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Audio cuts off in the middle of a file I shared via a link, any ideas?

Hi everyone,

I recently revisited a 15 minutes .mp3 file I uploaded, and then shared, and found that the sound randomly cut out after 2 minutes. The 'loudness graph' (whatever that's called) displayed correctly the whole 15 minutes, and when downloaded the audio was all there. But every attempt to play the audio directly from the link resulted in it becoming silent at a random point. This is disturbing because the audio is shared with the requirement that it be streamable, and I am now worried I have been sharing files which have incomplete sound.... Other files have full sound. There shouldn't be anything wrong with the file since it plays fine everywhere else.

Any ideas?

Thanks

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Daphne

Hello @PrimeIdeal, I hope you're well today!

I'd like to gather a little more info from you if possible to see what we can find. Firstly, can you let me know around what size the file is that you're having this issue with?

Also, do you see any difference in the playback if you try the following?

Play the file directly from your account on the website
Use another web browser and play the link while signed out of your account
Use an incognito window
Clear your browser cache

I understand that this would be an issue for the recipient of the file, so we can replicate this by opening the link while not signed into your Dropbox account.

Let me know how it goes!

PrimeIdeal

Hello and thanks for the reply/assistance.

Unfortunately I’ve tried all these things to no avail. It cuts off at the same spot in every case (when I’m signed in, when I’m not, when I’m in different browsers, in incognito).

I’ve sent to two friends and they experienced the cutoff as well. Same on mobile. New uploads of that file have the same issue too.

Not much to go on I realize...

Interestingly though, I see an earlier upload of the same file seems to work fine? IE I’ve uploaded it multiple times into different folders to share in different circumstances, and the earliest one from January plays fine while all subsequent ones do not?

Hope this helps at least a little. Thanks

Daphne

Thanks for getting back to me here @PrimeIdeal!

Hmmm. :thinking: That is a little strange that a previous version of the file plays without any issue.

Could you try changing the end of the link you created from "dl=0" to "raw=1"? This will force the file to render and bypass the preview page, so let's see if there is any difference there.

Keep me posted!

cliveloseby

HI a client of mine had a similar problem, the preview was stopping at 6 mins even though the file downloads ok.

How can I get it to recreate the preview like you suggestead?

Here is the file in question:

[link removed as per Community Guidelines]

Thank you very much

Clive

Daphne

Hey @cliveloseby, thanks for joining us here!

To replicate the issue as if you were the recipient of the shared link, you can open the link in a browser where you are not signed into your Dropbox account.

So that we can also rule out browser related issues, can you let me know if there's any difference in the behaviour of the file preview when you try the steps outlined here in the bullet points?

Let me know what you find!