I completely cannot use the new version of skype on Gentoo Linux with Intel HD (ich6, alsa driver), I use KDE. The program starts, however, there is no sound, though the sound section in options recognizes alsa ich6. When I try to make a call skype shows "Connecting..." forever. Moreover, the messages i enter are never sent though contacts are displayed online.

A little bit different behaviour is when skype is started in the root mode. Now instead of connecting it says "problem with sound device". But the chat works. Surprisingly, on rare occasions after starting in the root mode the sound works and I can even make calls and talk! But only very rarely.

I have no problems with skype 1.2 running it with aoss.

Help..

I have an Acer TravelMate 8215WLMi laptop running Sabayon Linux 3.3 x86-64 (Sabayon is a variant of Gentoo).

I have made sure that the ALSA packages installed (alsa-lib, alsa-tools etc.) are the latest versions from the Gentoo repository as of 14 April 2007. Ditto for Skype (1.3.0.53_API). I used the usual Sabayon/Gentoo 'emerge -u' command to update each package and the updates were successful.

AlsaConf reports my sound card as being:
hda-intel Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio

I have used AlsaMixer, KMix (KDE) and Volume Control (GNOME) and all 'agree' that nothing is muted; my microphone is working. I can record and play back my voice and music using various applications.

In KDE Control Centre > Sound & Multimedia > Sound System, Hardware, I have "Advanced Linux Sound Architecture" in the 'Select the audio device' box, and the 'Full duplex' box is ticked.

Yet when I run Skype, nine times out of ten the Skype window displays the message "Problem with sound device" when I try to make a call, and the Terminal window from which I ran Skype displays the error message:

ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:606:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave

Occasionally I can actually connect to the Skype Test Call service. When I do, occasionally I can record and hear my voice played back to me successfully. Usually, though, the 'bong' informing me the recording period has finished is immediately followed by a second 'bong' instead of my voice being played back.

Running Skype as root seems to be a little more successful than running under my user name, but it still fails to connect most of the time. If I am lucky enough to connect with a real person, usually they cannot hear me but I can hear them. But I have, on a couple of occasions only. been able to hold a lengthy conversation with someone. This is a rare occurrence.

Why on Earth is it so difficult to get Skype working with Linux when it works so easily on Windows XP? I am on the verge of abandoning Linux Skype for good, after two weeks of late nights struggling to try and get it to work.

Have you tried the earlier version of skype? It lacks some nonessential functions but it works with alsa! http://download.skype.com/linux/skype-1.2.0.18.tar.bz2 You generally need to start it wrapped with artsd (in KDE) or aoss:

aoss PathToSkype/skype

Also on Gentoo forums some people say that you should use the new version of skype directly from skype.com, not from the portage and version 1.3.0.50 instead of 1.3.0.53. http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-3988101.html#3988101. But it doesn't help me.

Success! Kazek72 (see the thread "Mic not recording? ... possible solution") deserves a medal. His post pointed me in the right direction. Apart from all the things I did before (see my earlier post), which are all still necessary BTW, I did the following. Bear in mind that my Acer TravelMate 8215WLMi uses an Intel soundcard, so you will need to find out precisely which type of soundcard your PC uses and edit the appropriate .conf file for it.

As root, I did the following in a Terminal window:



Then I edited /usr/share/alsa/cards/HDA-Intel.conf and changed:



to



i.e. I replaced "dsnoop:" with "hw:"

And now, when I run Skype as root:



I no longer get the error message "ALSA lib pcm_dsnoop.c:606:(snd_pcm_dsnoop_open) unable to open slave)" in the Terminal window, and I no longer get the error message "Problem with sound device" in the Skype window. I can call the Skype Test Call service consistently, and record and play back my voice consistently using that service. And, more importantly, I can now make and receive real calls consistently. What a hassle, and just to get Linux/Skype to do what I could already do 'out-of-the-box' with Skype under Windows XP. Still, it's good to get it working under Linux, even if the Linux version of Skype does not support video. I hope this saves someone from the hassle I had to get it working.

I did the same, but no change. And I hadn't got that error before.