Skype does not work properly after upgrade to version 2010[Solved]

[Agent Smith]

Gentlemen,

Skype is not working properly after the upgrade to PCLOS 2010. I am using kernel 2.6.32.11-pclos2.bfs. The sound hardware is VT1708/A [Azalia HDAC] from VIA technologies.
I never had problems with Skype in older versions of PCLOS, but now, it is not functional.
IF I use Pulse AUDIO, the voice sounds clipped. Ok, then I disable Pulse Audio... And my voice, to the person in the other side of Skype, sounds like Darth Vader... Yeah, it pitchs down my voice to sound like Darth Vader. I tested with Audacity, to see if this problem would happen with every sound app, but with Audacity and XMMS and VLC, it's ok. The sound plays fine.
I am very happy so far with PCLOS 2010. But this annoyance with sound  in Skype (which I use a lot) is driving me crazy.
Thanks in advance.

[Agent Smith]

The solution: Downgrade to version 2.1.0.47. Skype is now working as it always has been. Very well.
If someone knows about the issues of the latest Linux Skype version, could help to find a solution, because, what I found is more like a workaround.

Best regards,

[Ginsu]

The problem you were having sounds very familiar. Is there any way to get a hold of version 2.1.0.47? It seems to be unavailable in either synaptic or from skype's official site.

[Ginsu]

Got it, and thank you very much. Will give it a try later when I get home.

[tuxalish]

Gentlemen,

Skype is not working properly after the upgrade to PCLOS 2010. I am using kernel 2.6.32.11-pclos2.bfs. The sound hardware is VT1708/A [Azalia HDAC] from VIA technologies.
I never had problems with Skype in older versions of PCLOS, but now, it is not functional.
IF I use Pulse AUDIO, the voice sounds clipped. Ok, then I disable Pulse Audio... And my voice, to the person in the other side of Skype, sounds like Darth Vader... Yeah, it pitchs down my voice to sound like Darth Vader. I tested with Audacity, to see if this problem would happen with every sound app, but with Audacity and XMMS and VLC, it's ok. The sound plays fine.
I am very happy so far with PCLOS 2010. But this annoyance with sound  in Skype (which I use a lot) is driving me crazy.
Thanks in advance.

The same for me, I sounded like Darth Vader! I was using a headset with the 3.5mm plugs which Kmix did not recognize as a separate sound device. As soon as I switched to a USB headset, the problem was solved. Kmix recognized the USB headset, added a new tab in the mixer window, and a USB headset sound option in skype. Using skype 2.1.0.81

[Linuxera]

Yes, there's <deleted>. There you can find earlier versions of Skype. But do download and save them in your hard drive. They may vanish for good.

BTW, search for PCLOS RPM version. Ok

Hope I have helped.


Best Regards,

Are you suggesting that people install rpms from outside sources?
Have you done a search of the forums for others who might have had the same problem, and found a solution.
Did you find Skype static in the repositories?  Works for me with my fully updated install.
Thanks for listening.. just remember, so are a bunch of inexperienced linux users.  You bork your install with an outside rpm and we can no longer assist you..

Cindy, aka Linuxera.

[Old-Polack]

If one wants the older version it's in all of the official 2007 repository mirrors.

Example:

http://ftp.nluug.nl/ibiblio/distributions/pclinuxos/apt/pclinuxos/2007/RPMS.nonfree/

or YouCanToo's frozen repo.

http://kde3.pclosusers.com/pclosfiles/pclinuxos/2007/RPMS.nonfree/

There is no reason whatever to search all over the web, just to be brought back here.

[Ɗα√ϵς§]

I used skype-static from YouCanToo's repo and it's fine, version 2.1.0.47 - on my netbook.

On my desktop, the latest version works OK because I use the USB mic in my webcam, as others have observed.

[Ginsu]

Was having the same problem as original poster with a clean install of PCLOS 2010 KDE (fully updated), with the exception of pulseaudio issues as I was unable to enable pulse through either control panel or in terminal. Using default 2.6.32.11-pclos2.bfs kernel with intel ALC888 sound hardware. Microphone in Skype produced extreme down-pitch effect but mic was working normally when tested with audacity. This problem occurred with both 2.1.0.81 skype and same version skype_static.

As reported by tuxalish, using a (in my case borrowed) USB headset did not produce the same distorted effect. Also downgrading to 2.1.0.47 static (in the end I used the version from old-polack's first mirror) seems to have solved the issue as it did for Agent Smith, if not in an ideal way.

Anyway, thanks everyone.

[Ɗα√ϵς§]

How to do this (for less experienced people):

Firstly, go to Synaptic and uninstall the current version of skype or skype-static.

From the PC Menu > More Applications > Terminals > Konsole

Arggh! The dreaded command line!

Don't worry, just do as I say!! Do everything, including the commands in RED, the reason for the coloring will become clear later.

Type at the command prompt:

cd Downloads

At the next line, copy the following command. If you highlight it, all you have to do is "middle click" at the command line, else just copy it to the clipboard and do Edit>Paste in the Konsole program. This is one line, it has only broken on screen due to the hyphen...

wget http://kde3.pclosusers.com/pclosfiles/pclinuxos/2007/RPMS.nonfree/skype_static-2.1.0.47-2pclos2009.i586.rpm

The older version which may work on your machine will be downloaded.

When done, you have to switch to root user. You do this by entering the command

su

You are prompted for your root password. In Konsole, it does not show on the screen that you are entering anything. Don't worry, just type it in and press ENTER anyway.

You will see changes to the command prompt. This indicates that you are now in root user mode, so be careful.

The next command you have to type or paste from here is:

rpm -Uvh skype_static-2.1.0.47-2pclos2009.i586.rpm

Now we have a problem -- running synaptic will "update" skype to the latest version. There are two solutions to this, one is to pin the version we have, the other is to hide it from the packaging system. I think it's easier for a less experienced user to hide it. The command to do that is:

rpm -e --justdb skype_static

This leaves the package installed, just removes the entry from the package database. Now if a further version comes out and you wish to try it, you just repeat this whole process, but only the commands in red (assuming you didn't delete the download). This will re-install the old version over the one you hid (identical files), and you can then upgrade. If the later version doesn't work properly either, you can just repeat this whole process to reinstall the working version.