Quick Start & Users Guide

From TallPine® Technologies, Inc.

Introduction

This guide is intended to be a quick reference for connecting and using your SampSonic ™ Audio & Photo Jukebox. Your SampSonic is a quiet, full function computer. It has Windows XP, lots of memory, a large hard drive, a fast processor, a network card, a CD player/burner, remote keyboard and remote control. It is intended for use with your TV and home audio system. With a SampSonic you can store and view your digital photo library and listen to your recorded music collection from the comfort of your living room. It provides a powerful way to save and organize your digital photos and to record and enjoy your CD music library.

The SampSonic software is a multi-page application that works much like a WEB site. This guide describes the function of each page as it appears.

Your SampSonic is based on the latest Java/XML based SmartWidgets® technology from TallPine® Technologies, Inc.

Using Your SampSonic System

Make sure the power cord and all required cables are connected. There are instructions for connecting your SampSonic later in this document. Turn on your system by pressing the button in the front-center of your system. When it is turned on, the system will boot Windows XP and automatically start the SampSonic Software. This may take 30 to 45 seconds. You will see the following screens:

Windows XP followed by the home page of the SampSonic Software.

The SampSonic is a single click system meaning that any time you want to select something with the remote or the keyboard buttons you point and click once. The SampSonic interface is similar to a Web site in that it consists of several pages that are linked together. Theses pages give you access to all the functions you need to capture, select and view your photos and to record, select and play your music.

SampSonic Home Page

The SampSonic will return to the Home page any time the Home button is pressed or you press the space key. The home page gives you access to music, photo and CD functions as well as system setup functions and the slide show.

The first time you run your SampSonic you may want to check the system settings by clicking on the Setup button. You can change the button styles, set several audio and video parameters, and configure where your SampSonic will look for music and photo files.

The Music button takes you to the Music Menu page that allows you to play music and perform other music library related functions.

The Photo button will take you to the Photos Menu page that allows you to select and view photos as well as perform other photo related functions.

The CD Player button will take you to a CD Player Menu page that allows you to perform CD related functions including recording a CD and adding it to your music library.

The Slide Show button will take you to a full screen slide show page presenting your currently selected photos. If your slide show has not been started this page may be blank.

The Min button will shrink the SampSonic page and reveal the Windows desktop. You can then run any standard Windows program, for example browse the Internet or burn a CD.

The Setup button will take you to the main setup page.

The How To button allows you to get help performing many common tasks such as recording a CD, playing music or capturing photos.

The Exit button ends the SampSonic software and returns you to the Windows desktop.

Music Menu Page

The Music Menu page displays the currently playing song information in the bars along with the source of the currently playing music. The track progress is displayed in the upper left. The Now Playing list displays all the currently playing music. This can include individual songs, CDs or playlists. The buttons along the bottom control the playing of the music in the list.

Home: Takes you to the SampSonic Home page.

Jukebox: Takes you to the Jukebox menu page.

All CDs: Takes you to the All CDs menu page.

Playlists: Takes you to the Playlists menu page.

Stop: Stops and clears the Now Playing music selection.

Photos: Starts a photo slideshow in the box that normally contains the Now Playing list.

Options: Takes you to the Music Options page.

Help: Provides help with playing music.

Shuffle: Toggles shuffle mode on or off. When shuffle is on the list of Now Playing music and the song order is shuffled. The number of songs from each CD or playlist is determined by the music options.

Repeat: Toggles repeat mode on or off. When repeat mode is on the Now Playing music will be played continuously. When the end of the Now Playing list is reached it will be started again. When shuffle is on, all songs will be played before any song is repeated.

Player Control Buttons

The buttons along the bottom allow you to control the playing of your Now Playing music. Pressing the Play button will begin playing. The Pause button will suspend playing. The Rewind button will start the current song at the beginning. The Fast button allows you to move fast forward and backwards within the current song. The Track button switches to the next track. The Next CD button moves to the next CD or playlist in the Now Playing list. The Favorite button adds the currently playing song to a playlist named ‘Favorites’. This is a simple way to remember a song that you may want to go back to later.

Photos Menu Page

The information along the top of the screen describes the photo you are currently seeing. You can click on the photo and do several things with it including print it on an available printer or add it to an album. The buttons along the bottom allow you to control the current slideshow.

