1 204 MP3 & WMA Digital Music Player / Photo Viewer / USB 2.0 Hard Drive English user manual Version 1 - Please visit www.archos.com/manuals to download the latest version for this manual. 1 2 An introductory note from ARCHOS Dear Customer, Thank you for choosing this ArchosTM product. We hope that you will enjoy using it and that it will give you satisfaction for many years to come. Please do register your product on our website (www.archos.com/register) 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 Multimedia experience, The ArchosTM Team __________ All the information contained in this manual was correct at the time of publication. However, as our engineers are always updating and improving our products, your device's software may have a slightly different appearance or modified functionality than presented in this manual. 2 3 Table of Contents 1 2 3 Ports, Buttons, and Connections First Time Usage 2.1 Charging the Battery 2.2 Turning the ArchosTM 204 ON and OFF 2.3 Changing the Interface language 2.4 Caring for the ArchosTM 204 2.5 Foreign Character Sets Playing Music 3.1 Playing a Music File 3.3 Playback Menu Items 3.4 ARCLibrary Specifics 3.5 ARCLibrary Updating 3.6 Setting a Bookmark 3.7 The Resume Function 3.8 Locking the ArchosTM 204 Buttons Putting Music onto your ArchosTM 204 4.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media® Player (WMP) to the ArchosTM 204 4.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 and 11 to Windows Media Player 9 4.3 Transferring your CD collection to the ArchosTM 204 4.4 Installing Windows Media® Player (WMP) 9 4.5 Installing Windows Media® Player (WMP) 10 or 11 Playlists 5.1 Creating a new Playlist 5.2 Loading a Playlist 5.3 Playing a Playlist 5.4 Playlist Menu Options Settings 6.1 Changing the Sound Settings 6.2 Changing the PlayMode Settings 6.3 Changing the time & date settings 6.4 Changing the Display Settings 6 7 7 7 7 8 11 11 12 12 12 13 5 6 8 4 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 18 20 20 22 23 24 3 5 6 4 6.5 6.6 Using 7.1 7.2 7.3 Changing the Power Settings Changing the System Settings the Browser Inside the MUSIC Folder Navigating the Directory Structure File and Folder Operations in Browser Mode 7.3.1 7.3.2 7.3.3 Contextual Menu on a File Contextual Menu on a Folder Contextual Menu while in the Double Browser 29 29 30 25 26 27 27 28 29 7 8 7.4 Using the Virtual Keyboard Viewing Photos with your ArchosTM 204 8.1 Using the Photo Browser 8.2 Photo Browser Contextual Menu 8.3 Transferring Photos to your ArchosTM 204 8.3.1 8.3.2 Transferring Photos in Hard Drive Mode Transferring Photos in Windows Device Mode 34 34 30 32 32 33 34 9 Connecting the ArchosTM 204 to a Stereo system 10 Connecting the ArchosTM 204 to/from your Computer 10.1 USB Connection Type (`Hard Drive' or `Windows Device') 10.2 Connecting the ArchosTM 204 10.3 Disconnecting the ArchosTM 204 from your Computer 11 Updating the ArchosTM 204 Firmware 11.1 Download the A204.AOS file 11.2 Copy to ArchosTM 204 root and Update 11.3 `Hard Drive' or `Windows Device'? 11.4 Activate the Update 12 Troubleshooting 12.1 USB Connection issues 12.2 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning. 12.2.1 Windows® ME Running Scan-Disk (Error Checking) - Hard Drive Mode only 12.2.2 Windows® XP & 2000 Running Check Disk Utility (ChkDsk) - Hard Drive Mode only 45 45 35 36 36 36 37 40 40 40 41 41 42 42 44 13 Technical Specifications 14 Technical Support 46 47 4 5 1 1 2 3 Ports, Buttons, and Connections A (A) Headphone Jack (B) USB 2.0 port ­ To connect your Archos device to a computer, to transfer files and/or charge the battery. (C) Power jack ­ to connect an optional AC adapter/charger (D) Off button (hold 3 seconds) & Stop/Escape* (E) Navigation Joystick & Play/Enter button (Press down) C D E F (1) ON ­ ON/OFF indicator light (2) HDD ­ Hard drive activity indicator (3) CHG ­ Battery charging indicator (F) On button (hold 3 seconds) & Menu options B * Hardware reset: in the event that your ArchosTM 204 freezes operation (due to electrostatic phenomena for example), you can reset the ArchosTM 204 by holding down on the STOP/ESC button for 15 seconds. 5 6 2 2.1 First Time Usage Charging the Battery Before using your ArchosTM 204 for the first time, completely charge the battery. · The ArchosTM 204 is charged through its USB connector. Connect the included USB cable to a running computer and plug the other end into the ArchosTM 204 while it is off. This will charge its internal battery. The CHG indicator will also light up to show that its battery is charging. · The battery is fully charged when the CHG indicator starts blinking. CHG indicator is on: The battery is currently being charged. CHG indicator is blinking: The battery is fully charged. · You can purchase an Archos charger/adapter to charge the battery from a wall outlet. The blue CHG indicator lights up to indicate that the external adapter is connected. The battery will charge automatically when it is plugged in. · After the first initial full charge, you may use the ArchosTM 204 while the AC adapter is plugged in. 6 7 2.2 Turning the ArchosTM 204 ON and OFF · Press and hold the ON/Menu button until the screen comes on. · The ArchosTM 204 will automatically shut off after a given amount of time if no buttons are pressed. To conserve battery energy, the backlight will automatically shut off. You can change these parameters in Setup > Power. · Press and hold the Stop/off button until the ArchosTM 204 shuts off. 2.3 Changing the Interface language · English is selected as the default language for your ArchosTM 204 user interface. You can choose another language by going to Setup > Display. 2.4 Caring for the ArchosTM 204 The ArchosTM 204 is an electronic product that needs to be treated with care. · Do not subject it to unnecessary shock or vibration. · Do not subject it to heat. Keep it ventilated (especially when connected to a computer). · Keep the ArchosTM 204 away from water and excessively humid areas. · Keep the ArchosTM 204 away from high electromagnetic fields. 