Strange Problem with MS Power Point

krs


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Not sure in which category this fits so I will try it here.

I'm mostly interested if anyone has come across this type of problem which really baffles me.
I have not exhausted all my ideas of what to try and check; I mostly wanted to find out if anyone might have a better idea what the problem might be and save me some time to track down the issue.

So....getting into details...

I have an external 1 TB hard drive with 100GB of data on it - basically MS Word, Excel, PPT, as well as pdf's and jpgs
Person in Chicago needs a copy of everything on that hard drive, so I decided to buy a 128 GB micro SD card, copy the 100GB and mail that microSD card.

I use a 2012 Mini running OS 10.11.6, plug the microSD card with an SD card adapter into the SD slot on ther Mini, format the microSD card to the Mac format and copy the files.
About three hours later I'm all done.
I check a few files and folders at random, all is good.

Then instead of mailing it right away, we decide we need one of the power point presentations on another Mac, a 2017 MacBook air also running OS 10.11.6
We plug the microSD card with the same SD adapter into the SD slot of the 2017 MacBook air, try to open the PPT file and get an error message that the file ssems corrupt.
To make a long story short...
1. Tried opening other PPT files on the SD card with the 2017 MBa. they all come up with the same message - file corruption, can't open
2. Tried opening the PPT files with keynote - can't open the file
3. Tried opening PPT files that were on the 2017 already - no problem.
4. Take the SD card back to the Mini, all the PPT files that would not open on the 2017 MBa open fine on the Mini
5. SD card back on the 2017, tried opening MS Word files and MS Excel files and pdf files, they all open fine.
6. MS power point version on Mini asnd on 2017 MBa are exactly the same.
7. Tried moving a PPT file to the 2017 desktop rather than opening it directly on the SD card, no difference, still won't open

Couple of things I will try next, but please jump in if you might know what the problem is
1. Instead of using the SD adapter and the SD slot on the 2017 MBa, I'm going to plug the microSD card into a microSD/USB adapter and try that.
If that also does not work, then this would eliminate the SD slot on the 2017 as a possible problem.
2. I also have an older 2011 MBp with an SD slot, so I will try that
 
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krs

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Just tried it on the 2011 MBp with an SD slot - same problem.
First it says there is some part within the PPT damaged and offers to repair it.
When I click "Repair" it comes back that the file is damaged

I could accept the "file damaged" comment except that it happens on all PPT files on that SD card and on the Mini the files on the SD card open fine.
And I assume the PPT application is fine since it opens all PPT files that are on the MacBook air and MacBook pro already.

Now to find a USB/SD adapter
 
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Just as an FYI, and you've mentioned this in many of your posts, the 2017 MBA came with 10.12.5 (Sierra), so not El Capitan, as you keep mentioning. If you are actually running El Capitan on a 2017 MBA, that could be the issue, or the cause of it?

- - - Updated - - -

Also, have you tried opening the file, on the 2017, using Wi-Fi network to access the file directly?
 
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Attach one of the PowerPoint files directly from the external HD to an email, email it to yourself, then download it from your email to your 2017 MBA and see if that works. Or just transfer the file over your network from the external HD to the 2017 MBA.
 
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krs

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Just as an FYI, and you've mentioned this in many of your posts, the 2017 MBA came with 10.12.5 (Sierra), so not El Capitan, as you keep mentioning. If you are actually running El Capitan on a 2017 MBA, that could be the issue, or the cause of it?
Yes, I'm keeping this in mind.
That's why I tried it on the 2011 MBp to eliminate that possibility.

I also tried it on the 2011 MBp using an SD/USB adapter - same problem
I then took it back to the Mini, the PPT files still open fine on it, but some of the Word files have difficulty opening now - I either get the MS WordWindow to convert the file or MS Word opens but the page is blank.
I tried am .mp3 file on the 2011 MBp, it plays fine.

I think the bottom line is that my 128 GB microSD card is garbage.

I liked the idea of being able to just send this in an envelope with customs papers, packaging etc.
Theoretically, this should work, right?

Also, have you tried opening the file, on the 2017, using Wi-Fi network to access the file directly?