You can view individual photo albums, photo volumes, or a slide show consisting of selected volumes and albums. Note: photo volumes are collections of photos that were captured from a CD ROM, photo memory card, digital camera, or other device. When you think of a volume think of a roll of film. Photo albums are collections of photos that are assembled by you from the photos in photo volumes.

Home: Takes you to the SampSonic Home page.

Slideshow: Shows you a list of the photo volumes and albums that are currently included in the slideshow and allows you manage it.

Albums: Shows you a list of your photo albums and allows you to add them, select them etc. Remember, an album is a collection of photos selected from any number of volumes. The same photo can be placed in any number of albums.

Volumes: Shows you a list of your photo volumes and allows you to select or view them. Volumes are created when you use the capture function and are collections of photos residing in a folder in your photo library. Remember, volumes are like rolls of film.

Options: Takes you to the Photo Options page.

Help: Provides help with viewing photos.

Shuffle: Toggles shuffle mode on or off. When shuffle is on the list of selected volumes and albums is shuffled. The number of photos presented from each volume or album is determined by the photo options.

Repeat: Toggles repeat mode on or off. When repeat mode is on the selected

photos will be presented continuously. When the end of the list is reached it will be started again. When shuffle is on, all photos will be presented before any photo is repeated.

View Control Buttons

The buttons along the bottom allow you to control the slideshow of your selected photos. Pressing the Begin button will start the slide show from the beginning.

Pressing the Start button will start the slideshow from its current position. The Pause button will suspend the slideshow. The Rewind button will restart the current volume or album at the beginning. The Next button switches to the next photo. The Next Vol button moves to the next volume or album in your selection. The Stop button stops the slide show.

CD Player Page

This page displays information about the Audio CD currently in your CD ROM drive. It also shows information about the currently playing song. The buttons along the bottom allow you to control playing of this CD. You can play the entire CD or select and play tracks. The SampSonic has title information for over half a million CD titles in an internal CDDB database. You can obtain updates for this database from TallPine Technologies, Inc. or use your Internet connection to use CDDB function directly. You are always free to add to or change the information that is initially used.

Home: Takes you to the SampSonic Home page.

Info: Updates the CD information displayed on this page by re-reading the CD.

Stop: Stops playing the CD if it is playing and resets the CD ROM drive.

Rewind: Returns you to the beginning of the first track.

Record: Takes you to the Record page that allows you to record a CD.

Eject: Opens the CD Drive door and ejects the CD.

Shuffle: Toggle Shuffle mode on or off.

Repeat: Toggle Repeat mode on or off.

Player Control Buttons

The buttons along the bottom allow you to control the playing of your selected music. Pressing the Play button will update your selection and begin playing. The Pause button will suspend playing. The Rewind button will start the current song at the beginning. The Fast button allows you to move fast forward and backwards within the current song. The Track button switches to the next track. The Favorite button adds the currently playing song to a playlist named ‘Favorites’. This is a simple way to remember a song that you may want to go back to later.

If you press the Play button, the music source will be set to CD Player and the highlighted entries will begin playing.

Photo Albums Page

The Photo Albums page allows you to select photo albums for the slideshow or to view or edit album information. The items in the list that are shown with the black checked boxes are albums that are currently selected for the slideshow. The items with a white box and text are highlighted entries. You can highlight an item by pointing at it and clicking once. You can reverse this by clicking again. You can tailor the list by selecting categories or keywords.

The Done button returns you to the Photo Menu page.

The All – None allows you to highlight all or none of the list items. The left half of the button highlights all items, the right half highlights none of the items.

The – Slides + button allows you to select (add to slideshow), unselect (remove from slideshow) currently highlighted items, or go to the Slideshow Menu page. The left (-) part of the button removes items, the right (+) part of the button adds items, and the center (Slides) part of the button takes you to the Slideshow Menu page.

The O View o button will display the most recently highlighted album in a contact sheet style. The left (O) part of the button will display a large photo format contact sheet. The right part (o) will display a small photo format contact sheet.

The O Arrange o button will display the most recently highlighted album in a contact sheet style and allow you to arrange the photos in an album, select photos for other albums, remove unwanted photos or copy selected photos to a photo CD. The left (O) part of the button will display a large photo format contact sheet. The right part (o) will display a small photo format contact sheet.

