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Troubleshooting
Problem: What do I do if I try to disconnect via the green arrow but keep getting “The
device ‘Generic Volume’ cannot be stopped now. Try stopping the device again
later.”
Answer: Use the green arrow a second time. Sometimes Windows® does not update
its status. Shut off any program that might be accessing data on the Gmini, including
Windows® Explorer. If this does not work, shut down all programs, wait 20 seconds, then
try the green arrow again. If this does not work, you should shut down the computer and
disconnect the USB cable once the computer is off.
Problem: When I plug the Gmini into my computer, I do not see a new hard drive icon
on the screen.
Solution: Use the troubleshooting section USB Connection Issues above.
Problem: I have Windows® XP and a USB 2.0 port, yet my fi le transfer rates are very slow.
Solution: The original version of XP does not have native support for USB 2.0. You must
update your Windows® XP to a minimum of SP1 (Service Pack 1) in order for it to transfer
fi les at the full USB 2.0 port capacity.
Problem: The Gmini shuts off by itself.
Solution: This is normal. If you are not playing music or using it, it will automatically shut off
based on the automatic power-off parameters in the Power submenu. Go to the menu
[Setup Power] where you can adjust the Power off parameter.
Problem: The Gmini locks-up. None of the buttons react.
Solution: Did you set the Gmini to ‘lock’ mode? This is the mode that blocks the buttons
from functioning so that you can put the Gmini in your pocket or backpack without
worrying about buttons getting accidentally pressed. Hold down for three seconds
on the Menu button to unlock all the buttons. The other possibility is an electrostatic
phenomena. That is, static electricity has temporarily knocked out the Gmini. Hold down
on the POWER button for 15 seconds and the Gmini will shut off. Restart it normally now.
Problem: When I go to the Music icon in the main menu, I cannot see the mp3 fi les or
albums that I just put into the Gmini.
Solution: The Gmini’s ARCLibrary must be rewritten to the Gmini each time new music fi les
are transferred to the device. You can refresh (update) the ARCLibrary by connecting
your Gmini to the computer, starting up the program MusicMatch™, and then select
View > Portable Device Manager. By doing this, MusicMatch™ will look at the contents
of the Gmini hard drive and take into account any new fi les you have copied to it and
then refresh the ARCLibrary on the Gmini accordingly. MusicMatch™ will tell you when
the update process is complete. Properly disconnect your Gmini from computer. Your
new fi les will now be visible in the ARCLibrary.
9.2 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning
Problem: On the Gmini, I fi nd new fi le names and folder names that I never created or they
have strange gibberish names.
Answer: Most likely, the Gmini’s fi le allocation table (FAT) has been corrupted. This could have
been due to a shut down while the Gmini was connected to your computer. To fi x a corrupted
FAT problem, you should use the Error Checking utility or the Check Disk utility explained at the
end of this section. Attention: Windows and Macintosh often write extra fi les to the hard drive
such as fi nder.def or System volume info. These are normal and will not harm the Gmini.
Problem: I have been using my Gmini to transfer fi les back and forth between different
computers. Will defragmenting the Gmini hard drive do any harm to it?
Solution: Defragmenting the Gmini hard drive may actually be useful after having transferred
many fi les to and from the Gmini. It is never harmful to use the Windows® defragmenter
utility on the Gmini. Make sure no other program is running while using the Windows®
defragmenter utility. Make sure you power the Gmini with the external power adapter during
this procedure.
Problem: I have copied fi les to my Gmini via USB from my computer, but now I cannot see
these fi les on the device.
Solution: You have probably transferred a fi le which the Gmini cannot play, for example a
PDF, MOV, or DOC fi le. Go to the System Settings under Setup on the main screen and you
will fi nd a parameter called Show All Files. If you set it to On, the Gmini will show all fi les, even
if it cannot play the fi le (you must browse via the browser mode from the main menu screen).
The browser will show a ? icon indicating that it is not one of the standard fi le types that it can
play.
Problem: I want to reformat the hard drive of the Gmini.
Solution: You can do this, but it will erase ALL of the data on your Gmini. Also note that Windows®
will only format up to 32GB on your device, thus if you have a 40GB or higher model, you will
only have 32GB of space after reformatting. You will have to use a third party formatting utility.
First, as explained above, you should run ScanDisk or the DOS chkdsk (Check Disk) program
to try to fi x your problem. These will solve your problems 99% of the time. Remember that you
should create at a minimum, the root level directory Music in order for the Music icon to drop
you into that directory. Note that Windows® XP and 2000 will, by default, format your Gmini
hard drive in the NTFS fi le format. This will make the Gmini unusable. Make sure you tell it to
format the hard drive in FAT32 format. Further, if the hard drive is 40GB, XP can only format in
FAT32 up to 32GB, thus, you will loose 8GB of storage space. You will need to use a third part
software such as Paritition Magic™ or Norton Utilities™ to format the entire 40GB of hard drive
space in the FAT32 format. Note: FAT is not the same thing as FAT32.
Problem: I would like to partition the Gmini hard drive.
Solution: If you know how to partition a hard drive, this is OK. The Gmini will, however, only
recognize the fi rst FAT32 partition. Thus it will just see and use that partition of the hard drive. The
size of that partition depends, of course, on what you set it to when you partition the hard drive.
Troubleshooting