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.
An introductory note from ARCHOS Dear Customer, Thank you for choosing this Archos 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 Archos 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 devices software may have a slightly different appearance or modied functionality than presented in this manual.

Table of Contents

3 Ports, Buttons, and Connections First Time Usage 2.1 Charging the Battery 2.2 Turning the Archos 204 ON and OFF 2.3 Changing the Interface language 2.4 Caring for the Archos 204 2.5 Foreign Character Sets Playing Music 3.1 Playing a Music File 3.3 Playback Menu Items 3.4 ARCLibrary Specics 3.5 ARCLibrary Updating 3.6 Setting a Bookmark 3.7 The Resume Function 3.8 Locking the Archos 204 Buttons Putting Music onto your Archos 204 4.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media Player (WMP) to the Archos 204 4.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 and 11 to Windows Media Player 9 4.3 Transferring your CD collection to the Archos 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 12 13
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 30
7.4 Using the Virtual Keyboard Viewing Photos with your Archos 204 8.1 Using the Photo Browser 8.2 Photo Browser Contextual Menu 8.3 Transferring Photos to your Archos 204
8.3.1 8.3.2 Transferring Photos in Hard Drive Mode Transferring Photos in Windows Device Mode 34 34
9 Connecting the Archos 204 to a Stereo system 10 Connecting the Archos 204 to/from your Computer 10.1 USB Connection Type (Hard Drive or Windows Device) 10.2 Connecting the Archos 204 10.3 Disconnecting the Archos 204 from your Computer 11 Updating the Archos 204 Firmware 11.1 Download the A204.AOS le 11.2 Copy to Archos 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
13 Technical Specications 14 Technical Support
Ports, Buttons, and Connections
A (A) Headphone Jack (B) USB 2.0 port To connect your Archos device to a computer, to transfer les 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
* Hardware reset: in the event that your Archos 204 freezes operation (due to electrostatic phenomena for example), you can reset the Archos 204 by holding down on the STOP/ESC button for 15 seconds.

First Time Usage

Charging the Battery
Before using your Archos 204 for the rst time, completely charge the battery.
The Archos 204 is charged through its USB connector. Connect the included USB cable to a running computer and plug the other end into the Archos 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 rst initial full charge, you may use the Archos 204 while the AC adapter is plugged in.

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 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 Archos 204. Here you can look at all your music les and the folders on your Archos 204s hard drive as if you were browsing 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 le has no tag data. To select a music le, 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.
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 le name Status: playing Play Mode: Folder Play Order: Repeat Volume (0-99) Battery level
(10) Real time clock (11) Song elapsed time (12) Song remaining time (13) Album cover (if it is available) *If the le contains these tag data
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 rst 10 seconds of song) otherwise go to the beginning of the song. Hold: Fast reverse through the song. F Stop Song

Play Order

(no icon) Play once Shufe (Random) track selection Repeat playing

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.

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 le information such as the le name, number of kilobytes of hard drive space used, date created, 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 le. See the Bookmark section below.

ARCLibrary Specics

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 les have internal data tags to hold information about the song. For MP3 les, these are known as ID3 tags. Not all MP3 les have all this information 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 le without this tag information, then you can add or change it by going to the properties of the le in Windows Explorer. The ARCLibrary indexes all the music and playlists that it 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 <unknown>.

3.5 ARCLibrary Updating

If you paste unprotected audio les from your computer to the Archos 204, they go directly to the Archos 204 hard drive without the ARCLibrary knowing about the new song. This is why the ARCLibrary is updated when you disconnect your Archos 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 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.

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 le at the current position. You can only set one bookmark per le. When you look at the le in your browser, it will have a small mark on its icon indicating that this le has a bookmark set within it. You can have a maximum of 16 les bookmarked. Setting more bookmarks will erase existing bookmarks, starting with the oldest. The next time you play the audio le, you will be presented with three options: Resume: Start playing from the bookmarked position. Ignore: Clear: Keep the bookmark but start playing from the very beginning. Clear the bookmark from this le and start playing from the very beginning.

The Resume Function

When you turn on your Archos 204 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 Archos 204 can resume the last played audio le.