The Edit button will allow you to edit information about the most recently highlighted album.

The New button will create a new photo album named ‘–New Album’. This album will be placed at the top of the list as shown in above picture. You can then use the edit function to customize it.

The Remove button will remove highlighted albums. The albums are not deleted from your hard drive but rather are placed in the SampSonic trash. To physically delete the files you must delete them from the trash.

The Photo CD button will copy the photos in the highlighted albums to the photo CD folder. The size of the photos copied is controlled by photo options settings.

Photo Volumes Page

The Photo Volumes page allows you to select photo volumes for the slideshow or to view or edit volume information. The items in the list that are shown with the black checked boxes are volumes that are currently selected for the slideshow. The items with a white box and text are highlighted entries. You can highlight an item by pointing at it and clicking once. You can reverse this by clicking again. You can tailor the list by selecting categories or keywords.

The Done button returns you to the Photo Menu page.

The All – None allows you to highlight all or none of the list items. The left half of the button highlights all items, the right half highlights none of the items.

The – Slides + button allows you to select (add to slideshow), unselect (remove from slideshow) currently highlighted items, or go to the Slideshow Menu page. The left (-) part of the button removes items, the right (+) part of the button adds items, and the center (Slides) part of the button takes you to the Sideshow Menu page.

The O View o button will display the most recently highlighted volume in a contact sheet style. The left (O) part of the button will display a large photo format contact sheet. The right part (o) will display a small photo format contact sheet.

The O Choose o button will display the most recently highlighted volume in a contact sheet style and allow you select photos for albums, remove unwanted pictures or copy selected photos to a photo CD. The left (O) part of the button will display a large photo format contact sheet. The right part (o) will display a small photo format contact sheet.

The Add button will allow you to add highlighted volumes to one or more photo albums. All the photos in the highlighted volumes are added to the albums you select.

The Edit button will allow you to edit information about the most recently highlighted volume.

The Remove button will remove highlighted volumes. The volumes are not deleted from you hard drive but are placed in the SampSonic trash. To physically delete the files you must delete them from the trash.

The Photo CD button will copy the photos in the highlighted volumes to the photo CD folder. The size of the photos copied is controlled by photo options settings.

The Volume CD button will make a copy the highlighted volumes in the photo CD folder. You can then make a volume backup CD by burning the contents of the photo CD folder onto a CD. These backup copies of the volumes are complete and can be used to restore a volume at a later date or can be loaded onto any SampSonic using the Load function on the Photo Options Page

Music All CDs Page

The Msic All CDs page displays a list of all recorded CDs and allows you to select which music CDs you will hear or to view or edit the CD information. The items in the list that are shown with the black checked boxes are CDs that are currently available in the music Jukebox. The items with the white box and text are highlighted items. You can highlight an item by pointing at it and clicking once. You can reverse this by clicking again. You can tailor the list by selecting artists, genres or keywords.

The Done button returns you to the Music Menu page.

The All – None allows you to highlight all or none of the list items. The left half of the button highlights all items, the right half highlights none of the items.

The – Jukebox + button allows you to add or remove CDs from the jukebox as well as go to the Jukebox Menu page. The right (+) part of the button will add all currently highlighted CDs to the Jukebox. The left (-) part of the button will remove all currently highlighted CDs from the Jukebox. The center part of the button will take you to the Jukebox Menu page.

The View button will display the most recently highlighted CD.

The Add button will allow you to add the highlighted volumes to one or more playlists.

The Edit button will allow you to edit information about the most recently highlighted CD.

The Remove button will remove the highlighted CDs. The CDs are placed in the SampSonic trash. To physically delete the files you must delete them from the trash. The trash is accessible from the Music Options page.

The Audio CD button will copy the highlighted CDs to the Audio CD folder. You can then use the Audio CD folder contents to burn either an Audio CD or a MP3 CD.

Shuffle: Toggles shuffle mode on or off. When shuffle is on the list of now playing music and the song order is shuffled. The number of songs from each CD or playlist is determined by the music options.

Repeat: Toggles repeat mode on or off. When repeat mode is on the selected music will be played continuously. When the end of the now playing list is reached it will be started again. When shuffle is on, all songs will be played before any song is repeated.

