PPT2000 - strange sound failure - EUREKA!

[valleysboy]

I think I have finally solved the strange problems I was seeing when trying
to play mp3s and movies within PPT - before I get to the detail I'd like to
thank everyone who suggested various solutions - although none of them fully
solved the problem they all gave another clue as to what might be happening
(and I certainly understand PPT a lot better now!).

Steve Rindsberg's idea re checking the links was the final piece of the
jigsaw - although the links were all fine, seeing them written down made me
think of something and I finally stumbled onto the solution.

It seems that there is a limit of 128 characters regarding the length of the
link/path. This is the case for both sound and movie files. Less than or
equal to 128 and they work fine. Greater than 128 and the result is silence
(for sound) or a blank white frame (for movies).

Although 128 chars seems like a lot, by the time you combine several layers
of folders with descriptive filenames it's surprising just how long links
can become!

I've spent some time experimenting, using files of various types from
various locations. If they work in MPLAY32.EXE they work in PPT - as long as
the length of the link is less than or equal to 128.

I'd be grateful if someone could verify that this is correct on other
setups - my setup is PPT2000 running under XP PRO. I guess the limit may
have disappeared in later versions? - or then again, perhaps not?

Thanks again all

Valleysboy

PS. I still have the thin black line at the topLH side of the screen
when playing sound files - I'm learning to live with it
___________________________________________________________________

Some files will play, others won't. All files play OK in media player
(mplayer2.exe), they are all mp3 files, recorded at the same bit rate by the
same programme (Musicmatch).

I moved all files into the same directory as the PPT show, and they all
worked.

Since this works, I'd probably go with it. Just leave the files in the
same directory instead of moving them to a sub-directory.

This could be a path link issue or something else (dunno what, though).
But if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Oh, those Musicmatch MP3 files don't use a variable bitrate, do they?
That could be the problem. Just ran into (and therefore learned about)
that recently. I think mplay32.exe doesn't always "report" those
correctly to PPT or something...

I then copied them into a sub-directory of the PPT show directory - most
work, some won't.

It all seems a bit bizarre....

I have also noticed, that when I play a sound file a thin black line about 2
pixels deep appears in the top left hand corner of the screen, stretching
about a third of the way across the screen. This appears whether the sound
file plays or not. Further inspection shows this happens when in slide view
as well as when in presentation view.

This is truly bizarre. I wonder if it's just a coincidental display
issue. (It sounds almost as if you have an error dialog box trying to
appear or something!) Try changing hardware acceleration and see if that
helps. Instrux at http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00129.htm If not,
you could try updating your video drivers and experimenting with color
depth in your monitor display settings.

I'm not at all sure whats going on - any ideas gratefully accepted. If I
ever get this properly sorted I'll post an explanation back here....

Thanks for keeping the rest of the thread information below -- it really
helped in this case, as I can't seem to locate the original thread right
now.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Thanks for the final report. Link failures due to long paths is a known
problem, but it seems that the length of the path may vary on different
systems. In any case, Shortness is next to Goodliness. (Wonder what Randy
Newman would make of that?)