3.8 Locking the Archos 204 Buttons
You can prevent the Archos 204 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 navigation joystick to change the volume. To unlock the buttons hold down again on the Menu button until the lock icon disappears.
Putting Music onto your Archos 204
The Archos 204 is designed to work seamlessly with Windows Media Player (WMP) versions 9, 10 and 11. 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 10/11.
Synchronizing Music from Windows Media Player (WMP) to the Archos 204
The Synchronize button in Windows Media Player (WMP) is a one way sync button. That is, it will add music and photo les to your Archos 204 so that you have the same digital media on your Archos 204 as you have in your Windows Media Player media library. Of course, you can choose to sync only certain songs or photos, or sync your entire library. On WMP10/11, 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 WMP10/11. If this box is checked, then each time you connect your Archos 204 to your PC, Windows Media Player will automatically start up and check to see if there is any new music or photos in your media library, and if so, will then copy them to your Archos 204. 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 Archos 204 to your computer. Note for WMP10/11 users: Files added to your Archos 204 from another computer cannot be added to the Windows Media Player Library when you connect your Archos 204 to the computer. Songs which have been added, will however, be listed in the devices ARCLibrary.

Creating a new Playlist

To create a Playlist, press the RIGHT button while you are in the Music browser. A second panel is opened on the right side to display the Playlist contents (shown empty in the picture). You can now start adding songs to the current Playlist. Note: If tracks are displayed in the right panel, this means a Playlist is already open. To create a new Playlist, close the current list rst (see the Playlist Menu options) and click RIGHT again.
In the left panel, search for the songs you would like to add to your Playlist. Once the song is highlighted, click on the ENTER button to add it to the Playlist. The song will be added to the Playlist and a small mark is placed next to the music note icon to indicate that it is now in the Playlist. You can also add all the music les of a complete folder in one operation by highlighting the desired folder and choosing Add to playlist or Insert in playlist on the menu. Be careful about which panel you are in since the left panel menu has different options than the right panel menu. Continue searching and adding songs in this manner until you are satised. You can jump back and forth anytime between the two panels by pushing the navigation joystick to the left and right. We recommend that you save your Playlists to the Archos 204 hard drive (see Playlists Menu Options below) to use it again later. After saving a new Playlist, use the menu of the left panel to update the ARCLibrary in order for it to appear in your Playlists folder. The menu also offers you the option Insert in playlist: The track will be added before the track which is highlighted in the Playlist.

5.2 Loading a Playlist

You can load a previously saved Playlist or add the les it contains to the current Playlist. Use the music browser to select the Playlist of your choice (Playlists are indicated by a special list icon) and then press OK. If there were already some items in the Archos 204 Playlist, then the songs of the loaded Playlist will be added to the end of it. You can then check or modify the Playlist as usual in the Playlist panel.

Changing the time & date settings
In order to set the time and date or to change the time format, go to Setup > Clock.
The Time format can be set to a 12 hour clock (0:00 to 12:59) or 24 hour clock (0:00 to 23:59). The Time is expressed in Hours, Minutes and Seconds, although seconds are not displayed. The date is expressed as Day, Month and Year. Having modied all necessary parameters, be sure to set them. To do this, highlight the [Set] line and then click ENTER. Wait a moment for the Archos 204 to save the new values before clicking the STOP/ESCAPE button.
Changing the Display Settings
In order to change the operating language, the brightness of the display or the appearance of the Archos 204, go to Setup > Display.
Language Brightness Wallpaper Appearance
Use this option to set the operating language of the Archos 204. Adjusts the brightness of the screen. Be aware that a high level of brightness can affect battery life. Choose the background image that will appear on your Archos 204. Choose the color of your Archos 204s icons.
6.5 Changing the Power Settings
To help you get the most battery life out of your Archos 204 before having to recharge it, you can adjust the power settings. Go to Setup > Power.

Power Off

Range: 1 to 9 minutes or Never. Number of minutes of user inactivity before the Archos 204 automatically shuts off. The Archos 204 will not shut off during the playback of music les. Never (on DC Power) indicates that the Archos 204 will not do an automatic shut down.

Backlight

Backlight shut down time: Off, 10 to 90 seconds, Never. The time of user inactivity (no buttons pressed) before the Archos 204 turns off the backlight. Never indicates that the backlight will always stay on. Keeping the backlight on will reduce the battery time.

Hard drive

10-90 seconds. The number of seconds from the time of the last le access before the Archos 204 tells the internal hard drive to stop spinning. The longer this time, the more often the hard drive is turning and the quicker the response time when accessing les. However, as it is set longer, it will quickly consume your battery. Caution: This setting should only be changed by experienced users. The default setting is 10s.
6.6 Changing the System Settings
To change the system parameters or get information about the system, go to Setup > System.

