Archos GminiTM 402 User manual

1
• MPEG-4 Video Player
• MPEG-4 Video Player
• MP3 & WMA Music Player
• MP3 & WMA Music Player
• Photo Viewer
• Photo Viewer
• USB 2.0 Hard Disk
• USB 2.0 Hard Disk
User Manual for ARCHOS
User Manual for ARCHOS
™
™
Gmini
Gmini
™
™
402
402
Version 1.8
Version 1.8
English Language User Manual
English Language User Manual
Please visit our website to download the most recent manual and software for this product.
Gmini™
402
Pocket Music / Photo / Video

2 3
Non Protected Internet Video Content 29
9 VIDEO - Creating MPEG4 video files with your computer 31
How to create an MPEG-4 video file 31
PC Tools 31
9.1 Installing the PC Software 31
MPEG-4 codec (Compression/Decompression) 32
Virtual Dub
™
32
MPG4 Translator 32
MP3 Sound Codec 32
9.2 Using MPG4 Translator 33
Select Source & Destination Files 33
Change Settings 34
Target & Priority 34
Start 34
10 PHOTO - Viewing Photos 36
10.1 Viewing Photos 36
Magnifying Photos 37
10.2 Viewing a slideshow 37
10.3 Transferring photos to your Gmini™402 38
11 Games - Playing Mophun©Games 40
11.1 Downloading Games 40
Copy to Gmini
™
402 root 40
11.2 Playing a Game 41
12 BROWSER - Using the Browser 42
12.1 Navigating the Directory Structure 42
12.2 File and folder operations 43
File Operations 43
Folder Operations 43
Copying and Moving Files and Folders 44
12.3 Using the Virtual Keyboard 45
13 Connecting/Disconnecting the Gmini™402 to/from your PC 46
13.1 USB Connection Type (‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’) 46
13.2 Connecting the Gmini™402 46
Windows
®
XP 46
Windows
™
ME and 2000 47
Macintosh
™
OS X 47
13.3 Disconnecting the Gmini™402 from your Computer 48
Windows Device Mode 48
Hard Drive Mode 48
Hard Drive Mode & Windows
®
48
Hard Drive Mode & Macintosh
®
49
14 Connecting Devices to the USB Host Port 50
15 SETTINGS 51
15.1 Sound Settings 51
15.2 Play Mode Settings 52
15.3 Clock Settings 54
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1 INTRO - Buttons and Connections 6
2 INTRO - First Time Usage 8
2.1 Plugging in the AC Adapter 8
2.2 Turning on the Gmini™402 8
2.3 Shutting off the Gmini™402 and Battery saving features 8
2.4 Changing the Language 9
2.5 Foreign Character Sets 9
2.6 Charging the Batteries 9
2.7 Caring for the Gmini™402 10
2.8 Hardware Reset 10
3 MUSIC - Playing Music Files 11
3.1 Button Control 11
3.2 Playing Through your Stereo System 12
3.3 Artist, Album, Title … ID3 Tags 13
3.4 The ARCLibrary (Browsing by Album, Artist, or Song name) 13
3.5 Setting a Bookmark 14
3.6 The Resume Function 14
4 MUSIC - Playlists 15
4.1 Playing a Playlist 15
4.2 Creating a Playlist 16
4.3 Saving a Playlist 16
4.4 Adding songs to a Playlist while listening to Music 17
5 MUSIC - Recording Music 18
5.1 Cable Connections for Audio Recording 18
5.2 Recording Procedure 19
Microphone 20
Analog Line-In 20
Incremental Recording 20
5.3 Where is the Recording Saved? 20
5.4 Audio Editing 21
6 MUSIC – Putting Music onto your Gmini™402 23
6.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media®Player to the Gmini™402 23
6.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9 24
6.3 Transferring your CD collection to the Gmini™402 24
6.4 Installing Windows Media®Player 9 (WMP9) 25
6.5 Installing Windows Media®Player 10 (WMP10) 25
7 MUSIC - Using iTunes™with your Gmini™402 26
8 VIDEO - Playing Video Files 27
8.1 Setting a Bookmark 28
8.2 The Resume Function 28
8.3 Display Format Settings 29
8.4 Playing Video Files from the Internet 29
Protected Internet Video content 29

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Dear Customer,
ARCHOS™thanks you for your choice of this exciting Gmini™402 product. With
this beautiful device in your pocket, you can enjoy digital music, digital photos,
or digital video anytime and anywhere. We are sure that your Gmini™402 will
give you years of listening and viewing enjoyment. Of course you can always
use it as a regular portable hard disk too for all your personal computer files.
This manual will explain, in detail, the functionality of your device. The better
you know how to use it, the more enjoyment you will get from it. Remember,
with the Gmini™402, you can…
• Synchronize with Windows Media® Player : easily transfer all your media
files from your PC.
• Plays various video and music file formats including Windows® formats*
• Transfer photos directly from your digital camera* using the USB host port.
• View digital photos and make personalized slide shows.
• View movies and photos on the built-in screen, on your TV or on a video
projector.
• Play MPEG-4* video files.
• Listen to MP3, WMA, or WAV music files* and create music Playlists.
• Legally download music or video files from “PlaysForSure™” compatible on-
line stores.
• Record music files directly into digital format from your hi-fiwithout a com-
puter.
• Use it as a voice recorder with its built-in microphone.
• Store all types of files – it’s a portable hard drive too!
We wish you many years of enjoyment from your Gmini™402 product. Please
do register your product at our website www.archos.com to ensure that you
get access to our help line and to be informed of free software updates for
your product.
Wishing you the best music, photo, gaming, and video experience,
The ARCHOS™TEAM
ARCHOS and Gmini are Trademarks of ARCHOS SA.
*For full information on compatible file formats, see the technical specifications.
As our engineers are always updating and improving the software, your device’s software may
have a slightly different appearance or modified functionality than presented in this manual.
15.4 Display Settings 54
15.5 Power Settings 56
15.6 System Settings 57
16 Updating the Gmini™402 Firmware Operating System (OS) 58
Download the Update_Gmini402.AOS file 58
Read the History.txt File 58
Copy to Gmini
™
402 root and Update 58
‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’? 59
Activate the Update 59
17 Technical Support 60
18 Troubleshooting 63
18.1 USB Connection issues 63
18.2 Charging and Power issues 64
18.3 Gmini™402 locks up (freezes operation) or Stops 64
18.4 The Computer locks-up (freezes operation) or Stops 64
18.5 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning 65
Windows
®
ME Running Scan-Disk (Error Checking) 66
Windows
®
XP & 2000 Running Check Disk Utility (ChkDsk) 67
19 Technical Specifications 68
20 Legal 70

