Can't put MP3 in exe/scr slideshow

[lordadmira]

Hi. I'm trying to make a slideshow with MP3 background music. I can make the slideshow, add the MP3, and preview it fine. But when I save it to an exe or scr file and execute it, it throws an error message that "Windows can't play this file. The specified file can't be played on the specified MCI device." Now if I wrap the MP3 file in a WAV file, the exe will play the audio except that the sound is jittery and the pictures don't progress unless u click the mouse once. I tried changing the video/sound settings every which way and removing all the plugins and installing only the MM plugins but no good.

I searched this forum but the term MP3 doesn't even appear. I searched the web and found several other people with this problem but no solutions. I'm using 4.1 that I just downloaded and 3.95 does the same thing. I'm on XP SP2.

Thanks.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

It seems that you're not the only one with this problem, but no solution there either.

[lordadmira]

Any word from Irfan on this bug?

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

If you look at the Bug Reports Project Timeline, you can see there is no feedback from Irfan on most of the bugs listed there. This bug is not listed because no one has added it yet. I don't make slideshows so I haven't time to test this, especially since no feedback is yet forthcoming on the bugs that I have added.

[lordadmira]

So development is basically dead now? I tried to post a bug but it won't let me.

Making this bug is easy, just select some photos in the slideshow dialog, select an mp3, and save it to an exe. I can do it in 30 seconds. :P

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

So development is basically dead now? I tried to post a bug but it won't let me.

No, development is not dead. Irfan is working on the next version AFAIK. Plugin developers are also working on an image optimiser and upgrade to IrfanPaint. It is just that there is no feedback on the reported bugs and feature requests.

It is up to the moderators to post bug reports. If everyone could post, the project would be a mess, and feedback would be even less likely. I regularly have to move so-called Bug Reports to the Support forum or Feature Request forum.

The first stage is to be able to reproduce the bug. I am not the only one who could work on this. The next stage is to produce a test case or recipe to reduce the steps needed to reproduce the bug consistently.

Making this bug is easy, just select some photos in the slideshow dialog, select an mp3, and save it to an exe. I can do it in 30 seconds. :P

I took 30 seconds to create a slideshow with an MP3 and some JPG images. It worked fine, so it is not easy to reproduce this bug. If someone wants to confim it then they may need to spend an hour or more of their free time. Since I don't make slideshows, I am not familiar with all of the options, and I haven't the time or the inclination to learn.

[Sam_Zen]

.. just select some photos in the slideshow dialog, select an mp3...

The reason why things are not that easy already starts here.
If you would use the wrong order of files in the first place, even the preview wouldn't function correctly.
As I have described here.

Trying other sound-formats is out of order, because this function appears to be written solely for the Mp3 one.
Solving problems also should be done in the right order, so first, things should run correct with a MP3-file.
Then, as an enhancement, other formats could follow.

I had no reason so far to put this in the Project Timeline, because I'm still not 100% convinced that this is a bug.
Too many variables are playing an undefined role here, so it's still possible that it's just a matter of the right procedure.

With cases like this, the testing phase is crucial, to produce enough data to analyze it and solve the problem.
But, as Bhikkhu mentioned, this takes substantial time. We can't expect from Irfan to do all this work himself.
I think forum-members could participate in this research as well, as a kind of pre-work.
Then, not only the bug could be placed in the Timeline, but accompanied with relevant data about the circumstances.

First of all, for a proper test, the material used should be consistent. So every tester uses the same material.
The most simple example could be : one MP3 file and two JPG's.
So I made a small pack, to be used for testing, which can be found here, including the TXT-file of the s-show.

Another important aspect of this test are the relevant settings in the slideshow dialog :

These values should be reported as well.

I will skip the SCR format in the test here, because it's also an executable as an EXE.
And I'm not happy with the expression 'preview'. It's a matter of playing back with or without IV.

So first, there are 2 options with the material :
1) Open IV, do 'W' and manually add the files in the slideshow list frame, and Play the slideshow, or
2) Load the TXT file having the relevant files in the 'W' dialog, and Play the slideshow.

A report so far :
1) Playing is ok. The EXE file created with this functions as well.
2) No Play. Getting the error-message as mentioned here before.
If rendering an EXE file from this situation, it will play correctly, but surprisingly the EXE file is more than twice as big.

[lordadmira]

Thanks for getting back to me. I reinstalled IrfanView 4.1 and the plugin pack. I downloaded ur test files and used the same settings as in ur screen shot. I got the same results as before, the exe file doesn't play the mp3. Playing within IrfanView works fine. I'm attaching the exe file here. I'm on XP Pro Version 2002 SP2 (build 2600).

Occasionally the slideshow exe file will crash after displaying the error message. I attached the crash log file that get's sent to Microsoft by its crash utility.

I don't see how this could not be a bug. Sure a certain set of conditions are needed to bring it out. That doesn't mean Irfan did something "wrong" in writing the program. It just means there's a combination of conditions that hasn't been accounted for.

[Sam_Zen]

I played your slideshow.exe, no error message, and no crash.

[lordadmira]

*ping* Anybody heard from Irfan?

[pfhitching]

I had the same problem but have found a solution. There is a free, you can subscribe to have restrictions removed which I did, program called "goldwave" at http://www.goldwave.com/ If you download this open your mp3 file and do a save as, selecting the mp3 option you will find - well I did - that irfanview will then play the music you want.

hope this helps Peter Hitching

Hi. I'm trying to make a slideshow with MP3 background music. I can make the slideshow, add the MP3, and preview it fine. But when I save it to an exe or scr file and execute it, it throws an error message that "Windows can't play this file. The specified file can't be played on the specified MCI device." Now if I wrap the MP3 file in a WAV file, the exe will play the audio except that the sound is jittery and the pictures don't progress unless u click the mouse once. I tried changing the video/sound settings every which way and removing all the plugins and installing only the MM plugins but no good.

I searched this forum but the term MP3 doesn't even appear. I searched the web and found several other people with this problem but no solutions. I'm using 4.1 that I just downloaded and 3.95 does the same thing. I'm on XP SP2.

Thanks.

[Prof.hbtm]

Irfanview exe slideshows vs. MP3 audio files

Audacity (free) seems to work the same trick as goldwave. Using Audacity, I opened an MP3 that was generating the error in a slideshow exe, then exported it from Audacity as an MP3, and re-inserted this altered version in the Irfanview slide show. The new Irfanview exe file played without issues, with the altered MP3.

Note: Audacity requires a free LAME encoder download in order to create MP3's. On the first use, it "learns" where to find it on your computer...and never asks, again.

[MikeS_850]

I can confirm Prof.hbtm observation.
All my slideshow mp3 were generated via Audacity/Lame and none of them ever gave me any of the problems mentioned ...