Player Control Buttons

The buttons along the bottom allow you to control the playing of your selected music. Pressing the Play button will update your selection and begin playing. The Pause button will suspend playing. The Rewind button will start the current song at the beginning. The Fast button allows you to move fast forward and backwards within the current song. The Track button switches to the next track. The Next CD button moves to the next CD or playlist in your current selection. The Favorite button adds the currently playing song to a playlist named ‘favorites’. This is a simple way to remember a song that you may want to go back to later.

If you press the Play button, the music source will be set to All CDs and the highlighted entries will begin playing.

CD Player Record Page

This page allows you edit information about a CD in your CD Drive, record the CD and add it to your music library.

The SampSonic has a built in library of over 500,000 CD titles that it can use to find information about your CD. If it is not found there and you are connected to the Internet, it will go to the Internet to find information about your CD using industry standard CDDB protocol.

The Rip button begins the process of recording the CD in your CD Drive. Record progress is shown at the top of the page. This process will take from 6 to 12 minutes. When complete you will see the CD in your Music All CDs list. While the recording process is active you are free to listen to music or view photos. The recording will take place in the background.

The Edit button allows you to add or change track information. Highlight the track you want to change and press edit. When all the information is the way you want it you can press the Save button and continue.

The Abort button will terminate the recording of your CD. You can restart this process later if you wish. The CD information is not discarded.

Main Setup Page

Window Frame: Allows you to make the window resizable. Normally this should be set to ‘no’.

Window Width and Height: Allows you to set the window dimensions. This is normally set to the standard SVGA resolution of 800 by 600 pixels.

CD Rom Drive Letter: This is the drive letter that will be used for playing a music CD. This is normally ‘E’ on a SampSonic system unit.

CD Rom Rip Drive Number: CD ROM devices are numbered on your system starting at 0. If you have two drives the first will be 0 and the second will be 1. This setting is the drive number to use for ripping/recording music CDs. This is normally 0 on a SampSonic system unit.

CD Rom Play Drive Number: This setting is the drive number to use for playing music CDs. This is normally 0 on a SampSonic system unit.

Popup Tooltips: Allows you to turn tooltips off and on. Tooltips can cause some annoying screen flicker so once you are familiar with the interface you will probably want to turn them off.

Color Style: Allows you to select one of many color styles. These styles are defined in XML files located in your SampSonic folder. You can change these if you so desire.

Internet Connection: If you have an active Internet connection via the network card you can set this to yes and the SampSonic will use it to get the latest CD title information. If you do not have an active connection you should set this to no.

Lock Libraries: When the libraries are locked all changes made to you SampSonic are temporary. When you restart your unit all information will be returned to its previous state. When you are capturing and labeling photos or recording music you should make sure the libraries are unlocked. Lock the libraries only when you are concerned that someone using the system may cause harm to your contents. Locked libraries are a good idea during parties or when you have guests!

Apply: Saves the current settings.

Cancel: Discards any changes you made on this page.

Photo: Displays the Photo Options page.

Music: Displays the Music Options page.

Buttons: Allows you to select a different button style.

Log: Opens the log file. This is for diagnostic purposes.

Photo Options Page

The photo options page provides access to photo library management functions. These functions include refreshing your library, capturing new volumes and restoring/loading volumes from CD. You can also set a number of important photo related parameters.

Number of Pictures per Volume: Allows you to specify how many photos from each photo album or volume to display in the slideshow before going on to the next. This is used when shuffle mode is selected. If you specify zero, all photos from each album or volume will be displayed before switching to the next.

Seconds per picture: Specifies how long each photo is displayed in the slideshow.

Contact Sheet Size: Allows you to select the number of photos to display on a large photo format contact sheet. This is used when you are viewing either photo albums or volumes.

Picture Store Path: This is the location where all photo volumes will be stored when they are captured.

Picture Library Path: The location where your picture library resides. This is normally the same as the store path but it can be different. Photo volumes from both the store path and the library path are accessible.

Photo CD Folder: Points to the directory where selected photos will be copied for the purposes of making a photo CD or collecting photos to send to someone. This folder is also used when creating volume backup CDs.

Clear CD Folder: Determines whether the Photo CD Folder is cleared each time the Photo CD or Volume CD function is performed.

Photo CD Quality: Allows you to select the resolutions of the photos to be copied to the Photo CD folder. When a photo is added to your SampSonic library the original is stored along with 3 intermediate resolution thumbnails. Any or all of these can be copied to the Photo CD folder.