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aMulticonnect adapter – allows for an analog audio input (Line In)
bMulti-connect jack – for headphones, AV cable, or FM Remote control
(optional accessory)
cMicrophone – for making digital voice recordings
dUSB Host port
eUSB 2.0 port (USB 1.1 compatible) to connect the Gmini™402 to your computer
fPower Connector (Use only the supplied ARCHOS™power charger/adapter)
aHard disk activity indicator (red)
bOn indicator (green)
cBattery charger indicator (green) – blinks when the battery is fully charged
dOn/Enter/Play/Go
►– Hold for 3 seconds to turn on the Gmini™402
eMove UP (also increases volume during media playback)
fMove DOWN (also decreases volume during media playback)
gMove LEFT (also plays previous song or fast reverse through a song or video)
hMove RIGHT (also plays next song or fast forward through a song or video)
iGame Control 1 (Function depends on game) [acts as Enter/Play when not
in game mode]
jGame Control 2 (Function depends on game) [acts as Escape/Stop when
not in game mode]
kEscape/Stop/Go back/Off - Hold for 3 seconds to turn off device
lF1 command or function
mF2 command or function
nF3 command or function
oFunction button F1 – activates the on-screen function or command above it (l)
pFunction button F2 – activates the on-screen function or command above it (m)
Long press to switch display between built in screen and external TV
qFunction button F3 – activates the on-screen function or command above it (n)
1 INTRO - Buttons and Connections

8 9
2.4 Changing the Language
The Gmini™402 interface can be set to English (default), French, German,
Spanish or Russian.
• To change the language, move
the cursor to Setup and then click
PLAY/ENTER ►.
•
Then move with the joystick to Display
and click PLAY/ENTER ► .
• Highlight the Language
parameter.
• Use the Right or Left button to
choose the desired language.
• Choose French, German, Spanish,
Russian or English.
• The language displayed will change
immediately.
• Click on the STOP/ESC button to exit this screen.
2.5 Foreign Character Sets
You have the possibility to display your file names, folder names, and
MP3 ID3 tags in various character sets (ex: Korean, Japanese, Simplified
Chinese, etc.). You can find the language files CodePage_name.4FZ
in the font folder under /Data on the Gmini™402 hard disk or on the
ARCHOS™website under the heading Software. If, for example, you would
like to have the Korean language display, then you would copy the file
CP949.4FZ into the folder /system on the Gmini™402 and shut down and
restart the Gmini™402. File names, folder names, and ID3 tags written
using the Microsoft®codepage for the language will now be displayed in
that character set. Only one .4FZ can be used at a time, thus you should
only put one .4FZ file into the /system folder. When an .4FZ language file
is used, the interface language will be set to English.
2.6 Charging the Batteries
Use ONLY an ARCHOS™charger/adapter that is specified for the Gmini™
402. Other chargers or adapters may damage the Gmini™402. The
Please take the time to read though this manual. There are many
things that this device can do that you may not be aware of.
2.1 Plugging in the AC Adapter
• Use only the included ARCHOS™charger/adapter.
• Before using for the first time, charge the batteries completely.
• You may use the ARCHOS™Gmini™402 while its battery is charging,
but it will then take longer before the battery is completely charged.
2.2 Turning on the Gmini™402
• Hold the PLAY/ON button ► for 4 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™adapter/charger to make sure the batteries get
charged.
2.3 Shutting off the Gmini™402 and Battery saving features
To shut off the unit, press and hold the STOP/ESC/OFF button for 3 seconds.
In the Power menu [Setup  Power: Battery Operation]
there is a Power Off parameter. It is factory set to 2 minutes.
Thus, if your Gmini™402 is idle for 2 minutes, it will shut off. This
setting can be changed from one to nine minutes or to ‘never’.
In the Power menu [Setup  Power: Battery Operation]
there is a Backlight Off parameter to save battery power (the
lighting of the screen consumes a lot of the battery power).
It is factory set to 30 seconds. That is, if there are no buttons
pressed, the screen will shut off in order to save battery life.
To turn the screen back on, just click once on any button. See the Power
section 1 in the Settings chapter for a complete explanation.
2 INTRO - First Time Usage