Show all les USB Port

If Off is selected, les are ltered so that only music les are shown. The On setting lets you see other le types as well as music les. Windows Device, Hard Drive. When set to Windows Device, your Archos 204 will use the MTP (Media Transport Protocol) whenever it is connected to a Windows XP (SP1 or higher) operating system with Windows Media Player 10/11 installed. It will be seen as the Archos 204 Device in Windows Explorer. WARNING: This will not work for earlier Windows operating systems or Macintosh computers. When set to Hard Drive, your Archos 204 will act as an external hard drive (mass storage device) when connected to a computer. Use this mode for all non-Windows XP operating systems.

OS Version Prod key Hard Disk
Displays the current version of the Operating System (OS). Display the product key of your Archos 204. Every Archos 204 has a unique product key number. Displays the amount of free and used space on the Archos 204s hard drive. Reported number of megabytes is binary based counting (1kb=1024 bytes). Thus each reported MB represents approximately 1.05 megabytes (decimal). Formatting also takes up space. Used to update the Archos 204 to a new version of the Operating System. See the chapter Updating the Archos 204 Firmware.

[Update Firmware]

7 Using the Browser
The browser is used to navigate the le system on the Archos 204. The le system is the same type of le system that is found on Windows based computers. This way, transferring les from your computer to your Archos 204 is as easy as drag and drop. The le system is a hierarchical system which includes folders and subfolders. Because you will be putting hundreds of les onto your Archos 204, it is STRONGLY ADVISED that you keep a neat and orderly le structure. We suggest that you keep the predened folders: Data (to carry miscellaneous data les with you), Music (all of your music les), and Playlists (to hold all your music Playlists).

Inside the MUSIC Folder

The top level of your Archos 204 includes the folder Music. Most people who create neat le structures for their Archos players make the following hierarchy within the Music folder. Level 1 Artist (Dire Straits, Madonna, Stravinsky, etc.) Level 2 Album (Brothers in Arms, American life, etc.) Level 3 Song (Money for Nothing, etc.) The folders Music and Pictures are special folders in that the Music and Photo icons on the main screen lead to these folders directly. They should not be deleted or renamed.
7.2 Navigating the Directory Structure
Just below the top status bar, you can see the directory you are currently viewing. To navigate the directory structure you will use the navigation joystick to move through the les in a directory. Press ENTER to enter a highlighted folder. To go back up one level in the directory structure, you can either use the contextual MENU button (select Parent folder) or move the joystick to the left. The contextual MENU button allows you to create new folders, delete folders, rename a le or folder, or display information about a le.

Button Controls Button

Up Down Right Left ENTER Off/Escape Menu

Action

Highlights the previous le or folder in the current directory Highlights the next le or folder in the current directory Open double-browser or gives the focus to the right panel. Goes to parent directory if single panel view. Gives the focus to the left panel when in double-browser mode. Folder highlighted: enters this folder. File highlighted: Plays the le if it is a music le, displays the picture if it is a JPG le. Exit Browser mode. Displays the contextual menu.
7.3 File and Folder Operations in Browser Mode
While browsing the directory structure, you will have the option to manipulate les and folders. When you use the Browser mode, you will be browsing through the Archos 204s hard drive as if browsing via a computer. In Browser mode, you can create folders, delete les or folders, rename les or folders, and copy or move les from one place to another. 7.3.1 Contextual Menu on a File Info: Show le information such as song length, number of kilobytes used of hard drive space, date le was created, etc. Rename: Allows you to change the name of the highlighted le. You cannot change the le extension type for le types that are playable by the Archos 204. You will be sent to the virtual keyboard (see the next section) to enter the new le name. Delete: Delete the le permanently from the Archos 204. (Before it is deleted, the Archos 204 will ask for conrmation: Delete le? - Yes/No). Press ENTER to conrm or STOP/ESCAPE to cancel. Create Folder: Create a new folder in the current level of the directory. You will be sent to the Virtual Keyboard to enter the new folder name. There is a limit of 1000 les per folder. 7.3.2 Contextual Menu on a Folder
Info: Show le information such as number of kilobytes of hard drive space used, date created, number of les and folders the folder contains etc. Rename: Allows you to change the name of the highlighted folder. You will be sent to the virtual keyboard (see the next section) to enter the new folder name. Delete: Delete the le permanently from the Archos 204. (Before it is deleted, the Archos 204 will ask for conrmation: Delete folder X? - Yes/No. Press ENTER to conrm or STOP/ESCAPE to cancel. Create Folder: Create a new folder in the current level of the directory. You will be sent to the Virtual Keyboard to enter the new folder name. There is a limit of 1000 les per folder.
7.3.3 Contextual Menu while in the Double Browser By using the unique Archos double browser system, you can copy or move les from one location in the le structure to another (caution: there is a limit of 1000 les per folder). While in the Browser mode, you simply click the RIGHT control and a second browser panel will open. You can jump between the two panels using the LEFT/RIGHT buttons. When the title of the folder is highlighted, this is the active folder. The le highlighted within this active folder will be copied, that is to say, it is the source for the copy. The other panel will be the destination folder. Once you have decided on the destination folder, move to the source browser panel, highlight the le to copy, and then click on the MENU button. You can now choose Copy to copy the highlighted le, Copy All to copy all the les in that folder to the destination folder, or Move to move it to the destination folder. Other options such as Info, Delete, Rename and Create Folder are addressed above. Source Destination

