Linux Mint Forums

First of all, get a webcam that is known to work with Linux.
I am having a lot of luck recently with cheap (€15), low-featured LogiTech webcams like the C250 & E3500 which work literally plug-and-play out-of-the-box under GNU/Linux.
(My Windows-era dead-expensive €99 Creative Live!Cam Voice would not work under GNU/Linux.)

However, after installing LMDE XFCE I was having a problem with Skype not willing to use the webcam microphone nor my rear internal mic.
Running alsamixer or deleting its .conf file would not solve my issue.

Then I learned about this little jewel from the Arch fora... It allows one to configure sound channels in a GUI.
I am now very happy to see Skype automatically grab the webcam mic.

Another approach if you're using ALSA:
Get a list with devices Example output for USB camera:

• default:CARD=U0x4710x329
  USB Device 0x471:0x329, USB Audio
  Default Audio Device

Use this info to select the right device in Skype's microphone settings.

Hi,
I know it isn't the exact topic, but since skype isn't free software (as in freedom), I'd like to point out that we have excellent alternatives to skype in linux :
- empathy
- linphone (windows, linux, mac)
- ekiga (window$, linux)
If you, and your friends, have a google account, you can start using empathy. Register your account, right clic on your contact and choose "video call". It is that simple.

But we would prefer using something else that google's services, something that is free, doesn't collect our data and is fully distributed, just like the web. To do so, we shall create a *jabber* account. Jabber is an open communication protocol for tchat and video calls. Actually, google uses jabber. Many organizations provide jabber accounts. My suggestion is to install gajim : launch it : it will offer to create an account. Just choose a server in the list. (beware : you can't use your google's username, since it is already registered as a jabber account !)
Then register this new account in empathy, right click on your contact and choose "video call" !

Linphone and Ekiga are other software that work on their own and that I never really tried.

That's it

on4aa wrote:First of all, get a webcam that is known to work with Linux.
I am having a lot of luck recently with cheap (€15), low-featured LogiTech webcams like the C250 & E3500 which work literally plug-and-play out-of-the-box under GNU/Linux.
(My Windows-era dead-expensive €99 Creative Live!Cam Voice would not work under GNU/Linux.)

However, after installing LMDE XFCE I was having a problem with Skype not willing to use the webcam microphone nor my rear internal mic.
Running alsamixer or deleting its .conf file would not solve my issue.

Then I learned about this little jewel from the Arch fora...

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install pavucontrol

It allows one to configure sound channels in a GUI.
I am now very happy to see Skype automatically grab the webcam mic.

Thanks. For some reason, my LMDE lost the microphone settings menu in control center (and no, there have been no updates of any type to the system so this is rather inexplicable), but a quick search found your posting about pavucontrol, which worked just fine to reconfigure the microphone settings.