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When you click on this icon in the main screen, you will be
sent directly to the Music folder. Use the direction buttons
to highlight one of the factory installed music selections and
then Click on PLAY ►. If you hear nothing at first, make sure
you have adjusted the volume control on the headphone cord. By clicking
on the Music icon in the main menu screen, you will enter into a ‘music
only’ mode. Other file types that may be in this folder are only listed if you
enter the folder via the Browser.
Current Directory Play Order Play Mode: One Directory Status: Playing Volume
Artist* or parent folder
Album* or current folder
Song title* or file name
Next track to be played
Relative location in the track
Song elapsed time
Song time remaining
Song Length
Battery level (full)
Time of Day
File format and rec info
*APIC Album picture
Volume level meters
Go to setup options Show Music Options Browse the hard disk for other tracks
*If the file contains these tag data
3.1 Button Control
Play/pause/resume song Increase the Volume
Click once: Play the previous song
in the folder or playlist (during first
5 seconds of song) otherwise go to
the beginning of the song.
Hold: Fast reverse
through the song.
Click once: Play the next song
in the folder or playlist.
Hold: Fast forward through the
song.
Stop Song Decrease the Volume
3 MUSIC - Playing Music Files
green CHARGE indicator lights up to indicate that the external adapter is
connected. The batteries will charge automatically when the AC adapter/
charger is plugged in. Once the batteries are fully charged, this light
will blink, indicating that you can disconnect the charger/adapter. Once
charged, you can get up to 10 hours* of MP3 music playback time and
up to 3 hours* of AVI video playback time (on the built-in screen) from
the batteries. The Gmini™402 is made with integrated batteries which are
designed to last for the life of the Gmini™402. This means that you will
not have to change them. If, in the exceptional case, the batteries need
changing, this should only be done by an ARCHOS™technician.
* depending on how you use it (start/stop/writing, etc.)
2.7 Caring for the Gmini™402
The ARCHOS™Gmini™402 is an electronic product that needs to be
treated with more care than typical consumer electronic products.
• Do not subject it to shock.
• Do not subject it to heat. Keep it ventilated (especially when connected
to a computer).
• Keep the Gmini™402 away from water and excessively humid areas.
• Keep the Gmini™402 away from high electromagnetic fields.
• Keep any connected cords to the Gmini™402 neatly arranged. This
light product could fall if a cord is accidentally pulled by a child.
• Do not open up the Gmini™402. There are no user serviceable parts
inside. Opening will void your warranty.
2.8 Hardware Reset
In the event that your Gmini™402 freezes operation (due to electrostatic
phenomena for example), you can actuate a hardware reset by holding
down on the STOP/ESC button for 10 seconds. In normal operation, the
STOP/ESC button will shut down the Gmini™402 after being held down
for 3 seconds.

12 13
3.3 Artist, Album, Title … ID3 Tags
ID3 Tags are information about the recording
which found inside of an MP3 music file. When
someone creates an MP3 music file, he or she
has the option of adding information to it. This
information can include, among other things, the
name of the artist (Wes Burden), the album name
(Brave New World), the title of the song (Mirror), and a small image of
the album cover (only jpeg images not progressive jpeg). If these data
are present, the Gmini™402 will display them on the screen when it plays
the file. If they are not present, then the Gmini™402 will display in order,
the name of the parent folder, the name of the current folder, and then
the name of the file.
Other tag information may include year and genre of music. These other
tag data are not displayed by the Gmini™402, but are used to index your
music in the ARCLibrary (see next section). WMA files also have tags and
these are displayed as well when the file is played.
3.4 The ARCLibrary (Browsing by Album, Artist, or Song name)
The ARClibrary is your Gmini™402’s
music library. It is a system for indexing
your music by album, artist, song title,
etc. When you synchronize music files
from your PC using Windows Media®
Player to the Gmini™402, 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
Year.
All music files that you purchase have internal ‘tags’ which identify the
artist, the album, and the song title. If your music files do not have
internal tags (ex: WAV file format or untagged WMA or MP3 files) then
the ARCLibrary will put them under the category (Unknown). Audio files
created with the Gmini™402 from analog sources are indexed as Artist =
(ARCHOS) and Album = (Audio Recordings).
To lock the Gmini™402 buttons, press and hold
the left function button for three seconds. The
Gmini™402 will display the message “Buttons
locked!” on the bottom of the screen. Press this
again for three seconds to unlock the buttons.
What the Icons indicate
Status Play Order Play Mode
Stopped - no icon -
Play once See the Play mode section in the Settings chapter
Blinks while play-
ing a track Repeat playing
Current track is
paused Shuffle (ran-
dom) track
selection
Recording a track Playing a playlist
3.2 Playing Through your Stereo System
On your HiFi there are two RCA type
connectors that are labeled Aux in, CD
in, or Line-in. Typically they are color
coded white and red for left and right
stereo channels respectively. Just take
the included A/V cable and plug it into
the Gmini™402 headphone jack. Plug
the red and white connectors into the
Aux in, CD in, or line-in of your stereo
system. Do not plug the yellow (video)
connector into anything. On the front
of your stereo, select the corresponding
auxiliary input or CD input that you plugged into on the back of your HiFi
system. Press Play and then adjust the Gmini™402 volume (UP/DOWN
buttons) in order to supply your stereo system with a signal that is neither
too weak nor too strong. If the sound is distorted, you will need to reduce
the Gmini™402’s volume.

