizing Music from Windows Media® Player to the Gmini™ 500 7.1* 5.1

Find a particular song (Scan)

MUSIC – Play Screen Icons 6.2* SETTINGS – Play Mode Settings 15.2*

Foreign character sets

INTRO – First time usage – Foreign character sets 2.5*

Frame rates for video ﬁ les

VIDEO – Non Protected Internet Video Content 4.1*

Free disc space

SETTINGS – System Settings 15.6* 10.2

Lock

MUSIC – Button Control 6.1* 4.1

MPEG-4 Translator

VIDEO – Creating MPEG-4 Video Files with your Computer 5*

Music Browser

MUSIC – Playing Music Files 6* 4 MUSIC – Browsing through your Music Library 6.3*

Music deleted/missing from your device

MUSIC – Synchronizing Music from Windows Media® Player (WMP) to the Gmini

Music ﬁ les sorted by categories

MUSIC – Playing Music Files 6* 4 MUSIC – Browsing through your Music Library 6.3*

Music lists (Playlists)

MUSIC – Playing Music Files 6* MUSIC – Playlists 8*

New music not showing in the ARCLibrary

MUSIC – Browsing through your Music Library 6.3* SETTINGS – System Settings 15.6*

™

with your Gmini™ 500 10*

™

500 11.3* 6.2

™

500 7.1* 5.1

New Playlist does not display

SETTINGS – System Settings 15.6*

NTSC

SETTINGS – Display Settings 15.4*

Operating system

SETTINGS – System Settings 15.6* 10.2 Updating the Gmini

Operating system Version

SETTINGS – System Settings 15.6* 10.2

PAL

SETTINGS – Display Settings 15.4*

Play songs randomly (Shufﬂ e)

MUSIC – Play Screen Icons 6.2* MUSIC – Saving a Playlist 8.3* SETTINGS – Play Mode Settings 15.2*

Playing only certain songs (Playlists)

MUSIC – Playing Music Files 6* MUSIC – Playlists 8*

Playing songs in a speciﬁ c order

MUSIC – Playing Music Files 6* MUSIC – Playlists 8*

Playlists

MUSIC – Playing Music Files 6* MUSIC – Playlists 8*

PlaysForSure

MUSIC – Putting Music onto your Gmini

Protected ﬁ les

VIDEO – Playing Video Files from the Internet 4* MUSIC – Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9 7.2* 5.2 MUSIC – Using iTunes

Recording from a Vinyl or audio tape

MUSIC – Recording Procedure – Incremental Recording 9.2*

Removing ﬁ les

BROWSER – Using the Browser 12*

™

500 Firmware/OS 16* 11

™

500 7* 5

™

with your Gmini™ 500 10*

Renaming ﬁ les or folders

BROWSER – Using the Browser 12*

Repeat a song

SETTINGS – Play Mode Settings 15.2*

Restarting your device

INTRO – Hardware Reset 2.7*

Ripping a CD

MUSIC – Transferring your CD collection to AV 7.3*

Screen format

VIDEO – Playing video ﬁ les :Set Screen format 3.1*

Show songs added to device

SETTINGS – System Settings 15.2*

Shufﬂ e

MUSIC – Play Screen Icons 6.2* MUSIC – Saving a Playlist 8.3* SETTINGS – Play Mode Settings 15.2*

Slideshow

PHOTO – Viewing photos – Viewing Slideshow 11.2*

Slow motion

VIDEO – Playing video ﬁ les : Slow motion 3.1*

Sound

VIDEO – Creating MPEG-4 Video Files with your Computer 5* MUSIC – Playing Music Files 6* MUSIC – Playing Through your Stereo System 6.4* MUSIC – Recording Procedure 9.2* SETTINGS – Sound Settings – Sound parameters 15.1*

Speakers

VIDEO – Playing video ﬁ les: Built-in speakers 3.1* MUSIC – Playing music ﬁ les – Playing through your Stereo System 6.4*

Archos GMINI 500 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual