Sound doesn't play in PowerPoint presentations

[Loetek]

I know this may sound stupid, but for the life of me I have not been able to
figure out why when I play a PowerPoint slide show that is suppose to have
sound, I don't hear anything? I have sent the same PP slide shows to others
and they play fine (with sound) on their systems. I am running Windows XP,
SP2 and Office XP (PowerPoint 2002), SP3. I have uninstalled ALL my media
players except Microsoft Media Player 10. I have even uninstalled and
reinstalled PowerPoint and Media Player. Nothing works! When I open
PowerPoint and then open a presentation with sound, it comes up with "no
sound" selected. Even after I select the appropriate sound track, it still
won't play! I also changed the "Link sounds with file size" option to 50000
kb. I am running out of ideas here. Anybody got any suggestions as to what
is wrong?

 

[John Fallon]

Try downloading PFC at: http://www.pfcmedia.com
Then insert the file through the addin.
Hope this helps!!!

 

[Loetek]

Thanks John. I tried the download, but it didn't change anything. I still
don't hear the music playing in the background during PowerPoint slide shows.
I have also downloaded both Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer 97 and PowerPoint
Viewer 2003. None of them will play the background music.

Could it be some security setting, cookie setting, etc???

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Austin Myers]

What is the source of the media? I am guessing you are trying to play from
a CD and not a file on your hard dirve. Is that correct?

Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

PowerPoint Video and PowerPoint Sound Solutions www.pfcmedia.com

 

[Loetek]

Hi Austin,

The source is already embedded in the PowerPoint presentaion. I received it
via e-mail from someone, and they said to listen to the lovely music - but I
never heard any music. Later, I received another presentation that had music
embedded in it also, but again I couldn't hear anything.

I am not trying to create anything - just hear the background music that
other people hear when they play the presentation.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Loetek]

They either say so on the first slide (like turn up your speakers for this
one) or someone has sent me back a reply telling me how nice the music was
during the presentation. But I never heard anthing??? I also e-mailed a
couple to friends to see if they played music, and they did.

Like I said, this one has me stumped. I have tried disabling various
programs to see if something was interfering - no luck.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Loetek]

Steve,

Where do I find the sound file? Do you mean from within PowerPoint? There
is a drop-down box there to select sounds, but I can't do a right-click on
it...

They either say so on the first slide (like turn up your speakers for this
one) or someone has sent me back a reply telling me how nice the music was
during the presentation.

Neither really means that the sound is embedded. It might be linked.

Rightclick the sound, choose Edit Sound Object.
Under Information, look at "File:"
It says [Contained in presentation] if the sound's embedded or gives a path to
the file.

If there's a path, the file needs to be on exactly the same path on your
computer or it won't work.

Let's start there ... what does it say?

 

[Loetek]

Under Slide Transition, when I select EddieVanHalen~TopGunTheme, I get
nothing! I can select other sounds and they play fine - just not the one I
am suppose to hear...

Thanks,
Mike

Steve,

Where do I find the sound file?

Ah, sorry. Normally when you insert a sound file, there's a little icon
representing the file. These sounds might have been added as narration or
transition sounds, though, so it's hard to tell which you have.

Check Slide Show, Slide Transition ... what's the name of the transition sound if
any?




Do you mean from within PowerPoint? There

is a drop-down box there to select sounds, but I can't do a right-click on
it...

They either say so on the first slide (like turn up your speakers for this
one) or someone has sent me back a reply telling me how nice the music was
during the presentation.

Neither really means that the sound is embedded. It might be linked.

Rightclick the sound, choose Edit Sound Object.
Under Information, look at "File:"
It says [Contained in presentation] if the sound's embedded or gives a path to
the file.

If there's a path, the file needs to be on exactly the same path on your
computer or it won't work.

Let's start there ... what does it say?

-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

 

[Loetek]

Hi Steve, Thanks for all your help, but can you tell me why it works on
other people's computers? Do you think it has anything to do with security on
my computer? That was just one example I gave you. I have never (that I can
remember) heard music background in a PowerPoint presentation.

Thanks,
Mike

Under Slide Transition, when I select EddieVanHalen~TopGunTheme, I get
nothing! I can select other sounds and they play fine - just not the one I
am suppose to hear...

That may be a DRM (Digital Rights Management) problem. Some files are protected
against distribution to anyone who hasn't bought the CD/tune from a download service.

Thanks,
Mike

Steve,

Where do I find the sound file?

Ah, sorry. Normally when you insert a sound file, there's a little icon
representing the file. These sounds might have been added as narration or
transition sounds, though, so it's hard to tell which you have.

Check Slide Show, Slide Transition ... what's the name of the transition sound if
any?




Do you mean from within PowerPoint? There
is a drop-down box there to select sounds, but I can't do a right-click on
it...

:

They either say so on the first slide (like turn up your speakers for this
one) or someone has sent me back a reply telling me how nice the music was
during the presentation.

Neither really means that the sound is embedded. It might be linked.

Rightclick the sound, choose Edit Sound Object.
Under Information, look at "File:"
It says [Contained in presentation] if the sound's embedded or gives a path to
the file.

If there's a path, the file needs to be on exactly the same path on your
computer or it won't work.

Let's start there ... what does it say?



-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

 

[Loetek]

Steve,

I saved the presentation as a web page, as you suggested. In the folder it
created, there were (2) wav files. One was called sound001.wav and the other
v3_sound001.wav. I can play both of them in Windows Media Player. When I
tried to insert one of them into the presentation, it still doesn't play
anything??? Is there a setting which allows wav files to play in PowerPoint
or anything like that?

One thing you might try: save the presentation as a web page.
That'll create one html file and a folder full of support files.
Rummage around in that folder to see if there are some sound files ... if there aren't any,
then it's likely that the sound was not embedded in the PPT.

If there ARE sound files, try playing them in the Windows MCI player (choose Start, run and
type MPLAY32.EXE to start it)

Hi Steve, Thanks for all your help, but can you tell me why it works on
other people's computers? Do you think it has anything to do with security on
my computer? That was just one example I gave you. I have never (that I can
remember) heard music background in a PowerPoint presentation.

Thanks,
Mike

Under Slide Transition, when I select EddieVanHalen~TopGunTheme, I get
nothing! I can select other sounds and they play fine - just not the one I
am suppose to hear...

That may be a DRM (Digital Rights Management) problem. Some files are protected
against distribution to anyone who hasn't bought the CD/tune from a download service.




Thanks,
Mike

:

Steve,

Where do I find the sound file?

Ah, sorry. Normally when you insert a sound file, there's a little icon
representing the file. These sounds might have been added as narration or
transition sounds, though, so it's hard to tell which you have.

Check Slide Show, Slide Transition ... what's the name of the transition sound if
any?




Do you mean from within PowerPoint? There
is a drop-down box there to select sounds, but I can't do a right-click on
it...

:

They either say so on the first slide (like turn up your speakers for this
one) or someone has sent me back a reply telling me how nice the music was
during the presentation.

Neither really means that the sound is embedded. It might be linked.

Rightclick the sound, choose Edit Sound Object.
Under Information, look at "File:"
It says [Contained in presentation] if the sound's embedded or gives a path to
the file.

If there's a path, the file needs to be on exactly the same path on your
computer or it won't work.

Let's start there ... what does it say?



-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================





-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

 

[Loetek]

Hi Steve,

Well I worked my way through the website you suggested. I made the
appropriate changes to my system.ini and win.ini files, but then I discovered
that those files aren't really used in Windows XP. So then I went into the
Registry and made the same changes in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32 and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI
Extensions.

Same thing as before - no sound! What in the world am I doing wrong, and how
do I get PowerPoint and MCI back to their original state???

Thanks,
Mike Newman

Steve,

I saved the presentation as a web page, as you suggested. In the folder it
created, there were (2) wav files. One was called sound001.wav and the other
v3_sound001.wav. I can play both of them in Windows Media Player. When I
tried to insert one of them into the presentation, it still doesn't play
anything???

That narrows the problem down a good bit. See, PPT doesn't use Windows Media Player.

You'll want to work through the stuff here:
The Myers Multimedia FAQ by Austin Myers (PowerPoint MVP)
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00099.htm

Is there a setting which allows wav files to play in PowerPoint

or anything like that?

One thing you might try: save the presentation as a web page.
That'll create one html file and a folder full of support files.
Rummage around in that folder to see if there are some sound files ... if there aren't any,
then it's likely that the sound was not embedded in the PPT.

If there ARE sound files, try playing them in the Windows MCI player (choose Start, run and
type MPLAY32.EXE to start it)

Hi Steve, Thanks for all your help, but can you tell me why it works on
other people's computers? Do you think it has anything to do with security on
my computer? That was just one example I gave you. I have never (that I can
remember) heard music background in a PowerPoint presentation.

Thanks,
Mike

:

Under Slide Transition, when I select EddieVanHalen~TopGunTheme, I get
nothing! I can select other sounds and they play fine - just not the one I
am suppose to hear...

That may be a DRM (Digital Rights Management) problem. Some files are protected
against distribution to anyone who hasn't bought the CD/tune from a download service.




Thanks,
Mike

:

Steve,

Where do I find the sound file?

Ah, sorry. Normally when you insert a sound file, there's a little icon
representing the file. These sounds might have been added as narration or
transition sounds, though, so it's hard to tell which you have.

Check Slide Show, Slide Transition ... what's the name of the transition sound if
any?




Do you mean from within PowerPoint? There
is a drop-down box there to select sounds, but I can't do a right-click on
it...

:

They either say so on the first slide (like turn up your speakers for this
one) or someone has sent me back a reply telling me how nice the music was
during the presentation.

Neither really means that the sound is embedded. It might be linked.

Rightclick the sound, choose Edit Sound Object.
Under Information, look at "File:"
It says [Contained in presentation] if the sound's embedded or gives a path to
the file.

If there's a path, the file needs to be on exactly the same path on your
computer or it won't work.

Let's start there ... what does it say?



-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================





-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================





-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

 

[Loetek]

Hi Steve,

Yes, the sounds play just fine in the MCI media player. I have been
reviewing various strings in the MCI Extensions part of the Registry and
adding/changing things there. Maybe that part of my Registry is messed up?
I am running Windows XP, sp2.

Would it be possible for you to list and/or e-mail your Registry Keys for
the following (2) keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI
Extensions

Thanks,
Mike Newman
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Loetek]

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI
Extensions]
"avi"="AVIVideo"
"cda"="CDAudio"
"rmi"="Sequencer"
"aif"="MPEGVideo"
"aifc"="MPEGVideo"
"aiff"="MPEGVideo"
"asf"="MPEGVideo"
"asx"="MPEGVideo"
"au"="MPEGVideo"
"m1v"="MPEGVideo"
"m3u"="MPEGVideo"
"mp2"="MPEGVideo"
"mp2v"="MPEGVideo"
"mp3"="MPEGVideo"
"mpa"="MPEGVideo"
"mpe"="MPEGVideo"
"mpeg"="MPEGVideo"
"mpg"="MPEGVideo"
"mpv2"="MPEGVideo"
"snd"="MPEGVideo"
"wax"="MPEGVideo"
"wm"="MPEGVideo"
"wma"="MPEGVideo"
"wmv"="MPEGVideo"
"wmx"="MPEGVideo"
"wvx"="MPEGVideo"
"wpl"="MPEGVideo"
"qt"="MPEGVideo"
"mov"="MPEGVideo"
"mid"="Sequencer"
"wav"="WaveAudio"

--------------------------------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32]
"AVIVideo"="mciavi32.dll"
"CDAudio"="mcicda.dll"
"Sequencer"="mciseq.dll"
"WaveAudio"="mciwave.dll"
"MPEGVideo"="mciqtz32.dll"
"MPEGVideo2"="mciqtz32.dll"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32\Terminal Server]
"MCICDA.DLL"=""

------------------------------