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You can reach the PlayMode settings
screen from Setup > PlayMode. The
play mode determines how your music is
played (just the current folder of music,
all music, one file, etc.). See Playmode
in the section Settings above for a
description of how each one works.
3.5 Setting a Bookmark
If you are listening to a song, or
perhaps a long recording, and
would like to place a bookmark in it
in order to pick up from this point at another
time, you can use the Bookmark function.
You simply click on the center function
button labeled Options, then choose Set
Bookmark. This will set a bookmark in the
audio file at the current position. You can
only set one bookmark per file. When you look at the file in your browser,
it will have a yellow check mark on its icon indicating that this file has a
bookmark set within it. You can have a maximum of 16 files bookmarked.
Setting more bookmarks will then start to erase the oldest bookmarks.
The next time you play the audio file, you will be presented with three
options:
Resume: Start playing from the bookmarked position.
Ignore: Keep the bookmark but start playing from the very beginning.
Clear: Clear the bookmark from this file and start playing from the
very beginning.
3.6 The Resume Function
When you turn on your Gmini™402 you will sometimes notice
that the icon which is highlighted on the main screen is not the
Browser but rather the Resume icon. This icon is highlighted when
the Gmini™402 can resume the last played audio or video file.
4 MUSIC - Playlists
A Playlist is a list of songs that the Gmini™402 will
automatically play one after the other. The Gmini™
402 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 as a file (file
type .m3u) to be used another time. There is no
limit to the number of playlists you can save on the
Gmini™402 hard disk. Playlists are indicated by a special list icon (circled
icon to the left).
4.1 Playing a Playlist
To play a Playlist, you simply scroll to the
Playlist, such as ‘Jazz Music’ shown to the
left, and click on PLAY ► . The list of songs
will be loaded into the internal memory of
the Gmini™402 and then be displayed in a
separate panel.
Click on PLAY ► and the songs will
be played in the order shown. To
shuffle the music entries in a random
order, you can click on Playlist (F1),
then choose Shuffle. You can open
a Playlist file (Playlistname.m3u) on
your computer with a text editor such
as Notepad, and you will see that it is merely a list of files to be played
along with the hard disk path to find them. If you delete a Playlist from
your Gmini™402, you are only deleting the list and not the music itself.
Example of the contents of the .m3u Playlist file ‘Jazz Music’.

16 17
4.2 Creating a Playlist
To create a Playlist, press the RIGHT
button while you are in the Music
browser. A second window will open
on the right side to display the Playlist
contents. You can now start adding
songs to the current Playlist. In the left
window, search for the songs you would
like to add to your Playlist. Once the song
is highlighted, click on the Add function
button to add it to the Playlist. The song will be added to the Playlist and a
small mark next to the music icon will be made to indicate that it is in the
Playlist. Continue searching and adding songs in this manner until you are
satisfied. You can also click the Add or Insert button when highlighting
a folder. All the contents of the folder and its subfolders will be added or
inserted into the current playlist.
You can jump back and forth between the browser and the playlist by
clicking on the LEFT and RIGHT buttons. A Playlist can have a maximum
of 5000 songs. We recommend that you save your Playlists.
4.3 Saving a Playlist
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 disk 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 click on the RIGHT button. You will
then see the list of songs in the current
Playlist. Click the function button F1 then choose Save.
ATTENTION: Make sure that your left window is the Playlists folder,
because the open window on the left is the location the Gmini™402 will be
saving your Playlist to. You will need to update the ARCLibrary in order to
see newly added Playlists.
Save – Saves the current playlist to the folder open in the left window. The
* next to the playlist name indicates that this playlist has not been saved.
Close – Closes the windows and returns to the main menu screen.
Rename – Renames the current playlist.
Shuffle – Randomly shuffles the order of the songs in the current playlist.
Clear – Clears the contents of the current playlist.
Button Move – Allows you to change the place in the list of the highlighted
song. Click on Move and then click on UP or DOWN to move the song up
or down the list. Click OK when finished.
Button Delete – Will delete the highlighted song from the Playlist. It will
not delete the actual song itself from your hard disk, just from the current
Playlist.
Important:Once you save a Playlist it is important that you do not move or rename the
actual MP3 files as the Playlist searches in the original file location. If you need to move your
MP3 files to a different folder, you’ll have to recreate your Playlist.
4.4 Adding songs to a Playlist while listening to Music
This can only be done if you have entered your Music
folder via the Music icon and not by the general
browser. To add the song you are listening to or any other
song to the current Playlist, do the following:
• While playing a song, click on Options and choose Edit
Playlist. A browser window and the Playlist will open.
• Click on the LEFT button to go to the hard disk browser
window.
• Select the song or folder of songs to add, then click the
button Add.
• Click ESC to return to the playing screen.

18 19
With the Gmini™402 series, you do not need a computer to create digital
music files. It is capable of recording from the built-in microphone or
an analog line source (ex: HiFi system, Boombox, CD Player, etc) into a
standard Windows®WAV format, either PCM (uncompressed) or ADPCM
(compressed).
5.1 Cable Connections for Audio Recording
Plug the multi-connect adapter into the Gmini™402 and then plug the
included AV cable into the side marked Line-In as shown here. Connect
the Red (Right) and White (Left) connectors to the audio output of your
Hifior other audio device that you are recording from. Do not plug the
yellow connector to anything.
To the outputs of your audio device.
5 MUSIC - Recording Music 5.2 Recording Procedure
Before the actual audio recording begins, there is a pre-recording screen
which will allow you to adjust your recording settings.
1. From the home screen, select Audio-
Corder then click on ENTER/GO
► .
2. In the pre-recording screen, adjust
the recording level* by clicking on
the LEFT and RIGHT buttons. Click on
the F3 Start button to start recording.
Attention, the first time recording you
should adjust your Settings.
3. Click on Settings to reveal the re-
cording parameters screen as shown
above. Be sure to set the correct
Source. You will hear silence during
recording and playback if the incorrect
source is chosen.
4. Once you have clicked on the Start
button, you can pause the recording by
clicking the same function button (now
labelled Pause), or stop the recording
by clicking on the STOP/ESC button.
* (Analog recordings only) 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.

