PowerPoint Communication Error (Mac)

PowerPoint Communication Error (Mac)

If you are receiving the error message PowerPoint Communication Interrupted, or something similar, while either launching PowerPoint Polling or inserting a slide, please follow the steps below to resolve this issue. There are a few scenarios that could be causing this error to occur. The following sets of instructions are listed in the order of most common, to least common. None of the solutions below will make any changes to the operating that don’t affect TurningPoint,  and they are safe.

1. Make sure TurningPoint is closed.
2. Open the Mac’s System Preferences.
3. Go to the Security & Privacy.
4. Click the Privacy Tab at the top of the window.
5. Choose Automation from the left side of the window.
6. Find TurningPoint and check the box next to it.

 

1. Close TurningPoint.
2. Go to the following folder: /Library/CFMSupport. (You can quickly get here by pressing Command + Space to open a search bar and typing that path in there.)
3. Delete the following files:
   1. powerpoint-message-handler.1.0.0
   2. TTSharedLib.2.0.0.dylib
4. Launch TurningPoint.
5. Click Install Library located in the PowerPoint Polling section.
6. Launch PowerPoint Polling.

Set the Correct Path for PowerPoint

If the previous instructions did not resolve the issue, please try the following:

1. Close TurningPoint.
2. Open the Terminal.
   1. To do this, press Command + Space and type Terminal and press Return/Enter.
   2. Or go to your Desktop and go to the top of the screen and click Go > Utilities > Terminal.
3. In the Terminal, copy and paste the following command and press Return/Enter.
   1. defaults write com.turningtechnologies.turningpoint.app TTSettingsKeyPreferredPowerPointLocation -string "/Applications/Microsoft PowerPoint.app"
4. Then copy and paste the following command and press Return/Enter.
   1. killall cfprefsd

Reset Apple Events

If the issue is still occurring, please try the following.

1. Close TurningPoint.
2. Open the Terminal.
3. Copy and paste the following command and press Return/Enter.
   1. tccutil reset AppleEvents

It will look like nothing happened when you enter this command, and  that is expected. After doing this, open TurningPoint and start PowerPoint Polling. You will be prompted with a message requesting permission for TurningPoint to control PowerPoint. Make sure you allow this. Launch TurningPoint,  and add a polling slide in PowerPoint to make sure everything is working.

Microsoft Office Deployment using Jamf Pro

The default configuration for Microsoft Office 365 when deployed through Jamf Pro disables the ability to load external dylibs. By modifying the settings below when deploying, it will allow TurningPoint to run.

DisableVisualBasicExternalDylibs = 0
DisableVisualBasicToBindToPopen = 0
AllowVisualBasicToBindToSystem = 1

Contact Support

If none of these instructions resolved the issue, you can send a Console Log to our support team showing the issue. To obtain a Console Log, please do the following:

1. Exit TurningPoint and PowerPoint.
2. Open Console.
   1. To do this, go to your Desktop and go to the top of the screen and click Go > Utilities > Console.
3. Enter TurningPoint in the search box and press Enter/Return.
4. Launch TurningPoint and open PowerPoint Polling.
5. Try to add a Polling Slide.
6. Copy the contents of the log in Console.

Attach the log to an email and send it to support@turning.com along with a description of what you are experiencing.