skype can't connect

[spegru]

Message on Skype's own website yesterday shows that these Can't Connect errors are because they have 'retired' the old versions.

It also says that they have removed support for Alsa sound - which could be the reason for my problem on Mint17 which is No Sound at all since upgrading to 4.3.0.37 direct from the repositories.
Sound devices are all shown as Virtual device - which is Pulse I think. My sound setting appear to be correct and other audio apps seem to work
I've tried purging and reinstalling

Any Ideas?

[delor]

I got hit with the 'Skype can't connect' bug this morning.
I uninstalled the current (4.2) version using 'Software manager'.
I downloaded the 4.3 version from the Skype web site. I chose the Ubuntu 12.04 multiarch version. I installed it by right clicking and choosing 'gDebi package installer'. Problem solved.

That solved also my problem.

[jmt95]

Tried to purge Skype 4.2 wont go away? Uninstalled it from software manager still there?Was working fine till this afternoon and Widows Vista same thing can't connect!!!!!

Which version is compatible LM 16 Cinnamon 64 Bit?

We should all go to Google Hangouts.

[nobugs]

Yep, except Hangouts is very messy to use. Lots of unnecessary stuff to wade thru just to get to make a connection. It's confusing and also both parties need to be signed in to use. Once setup is better than Skype IMHO.

My problems have not resolved. Gone from a perfect working 4.2 Skype in Mint 13 to an unusuable 4.3. Picture is very poor and sound terrible until one party turns off their camera. Then sound becomes clear again at both ends but only one side can get a half reasonable picture. Windows to Windows is perfect on the same machines.

Any suggestions why 4.3 has mucked up my Skype. I have tried 4.3.0.37-1 debian version, 10.04 version and also 12.04. Same symptoms with all three versions. Also Skype 4.3 on another machine is displaying the same symptoms as on my machine.

[alvicchas1]

Hi All,

Removed 4.2 from my laptop. Installed 4.3 Ubuntu 12.4 edition. Loaded in OK but software won't run. Have done the same on my desktop and 4.3 runs OK.

The laptop processor is only 866MB - I wonder if this could be the problem.

[jmt95]

Please consider this method:

http://linuxg.net/how-to-install-skype- ... e-systems/

It worked for me.

[nobugs]

Am I the only one having problems with 4.3 Skype.

Ver 4.2 worked perfectly with video calls between my machine and an Apple Mac and/or a Windows machine. Since I upgraded to 4.3, the video is poor, picture freezes and sound is lousy. Turning off the receivers camera improves the sound, but the video is then only one way. My download speeds are approx 1.5Mbps and upload .38Mbps.

The receiving end has high speed Internet, so only my speed is a bit slow. However, prior to 4.3, this connection setup worked perfectly providing excellent picture and sound quality. So what could be wrong! I've tried with Mint 13 and Mint 17 on two separate computers between myself and the Mac and Windows machines, reinstalled after purging etc and the symptoms are identical. The common theme is version 4.3. The Skype software itself seems to be fine, i.e opens OK and logs in efficiently without error.

I rely on this connection, so it's imperative this problem is sorted. Assuming I can't resolve this issue, I will have to abandon Skype and use something else. Does anyone have any ideas what video chat would be best, i.e. Linux to Mac. I've tried Google Talk in the past which I thought was better than Skype, except logging in was always a problem, given my other end users are not computer savvy.

Thanks

[r777]

Completely removing skype 4.2 and installing the dynamic version from the skype homepage solved the problem for me.

However, for some reason, removing the package by

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get remove skype
sudo apt-get purge skype

did not work (even though I tried to start the newly installed skype 4.3, the supposedly uninstalled skype 4.2 was launched instead).
Instead, I had to find all files including the string "skype" by

Code: Select all

sudo find / -name skype*

and delete all of them manuall by

Code: Select all

sudo rm /pathtofile/filename
sudo rm -r /pathtodirectory/directoryname

After that, skype 4.3 started and has worked smoothly ever since.

[fpeelo]

Sound devices are all shown as Virtual device - which is Pulse I think.

I'm not sure about that. According to screenshots at https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10964, they should appear as "PulseAudio server (local)", with a message to say that you can use the PulseAudio volume control to control things.

Also, if I run pavucontrol and go to the recording tab, it says "No application is currently recording audio" even when I am making a test call. I would have expected Skype to appear there, so that I could tell PulseAudio to let Skype have access to the microphone.