20 21
Microphone
The built-in microphone is located on the top of the Gmini™402 unit next
to the headphone jack. Make sure that you have selected Microphone
as the input source in the pre-recording Settings screen. The microphone
level is preset.
Analog Line-In
In order to record from a line-level audio source, you will need to use the
multi-connect adapter plug provided. This plug makes it possible to enter
a stereo audio signal (for example, from your stereo system or cassette
player) into the Gmini™402 directly. Make sure that you select the Analog
Line-In as the input source in the pre-recording Setup screen. Be careful
that the source audio is supplying a line level and not an amplified signal
(turning down the volume on the player will work if you are using the
headphone out signal of your audio device). An amplified signal will make
for a terribly distorted recording. You can also use a high quality pre-
amplified microphone, such as the one ARCHOS™sells as an option.
Incremental Recording
While recording, you will notice the center function button labeled Next.
This allows you to create incremental recordings. That is, 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 incremental recordings,
you might, for example, have files names of REC0000_01, REC0000_02,
etc. This is good for recording old cassettes and old vinyl records. You can
click on the Next button during the blank space between each song. That
way, each song of the vinyl disk or audio cassette will be one single audio
file.
5.3 Where is the Recording Saved?
The default location for audio recordings is the folder called Music. If you
click on the Music icon in the main menu, you will go to this folder. Notice
that the right function button is labeled Record. Each time you use this
button to record audio instead of the AudioCorder button on the main
menu, you set the recording default location to the current folder. For
example, let’s say you have a folder called /Music/Voice/Lectures . If you
go to this folder and then make a recording using the right function button
Record, you will set the default record location to this folder. Now, each
time you use the AudioCorder icon to start a recording, your recording will
be saved in the folder /Music/Voice/Lectures.
5.4 Audio Editing
Audio files (microphone recordings / analog recordings / FM Remote
Control (optional)) can be modified by deleting the sections you do not
wish included. If you would like to edit an audio recording, you have the
possibility to “crop out” the exact section of the recording you would like
to save. For example, you have recorded a lecture of 33 minutes and 22
seconds in length. You would like to cut out and save just one particular
important section from 12 minutes and 15 seconds to 21 minutes and 5
seconds. The diagram below illustrates the situation.
Desired audio section
00:00 (0min 0sec) 12:15 21:05 33:22
To keep just this section (cropping it), you will:
• locate this file from the Browser mode
• Select Edit from the File menu in order to enter the edit mode
• In the edit mode, set the cut-IN point (12:15 in our example)
• Next, set the cut-OUT point (21:05 in our example – note that the
actual position will now be earlier in the file as the first12:05 minutes
have been cut!))
• Save the edit

22 23
Highlight the file to edit and select
Edit from the file menu. Only files
which have been created with the
Gmini™402 recording function will
show Edit in the file menu. Files
created from CDs or downloaded
cannot be edited. Once you enter
the edit mode, the audio file will
play in a continuous loop so that
you will be able to hear how your
edit sounds.
Use the fast-reverse and fast-
forward buttons (LEFT/RIGHT
buttons) to locate the points you
want the new file 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 file REC0000.wav
will be made. Your original file is
left untouched. You will notice that
your Cut-IN and Cut-OUT times are
marked just above the file name.
6 MUSIC – Putting Music onto your Gmini™402
Your Archos™product is a certified PlaysForSure™digital device
which means that wherever you find music for sale or for
subscription on the Internet with this symbol, you can be
certain that it will ‘Play for sure’ on your Gmini™402*.
The Gmini™402 is designed to work seamlessly with Windows
Media®Player (WMP) versions 9 and 10. The Windows Media®Player
software is used to download digital media content from the Internet
to your computer and organizing it. You will also use it to synchronize
(copy) the contents of your Windows Media®Player media library to your
Archos™device. See the 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.
6.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media®Player to the Gmini™402
The Synchronize button in Windows Media®Player
(WMP) is a one way ‘sync’ button. That is, it will add
music, video, and photo files to your Gmini™402 so
that you have the same digital media on your Gmini™402 as you have in
your Windows Media®Player media library. Of course,
you can choose to sync only certain songs, videos, or
photos, or sync your entire library. On WMP10, you
can click the button 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™402 to your PC, Windows Media®Player
will automatically start up and check to see if there are any new music,
videos, or photos in your media library, and if so, will then copy them
to your Gmini™402. You also have the possibility to decide what types
of media automatically sync when you connect your Gmini™402. For
example, you may only want music files to be synchronized. On the other
hand, with Windows Media®Player 9, you have to tell it what you want
to sync, WMP9 cannot synchronize automatically when you connect your
Gmini™402 to your computer.

