SKYPE on Mint 7 ( SOLVED )

[bicky]

Has anyone any experience of setting up Skype 4 on Mint 7. I have tried and have sound problems, in fact the sound is a wipeout ! also cannot send Chat messages. Any help or guidance would be useful and appreciated.

[kei84]

As far as I know thre is no Skype 4 for Linux.

Are you using skype 4 for windows through Wine? If that`s the case, I suggest you to use the skype 2 for Linux cause skype doesn`t work right through wine.

[bicky]

Thanks for that - I think I will just use Skype through my Windows Dual Boot - pity there is not a workable version for Linux. I use Skype for ALL my phone calls.

[kei84]

I use skype 2 for Linux. You can install it using synaptic or software manager.

It works well in Linux.

[emorrp1]

just a pointer: the skype versions are not related in any way, so just because the linux version is v2, doesn't mean it's as old as windows' version 2 (though it is a bit neglected), but it also has some features specific to linux, rather than windows.

[bicky]

I use skype 2 for Linux. You can install it using synaptic or software manager.

It works well in Linux.

O.K. can you please let me have your sound settings - cannot get mine to work !!!!, also cannot send chat messages.

[kei84]

Bicky,

in synaptic you`ll see 3 variants of skype (skype, skype-static and skype-static-oss).
I installed the skype-static. Try all 3 of them and see which one works for you.

PS: note that the deb package in skype webpage is newer than the one in the repository

Here is my sound setting:
- sound in: HDA ATI SB (hw:SB,0)
- sound out: HDA ATI SB (hw:SB,0)
- ringing: default

After doing it, go to alsamixer and configure all sound levels.

Finally, make a test call with skype.

[psych1610]

Hey, I'm not a tremendous fan of skype in linux, but it's better than nothing and better than running an exe through WINE.

I had a tremendo0us problem getting my audio to work with Skype and after a lot of investigation it seemed that Pulse Audio was not properly configured and was just generally screwing with things. This guide: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=789578 solved those problems for me in simple steps and allowed it to work as good as it can I guess. Read through it all before making the decision as to whether or not you want to follow it since I guess it has the potential to screw things up.

One thing to note: When I followed it there was a step that instructed people to apt-get upgrade which would let in packages like the updated kernel, new xorg stuff, etc. All of that is usually held back when using mintupdate since it has an excellent potential to break things. I would avoid doing this, instead, go through what it says will be updated and do it manually leaving out the things that have a high probability of breaking stuff like the kernel, etc.

[bicky]

Hi Guys - thanks for these posts - I have now managed to get Skype working ( Sort of !! ).
I have come to the conclusion that having used both UBUNTU and MINT - in Linux there are still some shortcomings over Windows. I rely upon Skype totally for my business telephone, and Skype for Linux is NOT up to speed. Another problem I have is that my office printers are ALL Lexmark x 5470 multi purpose printers. It is impossible to get these to work on any Linux Distro. So I use my Mint for some of the time , but for now still have to rely upon Windows - thank goodness for Dual Boot.

[emorrp1]

and Skype for Linux is NOT up to speed

I know, tell me about it There's whole threads on the skype website complaining about this, but it's a proprietary technology (rather than open-source) so we're stuck with whatever they decide to release to us. If they open-source skype for linux, or even just publicly documented their protocol, we'd have the new feature quick enough.

[kei84]

Skype is a pain in the ass in any distro.

In the Skype webpage they are saying that a new version of skype for linux will be release soon.
I`m still waiting.

At least it works fine in Gloria.