I don't understand what you mean by that.
You mean using my home network to access the file that's on the hard drive plugged into the Mini?

What I could do which I have not tried yet is to just plug the hard drive with the files on it (that is plugged into the Mini now) and plug it into the 2017.
But we have previously transferred files using smaller, 32GB Flash drives and that all worked fine.

BTW - Is there any way I can test the 128GB microSD card on a Mac?
 
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Attach one of the PowerPoint files directly from the external HD to an email, email it to yourself, then download it from your email to your 2017 MBA and see if that works. Or just transfer the file over your network from the external HD to the 2017 MBA.

We have done that with PPT files before using a Flash drive, that works fine.
I'm pretty sure the problem is the SD card - it's just strange that some PPT files that continue to open properly using the SD card on the Mini will not open using the SD card on either the 2017 or 2011 MacBooks.
 
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We have done that with PPT files before using a Flash drive, that works fine.
I'm pretty sure the problem is the SD card - it's just strange that some PPT files that continue to open properly using the SD card on the Mini will not open using the SD card on either the 2017 or 2011 MacBooks.

You've got me stumped. How many GB are all the PowerPoint files? An option might be to burn them to a data CD or data DVD and mail that along with the SD card that contains the remainder of the files.
 
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YI don't understand what you mean by that.
You mean using my home network to access the file that's on the hard drive plugged into the Mini?
Yes, open PPT, on the MBA, then File > Open, then navigate to the location of the file to open it?
 
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You've got me stumped. How many GB are all the PowerPoint files? An option might be to burn them to a data CD or data DVD and mail that along with the SD card that contains the remainder of the files.

The PPT files are by far the largest part of the 100 GB; I would say about 80%
PPT files are in folders and subfolders along with Word, pdf etc all sorted by subject matter.
Even if they would fit on a double layer data DVD or several, it would be a bit of a chore to move them all to the correct folders and subfolders.
 
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The PPT files are by far the largest part of the 100 GB; I would say about 80%
PPT files are in folders and subfolders along with Word, pdf etc all sorted by subject matter.
Even if they would fit on a double layer data DVD or several, it would be a bit of a chore to move them all to the correct folders and subfolders.

Only other thing I could suggest then would be buying a regular old USB stick such as one of these in 128 GB
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...eywords=usb+stick+sandisk?tag=macforums0e4-20
 
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I wonder, when you erased/formatted the card, did you make sure the partition scheme was GUID?
 
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I know it means starting over, but it might save you some money. Have you considered erasing/reformatting the microSD card using exFAT and seeing if that works?
 

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I use a 2012 Mini running OS 10.11.6, plug the microSD card with an SD card adapter into the SD slot on the Mini, format the microSD card to the Mac format and copy the files.

I've run across a bad adapter in the past which caused all sorts of problems with micro SD cards. In general, I try to avoid micro SD cards and rather go with the regular size. Also, it's very likely the card came pre-formatted to FAT-32. You could have left it that way instead of formatting it to HFS+. Macs have no problem reading and writing to FAT-32.

I would return the card for a refund and either try a regular size card or maybe a 128 GB flash drive instead.
 
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I've run across a bad adapter in the past which caused all sorts of problems with micro SD cards. In general, I try to avoid micro SD cards and rather go with the regular size. Also, it's very likely the card came pre-formatted to FAT-32. You could have left it that way instead of formatting it to HFS+. Macs have no problem reading and writing to FAT-32.

I would return the card for a refund and either try a regular size card or maybe a 128 GB flash drive instead.

I tried two different microSD/SD adapters and also a icroSD/USB adapter in all three Macs.
Results were the same.

I have the sneaky feeling that this is a fake card.
I was suspicious right at the beginning when the 128GB card showed a size of 133GB.

Right now I'm running F3X to test the card. This will take a while.

Oh...I reformatted it because I didn't want to make it easy for someone with a PC to read it if it got lost somehow.
In retrospewct that was probably a waste of time.

If the F3X test passes I will probably reformat the card to FAT-32 and copy the 100 GB one more time tonight while I'm sleeping.
If I remember right, the card came preformatted with ExFAT
 

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