Standard Info screen Save as Wallpaper
Info screen with EXIF data
You also have the possibility to save one of your own pictures as the wallpaper for your Archos 204. Simply select Save as wallpaper in the contextual menu while viewing a picture or when the picture le is highlighted.
8.3 Transferring Photos to your Archos 204
There are three different ways of transferring photos to your Archos 204 from your computer. The most suitable method for you will depend on your Archos 204s USB port setting (see section 6.6 of this manual): Hard Drive or Windows Device. 8.3.1 Transferring Photos in Hard Drive Mode
If your Archos 204 operates in Hard Drive mode, you can simply copy your pictures onto it:
connect your Archos 204 to your computer (see chapter 10 of this manual). on your computer, locate the pictures you want to transfer, select them and copy them (right click > copy). open My Computer and double click on the Archos 204 hard drive. open the Pictures folder of your Archos 204s hard drive and paste your pictures there (right click > paste). Note that your photos must go in the Pictures folder if you want to be able to view them directly on your Archos 204. Transferring Photos in Windows Device Mode
If your Archos 204 operates in Windows Device mode, choose one of the following methods. Copy Photos to the Media/Pictures folder
connect your Archos 204 to your computer (see chapter 10 of this manual). If an MTP Media Player window pops up asking what you want to do, select take no action and click on OK. on your computer, locate the pictures you want to transfer, select them and copy them (right click > copy). open My Computer and double click on the Archos 204 device. open the Media folder, and then the Pictures folder of your Archos 204 device and paste your pictures there (right click > paste). Note that your photos must go in the Pictures folder if you want to be able to view them directly on your Archos 204.
Sync with Windows Media Player 10 or 11 If you use the Windows Media Player library to manage your photos, you can synchronize your Archos 204 device to your computers library. (see section 4.1 of this manual to learn how to use Windows Media Player to synchronize your pictures and music automatically).
9 Connecting the Archos 204 to a Stereo system
Connecting your Archos 204 to a stereo system allows you to listen to your Archos 204s music on it without a headset. You will need a standard (mini headphone to RCA) audio cable for this which is not supplied with the Archos 204. The diagram below illustrates the setup. Plug the audio cable into the headphone jack and into the auxiliary jacks on your stereo. Note that this is only a schematic representation of a stereo. If in doubt, the manual of your stereo will enable you to identify the auxiliary inputs.

10 Connecting the Archos 204 to/from your Computer
10.1 USB Connection Type (Hard Drive or Windows Device)
Your device comes congured as a Windows Device and will be immediately recognized by your computer if you are running Windows XP (with Service Pack 1 minimum) and Windows Media Player 10/11. If you have another version of Windows, not sure what version of Windows XP you have, or if you are using a Macintosh, then you will need to change the USB (Universal Serial Bus) Port setting on the Archos 204. You will do this by going to System and USB Port and change it to Hard Drive.
10.2 Connecting the Archos 204
Connection order: See the sections below for your particular computers operating system. 1) Turn on the Archos 204. 2) With your computer running, plug the USB cable into your computer. 3) Plug in the other end of the USB cable to the Archos 204 USB Device port (if your computer asks to install a new driver for the new hardware, then you must unplug it and change the USB Port to Hard Drive.) Windows XP Please verify* that you have Windows XP and it is updated it to at least, Service Pack 1. You must also have Windows Media Player 10 or 11 (WMP10/11) installed on your computer. This way, you can take advantage of connecting it as a Windows Device. Connect it to your PC as enumerated above and you can then see the Archos 204 in Windows Explorer and WMP10/11. Without Windows XP Service Pack 1 (a free update) or Windows Media 10/11, you cannot use it as a Windows recognized Device and will have to follow the instructions for Windows ME & 2000 below. * 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 Attention: Before connecting the Archos 204 to your computer with the USB cable, go to Setup>System>USB Port and change it to Hard Drive.
When connected to your computer, the Archos 204 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. You can now use the hard drive called Archos 204 like any other external hard drive. Simply access it using Windows Explorer to drag and drop les to and from the Archos 204s hard drive. If the Archos 204 is not automatically recognized and displayed as an external hard drive, please refer to the troubleshooting section at the back of this manual.
Macintosh OS X If you have OS X, you must update to version 10.3.9 or newer. You must also change the Archos 204s USB Port setting to Hard Drive. From the main menu, go to Setup>System>USB Port and change it to Hard Drive. You will now simply plug the Archos 204 into your Macintosh as enumerated above, and within a few seconds, the Archos 204 will be recognized as a mass storage device (Hard Drive) and mount on the desktop. You can now use the hard drive called Archos 204 like any other external hard drive.

