Black out I have an Archos 504 160g. I think I am having some type of idling problem. When I am listening to music, not pressing any of the buttons, the screen will shut off and idle (like normal). When I push any button to activate the screen, the screen will stay black, but the backlight will come on. I tried to shut the unit off, but the power button has no effect. It will stay on until the unit runs out of batteries. This does not happen all the time, but I was wondering if there was a safe way to turn it off. Thanks

that happened when i first got my mp4. i just left it on charge for a few hours and eventually it turned on. it should tell you when its fully charged.

theres two ways mine can turn on; (its most likely very different to yours though)
theres a little switch on the top of the player and you flick that to the left side. or if its been turned on recently, you can hold the play button. does the instructions say to press the ok button?

Looks like file system error due to change of location or some system file missing.

In this case I'd suggest that you reset the player and remove all songs and then transfer them again to your MP3 player. It will work.

Hope this helps.

A) Download the firmware from Archos and save it to your desktop (Make sure the file name on the desktop hasn't changed from the original download file name)

B) The Archos 705:
1- Connect the unit to its power source.
2- Start the unit in recovery mode: Press the TV button first then the power on/off and keep pressing TV button (do not release it)
3- The recovery mode will start (the screen that asks for repair or format etc…)
4- Select "Repair" by scrolling up and down with the TV Button (it is all explained to move through the menu at the top of the Archos screen) (Do not press "Format" at any time)
5- Now that you are on "Repair" select it to validate your selection
6- The unit will go to "Plug the unit etc…" plug it with the USB cable to the computer
8- Wait until Pc should recognizes your Archos (around 5 seconds)

C) Computer
1- From your computer select the firmware file you downloaded from the net and put it in your Archos (in the root folder, nowhere else, where it has the folders, music, videos, pictures etc… as a file)

D) On the Archos 705:
1- Select "Ok" on the Archos (on & off button) shortly to select and confirm the file is now on the Archos
2- you are done! The Archos 5 or 7 should now read through the file you have transferred and repair the system
3- DO NOT DISCONNECT the power cable until the process is finished
4- When done safely disconnect (as you usually do, for Mac trash the letter of the Archos to the bin or for PC's: right click the green icon bottom right of the screen for xp & vista)
5- Press on/off button to reboot

Your unit should restart with a fresh repaired, updated system like day one.
Good luck!

A) Download the firmware from Archos and save it to your desktop (Make sure the file name on the desktop hasn't changed from the original download file name)

B) The Archos 5 or 7:
1- Plug the unit to you computer via the USB cable.
2- The unit should start automatically and open the following page:
3- From the recovery console (the screen that asks for repair or format etc…)
4- Select "Repair" by scrolling up and down with the volume control on the right of the unit (Do not press "Format" at any time)
5- Now that you are on "Repair" press the on and off button, shortly to validate your selection
6- The unit will go to "Plug the unit etc…" but it is already plugged from point 1 - DO NOT press anything anymore on the Archos
8- Wait until Pc should recognizes your Archos (around seconds)

C) Computer
1- From your computer select the firmware file you downloaded from the net and put it in your Archos (in the root folder, nowhere else, where it has the folders, music, videos, pictures etc… as a file)

D) On the Archos 5 or 7
1- Select "Ok" on the Archos (on & off button) shortly to select and confirm the file is now on the Archos
2- you are done! The Archos 5 or 7 should now read through the file you have transferred and repair the system
3- DO NOT DISCONNECT the USB cable until the process is finished
4- when done safely disconnect (as you usually do, for Mac trash the letter of the Archos to the bin or for PC's: right click the green icon bottom right of the screen for xp & vista)
5- Press on/off button to reboot

Your unit should restart with a fresh repaired, updated system like day one.
Good luck!

from another forum on this site

Thanks and credit to eyez12 - the 2nd option below worked for me

try going to menu, settings, system, and then clicking the update ARCLibrary button, that was all it took for me.
if that doesn't work then go to repair and formatting tools and click "clear temp system files and cache"

Try using Real Player.

no i dont

did you rip it in itunes or wmp? it doesn't like itunes songs

connect the usb cable for your archos to a computer. it then should auto connect on your computer. from there, just copy paste anything you want to watch/listen to the appropriate folders. example: video (for tv & movies), music, etc

1. Connect the archos to the TV ( using the 3 leads red/yellow/white into the TV or DVD player) and the other end of the lad, a single jack into the back of the archos mini set-top box. Plug the single jack into the "RV Output". 2. Then start playing a movie on the archos. 3. Then press down on the flat silver button on the top of the archos device. Your screen should turn black/blank. This means your sending your movie to your TV. 4. Tune your TV to find the Archos movie in the same way you would tune your TV to find another pay TV set-top box ( like cable TV or Satelite). Problem solved. 
You can use the same steps to send archos music to your steroe. Just plug the audio leads (white & red) into your stereo instead of your TV.