Skype on Linux

By | June 26, 2004

Ever since I posted about Skype and my desire for Skyper Limited to release a Linux client, I have averaged about six hits a day from people searching on some search engine for some variant of “skype+linux” and clicking through to my site. Sorry I didn’t have much insight to offer back then.

However, Skyper has finally released a beta version of a Skype client for Linux.

If you install Skype on Fedora Core 1, be sure to download the Qt 3.1 version and use –nodeps argument for rpm. For example,

rpm -ivh --nodeps skype-0.90.0.4.qt3.1-1.i386.rpm

So, now I’m back on Skype after a long absence. My Skype ID is wombatnation.

I got my Plantronics DSP 500 headset working on Fedora (more on that later), so hopefully the sound quality will be acceptable. I’ve heard that the sound quality with the Windows Skype client has improved quite a bit since the last time I tried it.

24 thoughts on “Skype on Linux

  1. David Anders

    yes how did you get it working? i’ve been trying to get it working under rhat9 with no results.

    Reply
  2. Robert

    I’m still battling with modules.conf in an attempt to get my SBLive sound card and the DSP 500 working at the same time. As soon as I accomplish that, I’ll post here and email both of you.

    In the meantime, you might want to look here and here, and especially here.

    Reply
  3. Robert

    Below are the current contents of my modules.conf file. Right now, the Plantronics headset works, but the sound card doesn’t. The commented out lines in the ALSA and OSS sections are lines that I found in the modules.conf files of other people who posted on the web saying they got the headset to work. Unfortunately, when I uncomment those lines, nothing works. I haven’t tried to uncomment them one at at a time, but I have tried doing it in small groups. The results have been very unpredictable. Obviously, I have still yet to get the sound card and the headset working at the same.

    #alias parport_lowlevel parport_pc
    alias eth0 dmfe
    alias scsi_hostadapter aic7xxx
    alias usb-controller usb-uhci
     
    # ALSA portion
    alias char-major-116 snd
    alias snd-card-0 emu10k1
    alias snd-card-1 snd-usb-audio
    #options snd major=116 cards_limit=2
    #options emu10k1 index=0
    #options snd-usb-audio index=1
     
    # OSS/Free portion
    alias char-major-14 soundcore
     
    # Card #0 - SoundBlaster Live
    alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
    alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
    alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
    alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
    alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
    alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
     
    # Card #1 - Plantronics USB DSP-500
    alias sound-slot-1 snd-card-1
    alias sound-service-1-0 snd-mixer-oss
    alias sound-service-1-1 snd-seq-oss
    alias sound-service-1-3 snd-pcm-oss
    alias sound-service-1-8 snd-seq-oss
    alias sound-service-1-12 snd-pcm-oss
     
    #alias /dev/mixer snd-mixer-oss
    #alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss
    #alias /dev/midi snd-seq-oss
    #below snd-card-1 snd-mixer-oss snd-seq-oss snd-pcm-oss
    #alias /dev/sequencer snd-seq-oss
     
    post-install sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrc -L >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
    pre-remove sound-slot-0 /bin/aumix-minimal -f /etc/.aumixrc -S >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
    alias char-major-195 nvidia
    
    Reply
  4. Robert

    Uncommenting the following two lines

    options emu10k1 index=0
    options snd-usb-audio index=1

    brings back support for the SBLive card, but unfortunately ends support for the Plantronics headset.

    Arrrgh, sound support has to be the most frustrating thing on Linux for me. At least I figured out how to switch between the two, but it’s a pain to have to reboot to make the switch. I’ll try uncommenting some of the other lines to see if I can find the magic combination.

    Reply
  5. Bernd S.

    Hi, could you give me some advice? I just downloaded skype-0.91.0.3-mdk.i386.rpm and tried to install it. However, I get the error message: failed dependencies:
    libqt3 >= 3.2 is needed by skype-0.91.0.3-mdk. My Mandrake 9.1 version has libqt 3.4 and I certainly would not want to downgrade it to libqt 3.2.

    Does it make any sense if I do an rpm -i –force or does Skype simply not work with the newer version of QT?

    Thanks, Bernd

    Reply
  6. sandeep

    hi could u give me advice
    which version of skype is most suitable for redhat 9.0 – linux

    Reply
  7. Robert

    Sandeep, I had already upgraded from RH9 to FC1 by the time I tried Skype on Linux, so I can’t speak from personal experience. However, my best guess based on the info on the Skype site is that you want the one labeled “RPM for systems with Qt 3.1”.