24 25
Note for WMP10 users: Files added to your Gmini™402 from another
computer or files which are recorded from an analog source cannot be
added to the Windows Media®Player Library when you connect your
Gmini™402 to the computer. Songs which have been added, will however,
be listed in the device’s ARCLibrary.
6.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9
Windows®Media Player 10 is only available for Windows®XP (service Pack
1) and newer operating systems. It is worth your while to upgrade to
Windows®XP (home or professional) and to Windows®Media Player 10.
The list below shows the advantages.
Functionality WMP9 WMP10
Auto-synchronize the WMP library to ARCHOS™
Gmini™402 on connecting to PC no* yes
Can synchronize subscription music (‘to go’
services) to your Gmini™402 no yes
Carefree USB disconnection (no special green
arrow unmount procedure) no yes
Will convert video files** to play on your Gmini™402
if not in correct format no yes
Supports protected Internet video downloads no yes
PlaysForSure™audio content
* Must use WMP9 manual sync function to copy purchased music to the Gmini™ 402.
** Microsoft reserves the right to limit which video file formats it will convert with WMP10
6.3 Transferring your CD collection to the Gmini™402
The process of transferring music from a CD into
music files for your Gmini™402 is 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™402 can read. There
are many music ripping programs on the market,
but ARCHOS™recommends that you use Windows
Media®Player to do it. In fact, when you place a
music CD in your 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™402 to your computer with
the supplied USB cable. Now, you go to the Sync tab and tell Windows
Media®Player to synchronize that album to your Gmini™402. It will then
transfer that album to your Gmini™402.
Note: Some music CDs have a special copy protection system that will not
allow Windows Media®Player to make music files from them.
6.4 Installing Windows Media®Player 9 (WMP9)
If you have Windows®ME or Windows®2000, you should use Windows
Media®Player 9. You can visit the Microsoft®Website to download the
very latest version, or install the version found on the Gmini™402 itself.
6.5 Installing Windows Media®Player 10 (WMP10)
You must be running Windows®XP (Service Pack 1 or higher) in order
to install Windows Media®Player 10. Please visit the Microsoft®Website
www.playsforsure.com to download and install the very latest version.

26 27
7 MUSIC - Using iTunes™with your Gmini™402 8 VIDEO - Playing Video Files
The easiest way to transfer music files between a Macintosh®
computer and your Gmini™402 is to use the Macintosh Finder™to
drag and drop the files to and from your Macintosh®.
However, for Macintosh®users who do want to use the Gmini™402 with
iTunes®, ARCHOS™has developed a special i-Tunes®plug-in. You will find
it in the folder /Data/i-Tunes Plug-in on the Gmini™402 hard disk or
from the ARCHOS™website. In this folder you will find a .sit compressed
file. Uncompress it and open the folder for your operating system. You will a
find a JPEG image illustrating where you need to copy the plug-in to. Once
this is done, iTunes™will recognize the Gmini™402 as a ‘Device’.
To make your user experience easy as possible, 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™device will not be able to
play this purchased music. It will happily play MP3 format files without
problem.
2) When you create your Playlists with iTunes®(you can only create
Playlists from songs that have been copied to your Gmini™402), your
Macintosh®will save these Playlists to the root directory of your Gmini™
402. It will not save them to the Gmini™402 Playlists directory. It would be
best to use the Gmini™402 itself to make Playlists (See section Creating
a Playlist in chapter Music – Playlists) and then save these Playlists in
your Playlists folder.
3) When you drag and drop MP3 files from your iTunes®library to your
Gmini™402, the i-Tunes®program will look at the ID3 tag information (See
section Music – Playing music files of this manual for an explanation of
ID3 tags) of the MP3 file, and create a folder on the root of your Gmini™
402 using the name of 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™402 convention of placing the music into the Music
folder first.
Like a music file, you simply highlight the video file and
then click on PLAY/GO ► . The thumbnail images on the
right side will show you a frame from the highlighted video
file (center) as well as a frame from the file above and the
file below the highlighted one. By clicking on the Video icon
in the main menu, you will enter into a display ‘video only’
mode. Other file types that may be in this folder are only
listed if you enter the folder via the Browser.
To watch your videos on a television,
you must hold down the F2 function
button (the center function button)
for three seconds. The Gmini™402
screen will go black and the video
will be sent out to your connected
television. Switch your television to
auxiliary video input (often found just
below channel 1 – sometimes called
L1 or L2). If you don’t see a clear
color image, you may have to set your
Gmini™402 to your local television standard (NTSC or PAL) in the Setup
> Display settings menu.
• Use the PLAY/GO
► button to pause/resume the video.
• Use the UP/DOWN buttons to control the volume.
• Hold down the RIGHT/LEFT buttons to fast forward or
fast reverse through the video.
• Click the right function button to Hide/Show the overlaid video time
information.
• Click the Options function button to set a bookmark, change the screen
presentation. Long press to switch between built-in video and external
video.

