1
 Gmini™ XS100 
 Gmini™ XS100 
 MP3 & WMA Digital Music Player & USB 2.0 Hard Disk 
  
 
English user manual   
   Version 2.1 - Please see the Archos web site (www.archos.com) for the most recent manual  
and software updates for your Gmini™. 
2
     An introductory note from ARCHOS 
  
 Dear Customer, 
 1 
    
 2 
 Archos thanks you for choosing our new ultra-small Gmini™ XS100. Check out our web site  www.archos.com  
to fi nd the available accessories for this product (car adapter, carrying cases, etc.). Also, while at our web site, 
check for free downloads of updated and improved software for your device. 
 The principal function of the Gmini™ is, of course, to play music. Because it has a real hard disk inside of it, 
you can store hundreds of songs. Using a standard audio cable, you can also play your music through a home 
entertainment  system. You  can  bring  your  entire  CD  collection  with  you  anywhere  and  play  it  over  anyone’s 
sound system. 
 Putting music onto your Gmini™ is as easy as ‘drag and drop’ for your unprotected music fi les. And for protected 
purchased music from PlaysForSure web sites, it is as easy as clicking the Sync button in Windows Media® 
Player. Plus, with its USB 2 high speed port, transfers are fi nished before you know it. The Gmini™ is also ID3 
compatible. This means that the ARCLibrary will sort your music so that you can listen to it by artist, album, title, 
year, or genre. Click on Shuffl e, and listen to your music at random. 
 Finally, you can always use the Gmini™ as a portable hard drive to carry your important fi les with you. You can 
even use the Archos double-browser to rename, create, copy, move, and delete fi les and folders.  
 This manual gives you all the information you need to know on using your Gmini™. Read though it carefully, you 
just may fi nd out it can do some neat things that you didn’t expect. If you are stuck, you can always call our help 
line or e-mail support to get a friendly Archos agent to give you a hand. 
  
 Wishing you the best music listening experience, 
  
 The Archos Team
__________
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. 
3
CContents
ontents
1  Ports, Buttons, and Connections 
2  First Time Usage 
Charging the Battery 
Turning the Gmini™ XS100 ON and OFF 
Changing the Interface language 
Caring for the Gmini™  
Foreign Character Sets 
3  Playing Music 
Playing a Music File 
Play Screen and Button Control  
Playback Menu Items  
ARCLibrary Specifi cs 
ARCLibrary Updating 
Setting a Bookmark 
The Resume Function 
Locking the Gmini™ Buttons 
4  Putting Music onto your Gmini™ XS100 
Synchronizing Music from Windows Media® Player (WMP) to the Gmini™ XS100 
Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9 
Transferring your CD collection to the Gmini™ XS100 
Installing Windows Media® Player (WMP) 9 
Installing Windows Media® Player (WMP) 10 
5  Playlists 
Creating a new Playlist  
Loading a Playlist 
Playing a Playlist  
Playlist Menu Options 
2.1 
2.2 
2.3 
2.4 
2.5 
3.1 
3.2 
3.3 
3.4 
3.5 
3.6 
3.7 
3.8 
4.1 
4.2 
4.3 
4.3 
4.4 
5.1 
5.2 
5.3 
5.4 
6.1 
6.2 
6.3 
6.4 
6.5 
6.6 
7.1 
7.2 
7.3 
7.4 
9.1 
9.2 
9.3 
4
    6  Settings 
Changing the Sound Settings 
Changing the PlayMode Settings 
Changing the time & date settings 
Changing the Display Settings 
Changing the Power Settings 
Changing the System Settings 
7  Using the Browser 
Inside the MUSIC Folder 
Navigating the Directory Structure 
File and Folder Operations in Browser Mode 
7.3.1  Contextual Menu on a File 
7.3.2  Contextual Menu on a Folder 
7.3.3  Contextual Menu while in the Double Browser 
Using the Virtual Keyboard 
8  Connecting the Gmini™ XS100 to a Stereo system 
9  Connecting/Disconnecting the Gmini™ to/from your Computer 
USB Connection Type (‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’) 
Connecting the Gmini™ XS100 
Disconnecting the Gmini™ from your Computer 
10  Using iTunes™ with your Gmini™ XS100 
11  Updating the Gmini™ XS100 Firmware 
11.1 
11.2 
11.3 
11.4 
Download the Update_GminiXS100.AOS fi le 
Copy to Gmini™ root and Update 
‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’? 
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) 
12.2.2  Windows® XP & 2000 Running Check Disk Utility (ChkDsk) 
13  Technical Specifi cations 
14  Technical Support 
15  Legal and Safety Notices 
 4 
6
7
7
7
7
8
9
11
11
12
12
12
13
14
15
15
16
16
17
18
18
18
20
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
33
34
34
38
38
39
39
40
42
 3 
5
6
8
14
17
20
27
32
33
37
38
40
44
45
48
29
29
30
42
43
5
 Ports, Buttons, and Connections 
 1 1 Ports, Buttons, and Connections 
 A  Power jack – to connect an optional AC adapter/charger 
 B  USB 2.0 port – To connect to your computer to transfer fi les to Gmini™ and to 
charge its battery  
 C Headphone Jack  
  