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 ArchosTM 204 hard drive or on the Archos website under the heading Software. If, for example, you would like to have the Japanese language display, you would copy the file Cp932.4fz into the folder /system on the ArchosTM 204 . Shut down and restart the ArchosTM 204 . 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 file 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. 7 8 3 Playing Music Once the ArchosTM 204 has been turned on, the following screen is displayed. You can select the major functions from this main menu. · Music: Browse through the folder Music or use the ARCLibrary music selection system. · Photo: Browse through and view all the pictures on your ArchosTM 204. · Browser: Browse through and manage all of the other files on your ArchosTM 204. · Resume: Resume playing from the last place you stopped. · Setup: Set the parameters of your ArchosTM 204 to your personal taste. 3.1 Playing a Music File By clicking on the Music icon in the main menu screen, you will enter into a `music only' mode. File types other than WMA, WAV, and MP3 that may be in those folders will be filtered from view. There are two ways to access your music, by selecting Browse hard disk or by searching the songs' tag information, Artist, Album, title, etc. In the case of Browse hard drive, you will be sent directly to the Music folder of your ArchosTM 204. Here you can look at all your music files and the folders on your ArchosTM 204's hard drive as if you were browsing files with a computer. The other way is to browse your music by tag information, artist, album, song name, year, or genre. The Unknown category indicates that the file has no tag data. To select a music file, push the navigation joystick to move upwards or downwards and press it down to enter a highlighted subfolder or tag category. Click ENTER to play the highlighted song. Use LEFT to leave a folder and go back to the previous level. 8 9 3.2 Play Screen and Button Control (1) (2) (3) 3 (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) Menu available Artist* or parent folder Album* or current folder Song title* or file name Status: playing Play Mode: Folder Play Order: Repeat Volume (0-99) Battery level 15 2 3 4 67 8 9 10 (10) Real time clock (11) Song elapsed time (12) Song remaining time (13) Album cover (if it is available) *If the file contains these tag data 13 11 12 9 10 A B C D E Play/pause/resume song Increase the volume Click once: Play the next song in the folder or playlist. Hold: Fast forward through the song. Decrease the Volume Click once: Play the previous song in the folder or playlist (during first 10 seconds of song) otherwise go to the beginning of the song. Hold: Fast reverse through the song. F Stop Song B E A C F Play Order (no icon) Play once Shuffle (Random) track selection Repeat playing D Play Status Stopped Playing a track Current track is paused The top status bar indicates the status and play settings that you have given. See the Settings chapter for a description of the Playmode options. 10 11 3.3 Playback Menu Items When the menu icon appears, you have certain options. During song playback, press the MENU button for the following options. · Setup: Enters the Setup screen (same as selecting the Setup icon in the main menu) which allows you access to parameters such as bass and treble. · Info: Show file information such as the file name, number of kilobytes of hard drive space used, date created, file format, etc. · ARCLibrary: Allows you to browse through your ARCLibrary while listening to the current song. · Edit Playlist: Enters the playlist editor (see below how to use Playlists). · Set Bookmark: Set a bookmark at the current position within the audio file. See the Bookmark section below. C 3.4 ARCLibrary Specifics The ARCLibrary is a system for choosing your music by its characteristics. It can be turned On or Off in the settings from Setup > Playmode. As shown in this screen capture here, you can select your music by Artist, Album, Song Title, Genre, or Year. MP3 and WMA music files have internal data tags to hold information about the song. For MP3 files, these are known as ID3 tags. Not all MP3 files have all this information filled in. If you purchase a song from a music download service, the song will have this information. If you have an MP3 or WMA file without this tag information, then you can add or change it by going to the properties of the file in Windows® Explorer. The ARCLibrary indexes all the music and playlists that it finds in the folders Music and Playlists by using the tag information in each song. Thus, you should never delete the folders Music or Playlists. If a song does not have tags, it will be put into the category . 11 12 3.5 ARCLibrary Updating If you paste unprotected audio files from your computer to the ArchosTM 204, they go directly to the ArchosTM 204 hard drive without the ARCLibrary knowing about the new song. This is why the ARCLibrary is updated when you disconnect your ArchosTM 204 from the computer. Alternatively, you can set up the ARCLibrary to update only when you choose to, by setting it to "On", not "automatic". You can find the information on how to do this in the section Playmode in the Settings chapter. You will then have to go to the Setup > Playmode screen, highlight [Update ARCLibrary] and press ENTER. A message screen will appear indicating that it is updating the ARCLibrary contents. 3.6 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. While listening to the audio recording, simply click on the MENU button, 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 small 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 erase existing bookmarks, starting with the oldest. The next time you play the audio file, you will be presented with three options: Resume: Start playing from the bookmarked position. Ignore: Clear: Keep the bookmark but start playing from the ve ...