Updating the Archos 204 Firmware
Archos periodically updates the rmware or Operating System (OS) and makes it available for free download on the ARCHOS website (www.archos.com). Updates to the Operating System include new features, feature improvements, and bug xes. You should check to make sure that you are running the most recent version of the OS. To see the current version of the software your device is running, go to Setup > System and look at the line OS Version. You will nd the most recent version of the OS and its version number at the Archos website (www. archos.com) under the category Software.
11.1 Download the A204.AOS le
When you click on the link to download the new OS le (the le name is A204. AOS), your browser may warn you that the contents of the download may harm your computer. This is because the Windows system does not know what an.AOS le is. Be assured that Archos has made every effort to ensure that the le does not contain viruses. Click on the option Save to download this le to a convenient place, such as My Documents, in order to later copy this le to your Archos 204. If your Archos 204 is connected to your PC, you can even save it directly to the Archos 204. You will also nd next to the rmware download, a text le which details the list of changes from the previous version of the OS.
11.2 Copy to Archos 204 root and Update
Connect your Archos 204 to your computer (See the chapter on connecting to the computer for help), and then copy the A204.AOS le to the root directory of the Archos 204. The root directory is the top most level of the directory hierarchy. Just drag this.AOS le onto the Archos 204 Hard drive in your le manager and it will place it in the top most directory (outside any folder). If there is already an older version of the A204.AOS le on your Archos 204, Windows will ask if you want to overwrite the current le. Click on Yes. Once this le is copied, safely disconnect Archos 204 from the computer. Refer to the disconnection procedure in the connection chapter if you are unsure of how to do this.
11.3 Hard Drive or Windows Device?
If your Archos 204 is seen as a hard drive, then you simply need to drag the A204.AOS le onto this icon, and Windows will place the le into the top most directory (root) of the Archos 204. It should not be placed inside any folder within your Archos 204. Once this le is copied, safely disconnect (refer to the chapter on Connecting/Disconnecting) the Archos 204 from the computer. If your Archos 204 is seen as a Windows Device, then you will have to open the Archos 204 Device in Windows Explorer and drop the A204.AOS into the Data folder (not the Media folder). If there is already an older version of the A204.AOS le on your Archos 204, Windows will ask if you want to overwrite the current le. Click on Yes. Disconnect the Archos 204 from your computer.

11.4 Activate the Update

On your Archos 204, go to Setup > System and select the [Update Firmware] line. Click ENTER. You will prompted to power the Archos 204 by either the USB cable connected to a turned-on computer, or the optional adapter/charger. The Archos 204 will now locate the update le and install it. A message will appear asking you to unplug the USB cable (if that is how you powered it) and then click on any button to restart the device. You can go to Setup > System to verify the new OS has been installed by looking at the version number there.
Warning! Never unplug the USB cable or DC-in adapter while the update is in progress. This can cause permanent damage to the unit.

Troubleshooting

12.1 USB Connection issues
Problem: I cannot get my Archos 204 to be recognized by the computer or it asks for a driver. Solutions: If you are running an operating system other than Windows XP (Service Pack 1 minimum) with Windows Media Player 10 or higher, the USB Port setting should be set to Hard Drive. Go to Setup > System > USB Port and set it to Hard Drive. Only Windows XP (Service Pack 1 or higher) with Windows Media Player 10 or higher will allow for the USB Port Windows Device setting. Shut off and reboot the computer and the Archos 204 and then try connecting again in the preferred order enumerated in the Chapter Connecting your Archos 204 to your computer. If using a USB hub, try connecting without using the hub (some hubs are not powered and may not work with the Archos 204). 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 users must update to OS 10.3.9 or higher. (Hard Drive mode) If the Files Allocation Table (FAT) gets corrupted, the Archos 204 may not show up in 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 XP may recognize the Archos 204 hard drive but yet not assign a drive letter to 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.