 D On button (hold 3 seconds) & Menu options 
 E  Off button (hold 3 seconds) & Stop/Escape 
  
  Navigation pad  
 F  Move Up & increase volume 
 G Move Down & decrease volume 
 H Move Left (decrease value) or audio rewind 
 I  Move Right (increase value) or audio fast forward 
 J  Play/Pause/Enter 
  
 a  CHG – Battery charging indicator 
 b  HDD – Hard drive activity indicator 
 
  
6
 5 
 First Time Usage 
     2 2 First Time Usage 
 2.1  Charging the Battery 
 2.1  Charging the Battery 
 Before using your Gmini XS100 for the fi rst time, completely charge the battery for two hours. 
 •  The  Gmini™  XS100  is  charged  through  its  USB  connector.  Connect  the  included  USB  cable  to  a  running 
computer and plug the other end into the Gmini™ 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 full battery icon appears. 
    
  
  
  
 
 
  Animated battery:  
  The battery is currently being 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.  
Full battery:  
The battery is fully charged.  
 
 
 •  After the fi rst initial full charge, you may use the Gmini while the AC adapter is plugged in. 
    
 6 
7
2.2  Turning the Gmini™ XS100 ON and OFF 
2.2  Turning the Gmini™ XS100 ON and OFF 
 •  Press and hold the ON/Menu button until the screen comes on. 
 •  The Gmini 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 Gmini shuts off. 
 2.3  Changing the Interface language 
 2.3  Changing the Interface language 
 •  English is selected as the default language for your Gmini user interface. You can choose another language by 
going to  Setup > Display . 
 2.4  Caring for the Gmini™  
 2.4  Caring for the Gmini™  
 The Gmini 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 Gmini away from water and excessively humid areas. 
 •  Keep the Gmini away from high electromagnetic fi elds. 
 2.5  Foreign Character Sets 
 2.5  Foreign Character Sets 
 You have the possibility to display your fi le names, folder names, and MP3 ID3 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 on the Gmini XS100 hard disk 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 fi le  Cp932.4fz  into 
the folder /system on the Gmini XS100. Shut down and restart the Gmini XS100. 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 fi le 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. 
8
 Playing Music 
      33 Playing Music 
 7 
 Once the Gmini 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. 
 •   Browser : Browse through and manage all of the other fi les on your Gmini. 
 •   Resume : Resume playing from the last place you stopped. 
 •   Setup : Set the parameters of your Gmini to your personal taste. 
  
 3.1  Playing a Music File 
 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 
fi ltered 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 Gmini. Here you can look at all your 
music fi les and the folders on your Gmini’s hard drive as if you were browsing fi les 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 fi le has no tag data.  
 To select a music fi le, use the navigation controls UP and DOWN to move upwards or downwards and ENTER 
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  
   3.2  Play Screen and Button Control  
  
 
 (1) 
 
 (2) 
 
 (3) 
 
 (4) 
 
 (5) 
 
 (6) 
 
 (7) 
 
 (8) 
 (9) 
 
 (10)   
 (11)   
 (12)   
 (13)   
 (14)   
 *If the fi le contains these tag data 
  
  
Menu available  
Artist* or parent folder 
 Album* or current folder
Song title* or fi le name 
File format and recording information 
Status: playing 
Play Mode: Folder 
Play Order: Repeat 
Volume (0-99) 
Battery level 
Real time clock 
Song elapsed time  
Song time remaining  
Song length 
  
  
  
10
Increase the volume   
 Click once:  Play the next song in the folder or playlist. 
 Hold:  Fast forward through the song. 
 
     A  Play/pause/resume song 
 B 
 C 
  
 D  Decrease the Volume 
 E 
 Click once:  Play the previous song in the folder or playlist 
(during  fi rst  10  seconds  of  song)  otherwise  go  to  the 
beginning of the song. 
 Hold:  Fast reverse through the song.   
  