Could it be that the new Skype, although it refuses to use anything other than PulseAudio for sound, cannot actually connect to PulseAudio properly?

If I look at the properties of the Menu icon which starts Skype, the command it uses is:
( pulseaudio & ) ; env PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=60 skype %U

I tried running pulseaudio from a terminal:
$ pulseaudio
E: [pulseaudio] pid.c: Daemon already running.
E: [pulseaudio] main.c: pa_pid_file_create() failed.

I'm not an expert, but could skype require a pid for pulseaudio, and not be getting it because of this error? Any pulseaudio or bash expert know what exactly is happening here?

Am using Linux Mint 17 Qiana, x86_64

Frank

[fpeelo]

Completely removing skype 4.2 and installing the dynamic version from the skype homepage solved the problem for me.

Not sure whether it was completely removing my old skype, or the way I installed new skype, but I can skype again now too.

This fixes the sound devices coming up as "virtual device". They now come up as "PulseAudio server (local)".

As you did, I removed skype.
sudo bash
apt-get remove skype
It said:
The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:
libasound2:i386
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove it.

So I ran: apt-get autoremove
Looked for skype files, as you did, there were a lot of them. I ended up doing the following:
rm /usr/bin/skype
mv /usr/share/skype /usr/share/skype_old
rm -rf /tmp/skype-6978
rm -rf /tmp/skype-3544
rm -rf /tmp/skype-6115
rm -rf /tmp/skype-3647
rm -rf /tmp/skype-7112
rm -rf /tmp/skype-2974
rm -rf /tmp/skype-7037
rm -rf /tmp/skype-4422
rm -rf /tmp/skype-2622
rm -rf /tmp/skype-6271
mv /etc/dbus-1/system.d/skype.conf /tmp
mv /usr/share/applications/skype.desktop /tmp

Most of the rest of the files were .png or .svg so I left them alone.

The menu option for skype was still present. So I started synaptic. Did a quick filter "skype". Saw that skype-bin:i386 was still installed! Marked it for "complete removal"
and applied the change. Tried to mark skype for installation, but I got the red icon with a "!" indicating that the package was broken! apt-get check didn't fix anything. So then I found
http://linuxg.net/how-to-install-skype- ... e-systems/
and from there used the commands
wget download.skype.com/linux/skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
gdebi skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb
(for 32-bit systems see the above URL for the correct .deb file)

Started skype. Looked at Sound Devices. They show "PulseAudio server (local)"! That's progress. Clicked "Make a test sound". Now I get sound

Frank

[Habitual]

I got hit with the 'Skype can't connect' bug this morning.

It's not a 'bug', but forced obsolescence.

[harve]

Hey, i might be a little late for this reply but I'm giving the method which worked for me. It might help other people also, that's why.

Make Sure It's Not a Network Problem

Skype won't work if you don't have a network connection. This is true if you're using Skype on Wi-Fi from any device, be it on the web, your phone, computer, etc.

If you can't open the websites from Step 1 or nothing else works (try Google or Twitter), then your whole network is probably not working. Try restarting your router.

If other websites are working normally, the reason Skype can't make calls or why it's experiencing dropped calls, could be related to bandwidth usage.

If there are multiple other people on your network that are using the internet at the same time, pause or stop the activity on those devices and then see if Skype starts working again.

Reinstall Skype

Try removing the app or program and then reinstalling it.

When you remove Skype and then install the latest version, you're basically resetting the program and all of its connections with your camera and microphone, which should resolve any issues. However, you might then have to follow the steps outlined above once more to make sure the new connections are setup properly.

Visit the official Skype Download page to get the newest version on your phone, tablet, computer, Xbox, etc.

Update Device Drivers

If Skype still doesn't let you make calls or receive video, and you're using Skype on Windows, you should consider checking the device driver for the webcam and sound card.

If there's something wrong with either, then your camera and/or sound won't work anywhere, including with Skype.

There are a few other methods that I referred to to fix skype not working issue. I would urge you to have a look.

This answer from Skype will help too.

[Moem]

Yes, you're a little late. We don't revive such old posts here, as you just read in the forum rules... well, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here.
I'm closing the thread; feel free to post this information in a new topic if you feel it could be helpful to others.