28 29
• Click on the left function button
to put the video into slow-motion
view. You can cycle through the
values Normal, ½ , ¼ , and 1/8
speed. The sound is muted when
in slow motion. While in slow mode
and paused, you can step image per image with the RIGHT button.
8.1 Setting a Bookmark
If you are watching a video and would like to place a bookmark
in it in order to continue from this point at another time, you
can use the Bookmark function. You simply click on the center
function button labeled Options, then choose Set Bookmark. This will set
a bookmark in the video file at the current position. You can only set one
bookmark per file. When you look at the file in your browser, it will have a
yellow check mark on its icon indicating that this file has a bookmark set
within it. You can have a maximum of 16 files bookmarked. Setting more
bookmarks will then start to erase the oldest bookmarks. The next time
you play this video file, 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 file and start playing from the
very beginning.
8.2 The Resume Function
When you turn on your Gmini™402 you will sometimes notice
that the icon which is highlighted on the main screen is not the
Browser but rather the Resume icon. This icon is highlighted
when the Gmini™402 can resume the last played audio or video
file.
8.3 Display Format Settings
You will notice in the Options button (center function button), that you
have a number of display format options. In certain cases, depending
on how the original video was recorded, you may want to use these
adjustments.
Default mode : Adjusts the video size to best adapt to the LCD screen.
4/3 aspect: Enlarge the image to fill the screen (usually a vertical fill) and
then cut the sides to completely fill a television screen.
16/9 aspect: Send out a TV signal without the black horizontal bars.
No Overscan: Picture will not pass into the overscan area. Entire picture
will always be seen on all televisions. Will not be cropped on the LCD.
8.4 Playing Video Files from the Internet
When using Windows Media®Player 10, you will have the advantage of
being able to download protected video content from the Internet. When
you see the PlaysForSure™symbol on a web site for Windows®Portable
Media Center (PMC), then these protected downloads will be playable on
your Gmini™402.
Protected Internet Video content
If you check the PlaysForSure™ website (www.playsforsure.com) you will
find web retailers who offer rental, subscription, or purchasable video
content. Remember, web sites must carry the PlaysForSure™ symbol in
order for their videos to play on the Gmini™402.
Non Protected Internet Video Content
The Gmini™402 plays .AVI files that are encoded in MPEG-4 format. It can
play such video files at a maximum size of 720 x 576 pixels (25 frames/
second). It can also play .WMV files (WMV9 SP) up to a maximum size
of 352 x 288**. The Gmini™402 will not directly play files of type .mov,
.mpg, or .mpeg.
The number of encoding and compression schemes currently used to
create video files is very extensive and seems to change on a weekly

30 31
basis. There are so many standards and formats that it is very possible
that the video file you download from the Internet will not play right away
on your device. Due to certain “variations”, even when video files are
formatted in “MPEG-4” they may not play right away.
If you have some video files that do not play directly on your Gmini™402,
they will have to be converted first. Windows Media®Player 10 (Available
only for Windows XP) will convert your video file automatically when you
sync the file that is on your PC to the Gmini™402. It will display a little
message ‘converting’.
You can also use the software MPEG-4 Translator included on the
Gmini™402 hard drive to re-encode your video files into the proper
MPEG-4 SP format that the Gmini™402 can play. See the chapter
Video – creating MPEG-4 video files with your computer for more
details.
* MPEG-4: ISO standard by Moving Picture Experts Group ; AVI: audio/video file
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.
How to create an MPEG-4 video file
Please understand that video re-encoding is not always a simple one button
process. Video segments that come from your digital camcorder or which
are freely available on the Internet are encoded in many different ways. If
not already in the proper MPEG4 Simple Profile format, transforming these
videos into this format readable by the Gmini™402 requires use of the
below mentioned software tools. This is due to the relatively new nature
of the ISO (International Standards Organization) MPEG4 video format.
Unlike its predecessors MPEG1 and MPEG2, there are a number of levels
in this format and thus not all MPEG4 video files will work on all MPEG4
players, and older MPEG1 and MPEG2 files must be re-encoded into this
format. Although you may have a bit of a learning curve in the initial re-
encoding of video files, once you have the process down, it is just a matter
of letting your PC or Mac go to work and create video files for playing on
your Gmini™402.
PC Tools
The Gmini™402 is delivered with two Windows®based programs that allow
you to create “MPEG4 Simple Profile .AVI” video files. They are the MPG4
Translator and Virtual Dub™ . The MPG4 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 MPEG4
SP .AVI file. The file will be scaled in order to be played back properly. If
you would like to have your sound track in MP3 format, you may have to
download this audio codec (available freely on the Internet) if it is not
already on your computer.
9.1 Installing the PC Software
If your video file is not an MPEG4 Simple Profile .avi file of the proper size,
you will need to re-encode it using the following utilities. For the Gmini™
402, you will need to create an AVI file that is MPEG4 Simple Profile with
a maximum resolution of 720 x 576 (depending on frame rate) and a
sound track that is stereo MP3 or WAV. Run the program SETUP.EXE (the
ARCHOS™Installation Utility) found on the Gmini™402 hard drive in /
Data/PC Installation. Please install the programs in the following order.
9 VIDEO-CreatingMPEG4videofileswithyourcomputer