 F  Stop Song 
  
  Play Status  
  Play Status  
 Stopped 
 
 
 
 
 Play Order  
 Play Order  
(no icon)  
Play once 
 
 
 
 
Shuffl e (Random) track selection  
Repeat playing 
 Playing a track 
 Current track is paused  
 9 
 C  C 
 B  B 
 A  A 
 D  D 
 E  E 
 F  F 
  
 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  
 3.3  Playback Menu Items  
 C 
 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 fi le information such as the fi le name, number of kilobytes of hard 
drive space used, date created, fi le 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 fi le. See  
the  Bookmark  section below. 
 3.4  ARCLibrary Specifi cs 
 3.4  ARCLibrary Specifi cs 
 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 fi les have internal data tags to hold information about 
the song. For MP3 fi les, these are known as ID3 tags. Not all MP3 fi les have all 
this information fi lled in. If you purchase a song from a music download service, 
the song will have this information. If you have an MP3 or WMA fi le without this tag 
information, then you can add or change it by going to the properties of the fi le in 
Windows® Explorer. Once you update the ARCLibrary, you will have access to all 
newly copied music via the ARCLibrary. The ARCLibrary indexes all the music and 
playlists that it fi nds 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 
 3.5  ARCLibrary Updating 
 If you paste unprotected audio fi les from your computer to the Gmini, they go directly to the Gmini hard disk 
without the ARCLibrary knowing about the new song. This is why the ARCLibrary is updated when you disconnect 
your Gmini 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 fi nd 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 
 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 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 small 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 erase existing bookmarks, starting with the 
oldest. The next time you play the audio fi le, 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  .  
 3.7  The Resume Function 
 3.7  The Resume Function 
 When you turn on your Gmini 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 XS100 
can resume the last played audio fi le. 
 12 
13
 3.8  Locking the Gmini™ Buttons 
 3.8  Locking the Gmini™ Buttons 
 You can prevent the Gmini from executing unintended functions by locking 
the buttons. To lock the buttons, hold down on the MENU button until the 
“lock” icon appears in the top-left corner of the screen. Now the buttons 
are  disabled,  but  you  can  still  use  the  UP  and  DOWN  controls  on  the 
navigation  pad  to  change  the  volume. To  unlock  the  buttons  hold  down 
again on the Menu button until the “lock” icon disappears.   
14
 13 
 Putting Music onto your Gmini™ XS100 
     4 4 Putting Music onto your Gmini™ XS100 
 Your Archos™ product is a certifi ed PlaysForSure™ digital device which means that wherever 
you fi nd music for sale or for subscription on the Internet with this symbol, you can be certain that 
they will ‘Play for sure’ on your Gmini XS100*.  
 The Gmini XS100 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  organize  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® Player10. 
 4.1  Synchronizing Music from Windows Media®® Player (WMP) to the Gmini™ XS100 
 4.1  Synchronizing Music from Windows Media
 Player (WMP) to the Gmini™ XS100 
  The Synchronize button in Windows Media® Player (WMP) is a one way ‘sync’ button.  
That is, it will add music fi les to your Gmini™ so that you have the same digital media 
on your Gmini™ as you have in your Windows Media® Player media library.  Of course, 
you  can  choose  to  sync  only  certain  songs  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™ to your PC, Windows 
Media® Player will automatically start up and check to see if there is any new music 
in your media library, and if so, will then copy them to your Gmini™. 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™  to your computer.  
Note for WMP10 users: Files added to your Gmini™ from another computer cannot be added to the Windows 
Media® Player Library when you connect your Gmini™ to the computer.  Songs which have been added, will 
however, be listed in the device’s ARCLibrary.
 14 
15
 4.2  Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9 
 4.2  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
Auto-synchronize the WMP library
to ARCHOS™ Gmini™ on connecting to PC
Can synchronize subscription music
(‘to go’ services) to your Gmini™
Carefree USB disconnection
(no special green arrow unmount procedure)
PlaysForSure™ audio content 
WMP9
WMP10
no*
no
no
yes
yes
yes
* Must use WMP9 manual sync function to copy purchased music to the Gmini™. 
 4.3  Transferring your CD collection to the Gmini™ XS100 
 4.3  Transferring your CD collection to the Gmini™ XS100 
 The process of transferring music from a CD into fi les for your Gmini XS100 is known 
as ‘ripping’. It is actually a transcoding process, taking the CDA (CD Audio) format and 
converting it to WMA or MP3 format which the Gmini can read. There are many music 
ripping programs on the market, but the easiest thing to do is to 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 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. 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. 
 15 
16
       4.4  Installing Windows Media
 4.4  Installing Windows Media®® Player (WMP) 9 
 Player (WMP) 9 
 If you have Windows® ME or 2000, you should use Windows Media® Player 9. The easiest way to install this 
software is to visit the Microsoft® Website and download the very latest version, or install the version found on 
the Gmini XS100 itself.  
Installing Windows Media®® Player (WMP) 10 
Installing Windows Media
 Player (WMP) 10 
 4.5 
 4.5 
 You must be running Windows® XP (Service Pack 1 or higher) in order to install Windows Media® Player 10. 
Please visit Microsoft’s PlaysForSure website ( www.playsforsure.com ) and download the very latest version 
of Windows Media® Player 10. 
 16