    Reply
  8. Freek

    Could you give me some advice, i’ve been running skype but i can’t call, ik gives a message: problem with audio device en in the terminal its says:
    Sky: Call: getStatus routing
    open /dev/dsp: Permission denied
    OutgoingCallTab::init
    WidgetCallTab::init
    WidgetCallTab: updateTabIcon: STATE 0
    Call: OnChange: key 249
    Call: OnChange: CALL_FAILUREREASON
    UI: Call: SOUND_PLAYBACK_ERROR
    Call: Problem with sound device
    Call: OnChange: key 273
    Call: OnChange: key 245
    (null)
    ItemManager: updateCallStatus
    UI: User::getAvatar no avatar, returning default avatar image
    call: status: 2
    Sky: Call: getStatus failed
    UI: Call: SOUND_PLAYBACK_ERROR

    I can call when I’m root and changing the permissions of dsp0 seems make it able for users also call however now it keeps on saying: …connecting…
    Can U help me?
    Thanx!!

    Reply
  9. BLuque

    Your Skype ID is NOT! Working a skype user search for wombatnation output There is no such user
    Could you please help me I’ve installed Skype on Fedora but when i call the application it does nothing…any suggestions??

    Reply
  10. Mark

    I am on fedora core 1.
    Qt-3.1.14 is not getting installed on my machine as it has dependencies of qt itself.

    Tried installing skype from the standalone source but no avail.

    Help is appreciated.

    Reply
  11. Anonymous

    I did not see an answer in this thread but I did find one at the following link
    http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/history/231819
    or if that doesn’t work try

    LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux – Hardware > Microphone not working in Mandrake 10.0

    The key part seems to have been running alsaconf as root. Although this is specifically targeted at Mandrake, it may work with Suse, RedHat, Debian, etc.

    Reply
  12. Robert

    Thanks for posting that link to the thread at LinuxQuestions.org. When I run into a problem with an app on Linux, the process that has worked best for me has been to 1) google on the error message or a short description of the problem, 2) read all the search results that link to a thread on LinuxQuestions.org. I get at least 50% of my Linux questions answered that way.

    Reply
  13. zohar

    Maybe you know how to make it work under debian/wmaker with 2.6.10 and sound on OSS?

    Reply
  14. Gustavo

    Espero que alguien hable español 😀
    mi problema es que skype me funciona muy bien, pero desde linux tiene muy buena calidad sonora, pero el sonido es muy cortado. Mientras que en Window$ la calidad es menor pero llega todo el sonido, no se corta (y me entienden cuando hablo :))

    Reply
  15. john h

    I can’t get my usb mic working alongside my sb audigy2. I am using alsa, on fc3, and I have two alsa soundcards. my sb audigy2, and now my usb mic AK5370.

    When I plug in my mic, /dev/dsp1 appears.

    however,

    with the skype dsp hijack, this does not work!

    MIXERDEV=/dev/mixer MICDEV=/dev/dsp1 SPEAKERDEV=/dev/dsp LD_PRELOAD=/usr/local/lib/libskype_dsp_hijacker.so:/lib/libdl.so.2 skype

    I get no sound at all with this, playback or recording.

    arecord –list-devices
    **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
    card 0: Audigy2 [Sound Blaster Audigy2], device 0: emu10k1 [EMU10K1]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 0: Audigy2 [Sound Blaster Audigy2], device 1: emu10k1 mic [EMU10K1 MIC]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 0: Audigy2 [Sound Blaster Audigy2], device 2: emu10k1 efx [EMU10K1 EFX]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 1: default [AK5370 ], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

    help?

    Reply
  16. Muhammad Sarfraz

    I�ve been running skype on FC3 with sound card SB Live 5.1 (emu10k1) but i can�t call, it gives the message: problem with audio device. Not only Skype is giving problem but also Asterisk(GNOPHONE and KPHONE).

    Reply
  17. ankas

    I can’t run rpm -U skype-1.1.0.3-suse.i586.rpm success.
    the error message :
    Failed dependencies: qt3 >= 3.2 is need by skype-1.1.0.3-suse
    pls heple to do that.
    Thank you

    Reply
  18. kristin

    Hi, I’m having some problems with my dsp’s & fedora 3. Fedora recognizes them, and they work, but every 5 minutes or so it seems like the onboard sound card and the soundcard for the dsp’s are conflicting so I get an error.

    If you have any suggestions it would be great 🙂

    Thanks!

    Reply
  19. kristin

    nevermind! always the obvious thing that you don’t notice. the sound from gaim was trying to play sound at the same time as my RB.

    Reply
  20. myoaung

    i used mandrake 9 . when i install skype
    it failed dependencies —

    Reply
  21. neeraj

    hi
    i install the skype on fedora core 1 using the nodeps ,but on loggin its always show logging failed,please help me in this regard,i new to linux

    Reply
  22. Robert

    I wouldn’t be surprised if newer versions of Skype no longer work on really old versions of Fedora. The first thing you should do is upgrade to a new version of Fedora. Fedora 8 is much, much better than Fedora Core 1.

    Reply

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