Apply: Saves the current settings.

Cancel: Discards any changes you made on this page.

Refresh: Scans your store and library paths and recreates the photo catalog. This option is useful when you manually copy photos to your library folders from another computer, folder or CD and want to make them visible using your SampSonic program. This option can also be used if you need to rebuild your library for any other reason

Capture: Adds photos to your SampSonic photo library. Photos are normally captured from either a CD ROM or from a digital camera. The process of capturing photos is described in more detail elsewhere.

Load: Allows you to add or restore volumes to your SampSonic photo library from a previously created Volume backup CD.

Clear: Will clear the photo CD folder when pressed.

Trash: Display the contents of the photo trash bin. When photo items are removed they are not actually deleted from your system. If you wish to remove them from your system and thereby free up the space they occupy, this is where you do it.

Shuffle: Allow you to turn on and off shuffle mode. When shuffle mode is on, photos in the slideshow are displayed in a random order.

Repeat: Allow you to turn on and off repeat mode. When repeat mode is on, the slideshow will restart when all selected photos have been displayed.

Music Options Page

The music options page provides access to music library management functions. These functions include refreshing your library, clearing you Audio CD folder, and accessing the music trash. You can also set a number of important music related parameters.

Number of Songs per Volume: Allows you to specify how many songs you want to hear from each CD or playlist before automatically switching to the next. If you specify zero, all songs from each CD or playlist will be played before switching to the next.

Music Store Path: This is the location where all recorded music CDs will be stored.

Music Library Path: The location where your music library resides. This is normally the same as the store path but it can be different. Music volumes from both the store path and the library path are selectable.

Mp3 Music Import Path: When you get your SampSonic unit/software you may already have a large collection of MP3 recorded music. You can access these songs by pointing at the folder that contains them. The refresh operation will scan all folders starting at this path and add the music to the SampSonic library. The folder can reside on any network accessible drive.

Audio CD Folder Path: Points to the directory where selected songs will be copied for the purposes of making an audio CD.

Audio CD Folder Organization: Allows you or organize the audio CD folder by Artist, Album or Genre. This is important when creating MP3 Audio CDs.

Update MP3 Headers: Determines whether the MP3 header information is updated during a refresh operation. The MP3 headers contain artist, title and album information that is useful when transferring music to another program or portable device. The headers are always created when music is recorded and only needs to be updated if you edit the title information after you initially record the music. This is a time consuming process and should only be done when necessary.

Clear CD Folder: Determines whether the Music CD Folder is cleared each time the Photo CD function is performed.

Apply: Saves the current settings.

Cancel: Discards any changes you made on this page.

Refresh: Scans your store and library paths and recreates the music library. This option is useful when you have added music to your MP3 music import path and want to use it with your SampSonic program. This option can also be used if you need to rebuild your library for any other reason

Clear: Will clear the music CD folder when pressed.

Trash: Display the contents of the photo trash bin. When photo items are removed they are not actually deleted from your system. If you wish to remove them from your system and thereby free up the space they occupy, this is where you do it.

Shuffle: Allow you to turn on and off shuffle mode. When shuffle mode is on, selected songs are played in a random order.

Repeat: Allow you to turn on and off repeat mode. When repeat mode is on, music will play continuously. Selected songs will repeat after all have been played.

Connecting Your SampSonic System

In order to use your SampSonic system you must:

1. Connect the keyboard, remote control and power cord to your system

2. Connect your system to your network (optional).

3. Connect your system to your TV or home theater system.

1 - Connect the power cord, keyboard and remote control wires to your system as shown:

2 - If you have a home network you can connect the system using a standard Ethernet cable as shown:

3 - Connect your system to your TV or home theater system.

3a - Connect the video output cable to your system as shown:

Use the S-Video connection if possible. It is a higher quality connection.

If you do not have an S-Video input on your TV or theater system you may use the composite video connection as shown:

3b - Connect the audio output cable to your system. This can be a digital COAX output, Digital Optical output, or an analog output.

Use the digital input on your TV or theater system if possible. Please note that there is some variation between units with regard to the audio output options. If your unit has a digital optical interface you may use that, however it is not shown below.

If you do not have a digital input then you may use standard analog output as shown:

Once everything is connected a typical system will look something like this: