No worries, mcc. I saw some of those posts and the ones I saw were referring to Linux installations. I can wait for Jim's next release of his promo video.

Hi freedomforall. Been busy today so I just got online. Sorry I wasn't much help. I did notice a few older posts on the Net discussing that the issue may be certain codecs may not be loaded on the machine trying to play the files. I'm not sure where else to go, but if something comes up, I'll let you know.

mcc, I just installed the last PowerPointViewer from MSFT and it doesn't play the audio either ;^)
The MSFT site says they aren't supporting the PPViewer after April 2018. Good move MSFT. Doesn't work properly, best to end support costs.
Tried searching for a fix earlier and just now again. I did not find any posts for a windows fix.

Looks like you may be correct in that the icon is looking to link to an audio file that it can't find, thus the question mark. It doesn't necessarily mean the audio file didn't download correctly with the pptx file. It likely means the Libre programmers got the link right on the Mac, but have work to do on the Windows systems, just like you first suspected. I don't have a Windows machine to play with, but if you do a search on something like "audio missing from libre pptx" or similar line maybe there's a simple solution to the problem "out there". It may be as simple as downloading the proper extension. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. Also, if you find the solution I'd appreciate it if you'd share it.

Thanks, OA. I am trying to get that version of PPV now- latest one from MSFT site plus the "office compatibility pack". Good timing (if it works) as the site says support for ppv ends April 2018.
Got ver 14.0.4754 of PPV. It loads and plays the slides with NO audio. Copyright dates indicate it is from 2010. Its the latest version on https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downl...

freedomforall,

Further investigation: my PowerPoint Viewer may be a 2015 version though installed in 2017. I suspect it may have done some updates too...
Regards,
O.A.

Hello freedomforall,
I am viewing/listening to it on a copy of Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer dated 11/30/17.
Side note: I concur on Audacity. I have used it also and found it easy and powerful.
Regards,
O.A.

No criticism from me, jb. ;^)
I know you are a near-perfectionist so it might never be as good as you think it could be.

Can I assume you are using a modern version of MSFT powerpoint to play it, OA?

You might also look at Audacity for editing the sound track alone. Free and has a lot of audio filters.
I like using Reaper Digital Audio Workstation on my multi-track sound files, but Audacity is much simpler and quite powerful. It can also render sound output in many formats (mp3, FLAC, WAV etc.) I used it to do the voice-over and music background tracks for a promo video I prepared.

The light gray question mark is a mistranslation of what was a click for audio.

Thanks, O.A. I think I have access to Roxio and/or Sonic.

No music note. Lower right corner: There is a Grey box with a lighter grey question mark in it. In edit mode I can move the box but there is nothing behind it.
I suspect that box should have connected to a media file and it cannot find it.
I found the auto-play setting in the "Slide Transition" controls and set it to play each slide for 1 second. So it does that, but still no audio. I think there is a problem with the way this version loads Jim's file and it doesn't link correctly to the audio. The properties window when I have clicked on the question mark box shows controls for "Media Playback" but the start/end time display shows 00:00 / 00:00. (When the slideshow is "playing" the properties window shows the same thing.) That tells me that there is no media loaded.
see www.ohsorare.com/slide1playing.jpg

Hello jbrenner,
I am listening to it right now.
The audio track could be run through some off the shelf software like Roxio Creator, Sonic Record Now Deluxe, or several other inexpensive audio digitizing packages and just have the audio track volume leveled. I have imported previously recorded tracks and used the editing tools to cleanup and level tracks like this with great success many times. Here are some free software pkgs available that might suffice if they allow you to load a previously recorded track and have the right editing tools... http://www.freesoundrecorder.net/top-...
That said; I am able to hear it fine, but I have a quiet environment and some high quality audio equipment integrated with my computer (high end sound card, external surround sound speakers, sub woofer etc.).

Regards,
O.A.

I could have recorded it better than I did. Sorry, I'll do better in v.2.

Yes, the sound is embedded, but it may have been separated when you converted my file to the other program.

Lets try a bit more before giving up. For the "...first slide comes up and never changes..." problem is likely because you're not set for automatic slide changes and you have to click on the slide to manually make it move to the next slide (or roll the scroll wheel if your mouse has one - my Mac mouse is "swipe" sensitive so I just slide my finger to change slides). Here's something you can check out and that is don't "play" the first slide, but look at it and see if there is a little "musical note" icon on the bottom right of the slide. Actually, all the slides that have audio have them, but most are hidden in the background by the author, except I can see it on the first slide. This icon represents an audio file attached to the slide. If you click on it once, you should see a banner pop up on the bottom of the Libre window showing audio test/play icons and graphs show up. These are the standard icons used to play audio/video files. Don't fool with the "right arrow in the film clip" icon, but you can experiment with the play (right arrow in circle), pause, stop, and repeat icons (hover the mouse over the icons and their definition should display). The first "home plate" slider shows progress in playing the file (or you can use it to select an audio starting point), then a timer, Then a speaker icon for sound/mute, then a "home plate" slider for volume. If you can't get this icon bar, then perhaps an error is happening and its text may display on the bottom of the Libre window.

If you don't see the music icon and you're daring, you can try hovering your mouse over a blank spot on the slide and try right-click (control-click on a Mac) to see if you can pull it out of the background and make it visible. Libre will mark the slide as "not saved" and will ask you to save the file when you're done. Your choice. If you mess up a slide, you can always select "Edit > Undo" to fix it.

Thanks, mcc. I think it must be some difference between the mac and win versions. I "run" the slideshow as you describe ("Slide Show > Start From First Slide") and the first slide comes up and never changes- at least no change in a minute or so of waiting (and no sound whatsoever.)
My slide show settings have no "Type" setting at all but the rest match yours.
I guess that the programmers have some work to do.
Thanks again;^)

Hi, freedomforall. I'm running Libre on a Mac so it may not be the same as on a Windows system, but it should be very close. I also downloaded the same file as you. With that said, the slide audio (and slide show itself) won't "play" by selecting single slides from the slide thumbnails on the left pane. You have to use the menu on top by selecting "Slide Show > Start From First Slide" or select a slide from the thumbnail pane and then select "Slide Show > Start From Current Slide". These commands "play"the slide(s). Also, at "Slide Show > Slide Show Settings" the only settings I have checked are... Range: "All Slides", Type: "Default", Options: "Animations Allowed" and "Change Slides By Clicking On Background". Everything else is unchecked, for now. The other options are pretty much self explanatory, but these are the default options and I haven't changed them. When the show starts playing you can manually force it to the next slide early by clicking on the slide. You can stop the show by pressing the esc key. I'm no expert on this, but hope I am helpful.

Its not just the level, jb. I run my sound through a hifi system and the preamp is set to extremely loud, but there is no sound whatsoever when the slide show runs. Not a peep. (At this volume level, if I adjust the volume in windows by clicking the slider in the system tray, the "ding" sound is nearly ear-splitting; probably 80+Db.) Although the slide show doesn't actually "run"; it sits and waits for me to advance to the next slide. If there is a way to auto-run the slide show, it is not apparent.
So I can advance the slides but the audio narrative explanation is absent.
I downloaded one file only (nanotechminorprogramhistorywithaudio2.pptx), jb. Is the sound embedded in that file?

The audio level was recorded at too low a volume. On some computers, it can be heard at 100% volume on speakers. It is possible that you also have a manual trim on the speaker volume, too.

Most likely so, jbrenner. I've seen that in the past once in a while. The translation is usually very good, but not always perfect.

Not sure what is happening, freedomforall. I had to turn the volume up, but had no problem with it. If I get a chance later I will see if there is some kind of audio setting that needs to be set.

You could probably do very well at home with $150 worth of equipment- mike, stand, preamp, cables. Some good software is open source.

Yes, we do, but I recorded this at home.