32 33
MPEG-4 codec (Compression/Decompression)
In order for MPEG4-Translator to compress the video in a file of the format
MPEG-4 SP that the Gmini™ 402 can 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.
Virtual Dub
™
A utility for transcoding one video file into another. This is a general purpose
transfer and cleanup utility which has many options allowing for even the
most difficult video translations. When you install it with the ARCHOS™
Installation Utility, it will automatically unzip. It will prompt you to save it to
C:\Program Files\VirtualDub. You should use this default directory location.
Otherwise you will have to instruct the MPG4 translator program where to
find it.
MPG4 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 file. It sets all the parameters for Virtual Dub
specifically to create a video file in the right size and format to be read by
the Gmini™402. When you run it for the first time, the MPG4 Translator will
need to locate the Virtual Dub program. If you did not install Virtual Dub
in the default location, you will have to show the program where Virtual
Dub is.
MP3 Sound Codec
If MPG4 Translator detects a suitable
MP3 codec on your PC, it will use it, and
your video file 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 find
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, MPG4 Translator will be able to create final video files with MP3
sound, even if the source video file 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 find a list here of all the audio codecs
that are installed on your computer. Decoding of MPEG 2 video files is
currently not supported by MPG4 Translator. These are usually .mpg or
.mpeg format files, not the required AVI file. There are other tools found
on the Internet (FlaskMPEG, Rippack, etc.) that may be downloaded
in order to help you with these file types. A good starting place is the
website www.digital-digest.com.
9.2 Using MPG4 Translator
Here you see the image of the main MPG4
Translator program. When you first run
the program, if the required codec has not
been installed yet, you will be notified. You
should download the codec and install it on
your computer. If the Virtual dub program
has not been installed, you will also be
notified, and you should install it (either
with the ARCHOS™Installation Utility or the
Virtual Dub website). If you have placed
the Virtual Dub program in a folder other
than the installation default folder, it will
ask you to locate the file.
Select Source & Destination Files
In the example above, a source file 24 hours of Lemans.avi has been selected
as the source video. You can see on the bottom of the window its original
characteristics (width 720, height 576, frame rate 25). Next, you must then tell
the program where to place (Set Destination file) the newly recorded version
of the file (don’t worry, it will not erase the original). You should give it a new
descriptive name, such as shown above Lemans_Gmini402.avi. Make sure you
add the .avi extension.

34 35
Change Settings
Next, you can change the
parameters (Change Settings) of
the encoder to adjust the level
of quality of the final 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
disk. A setting of 900 kbps will give you a nice looking image for viewing
on a television. For near DVD quality, you can set it up to 1200 kbps. If
you do not use the standard version, uncheck the bidirectional encoding
in your codec property page.
Target & Priority
You should select the target as
Gmini™402. You 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 re-encoding a video file that is 800x600 in resolution
and 30 frames per second, this is beyond the maximum resolution that
the Gmini™402 can play. Thus, the MPG4 Translator program will have to
decrease the resolution. Choosing LCD optimizes the final 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 to start processing the video. Depending
on the power and speed of your computer, this
could take real time (a 60 minute long video
re-encoded in about 60 minutes) or much
longer. As shown to the left, you will see the
progress as it processes the video file. If the
Start button is grayed out, it would be for one
of two reasons. 1) The source file is not a true
AVI file. Even if the file name ends with .avi,
the internal file data determines if it is truly an AVI file. 2) The Virtual Dub
program was not located when MPG4 Translator was started up. Close the
program, restart it, and make sure you locate the Virtual Dub program.

36 37
10 PHOTO - Viewing Photos
The Gmini™402 series support the viewing of JPEG (.jpg) and
Bitmap (.bmp) image formats. Progressive JPEG images are
not supported. The Gmini™402 will resize the image to fit on
the built-in screen or on a television screen if you choose the
television output. The yellow bar above the list of files indicates that you
are in the ‘Photo Only’ mode, meaning that only files of type JPEG or BMP
will be visible in the directory. The three images on the right are thumbnail
sized pictures of the highlighted file (center) and the picture just before
and just after the highlighted file.
If you are viewing photos on
a television (long press on F2
to switch to external video), it
is recommended that you set
the Image Display setting to
Progressive to eliminate any
possible screen flicker. You will
find this in the menu Setup >
Display.
10.1 Viewing Photos
When you click Enter ► on a highlighted image file, the Gmini™402
will display the image in the carrousel, either alone, within a group of 4
images, or within a group of 9 images. A red rectangle will surround the
selected photo. Click on Enter ► again to display the image in full screen.
Once it is displayed as a full screen image, you can rotate it, magnify it, or
set it as the Gmini™402 screen background (Wallpaper).
1 x 1 image 2 x 2 images 3 x 3 images
Rotate picture 90° left
Rotate picture 90° right
View next photo
View previous photo
• Click the left function button #-Pic to change the number of photos in
the carrousel view.
• Click the center function button Picture to display the picture options.
• Click on the right function button Hide to hide the picture name and
function buttons.
Magnifying Photos
Once the picture is displayed in full screen, clicking the PLAY/GO button ►
will magnify the image up to three levels. Each successive click of the
PLAY/GO button will magnify the picture one more level. You can use
your direction buttons to move the picture around in order to see the
desired magnified area. The small + signs on the bottom left of the screen
indicate the level of magnification, either +, ++, or +++. Click on STOP/
ESC to go back to an unmagnified view.
10.2 Viewing a slideshow
By clicking on Slideshow, the Gmini™402 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
Setup > PlayMode > Picture Pause. This
parameter is the number of seconds each
picture displays on the screen.

38 39
10.3 Transferring photos to your Gmini™402
The Gmini™402 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™402 and transfer files from that device
to your Gmini™402. Many cameras produced today are MSC type devices.
Thus you can often plug your camera directly into the Gmini™402’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™402’s USB host port (via the USB 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™402.
3 methods to copy photos to your Gmini™402
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™402.
Method 1 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™402’sharddrive.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.
Photos from camera on the left, and
your Gmini
™
402 hard disk on the right.
Choose destination folder then choose
File > Copy All.
Your files will be copied to the folder
on the right side of the screen. You
can now pull out the camera from the
Gmini
™
402.
If your image files are not seen in the left panel, you may have to select the
Show all files icon (Settings > System > Show all files). Once selected, all
file types, regardless of their extention (.txt, .raw, .pdf, etc.) which are on your
external device will be visible in the left browser screen.