Skype for Linux 2.1 Beta out now
I’m excited to announce that after almost two years of silence Skype for Linux team is proud to present a first beta of the new, shiny Skype for Linux desktop 2.1.
What’s new in this release:
- Skype’s SILK codec for outstanding quality with negligible bandwidth usage,
- HQ video support,
- PulseAudio support,
- SMS send support (*Sending SMS requires available Skype Credit),
- Contact groups,
- Contact labels, or tags, for easier contact organization,
- Chat window improvements (typing notification, message editing, s/geeky text/replacement/, new emoticons),
- Nicer contact list with mood messages and video capability icons,
- Nicer tray icon.
More details can be seen on the release notes page. (PLEASE READ ABOUT THE KNOWN ISSUES THERE - will save you some time)
Coupled with this release is an updated action_handler script by our long-time betatester Philipp Kolmann. You can see the details on how to configure your favourite browser here.
Give the version 2.1.0.47 a go and send your feedback to our JIRA, comments to this post and to our forums.
As this is a public beta we are eagerly awaiting your constructive feedback. Enjoy!
- The Linux Team.
Hi Berkus,
could you also build an amd64-version for Debian Lenny (like the Ubuntu amd64-version) ? Also, I think the SMS-dialog is a bit confusing. It states, that one can send the first SMS for free but when I try to send one, I’ll get an error message (even though Skype states I have 1 Euro credit, I didn’t buy any credit though).
Still looking for more issues to give you feedback. Great work .
Adrian
Bravo! It looks nice!
Thanks for the update!
The only problem I see so far is that it seems to require PulseAudio. Given your track record (that’s meant as an observation, not as an insult), if PulseAudio isn’t around–or if it changes much–in 2 years, Skype will be pretty much useless. I’d suggest that a modular output plugin architecture (as used by many multimedia apps under Linux) might be very valuable.
On a peripherally related note: can I tell Skype to always output to my laptop’s internal card while XMMS outputs to my external USB sound device?
Cheers!
-Ben
@genki-adrian
Just grab the Ubuntu’s version and install that. It has no depencies that would prevent you from installing it. So far I’ve tried that on 3 different amd64 Lenny systems, and it worked for every one of them.
The downside is, that it didn’t work for my desktop, which is Debian testing; entering the audio settings page makes it crash, as does anything else that makes a sound.
Hi,
Thanks for the beta.
For me one of the problems with the past release was that skype liked changing sound devices all the time. So having it use pulseaudio sounds good.
However:
1. Reiterating the comment in the previous thread, it would be nice to have the ability of specifying different devices for the ringing and speakers. I tend to use USB headset for conversation but would like to have ringing sent to the speakers so that I do not miss the call.
2. On ubuntu the only sound device I see is “PulseAudio (local server)” just as stated in the release notes. But on Fedora 11 I still have the full list of sound devices to choose from (which makes me worried that skype will have the past tendency of choosing wrong devices on restart).
Yuri
Avatars are not shown—whether in chat dialogs or in Edit Profile window. I’m using 64-bit Ubuntu 8.10 and downloaded appropriate version.
Sorry, I’m using Ubuntu 9.04 actually, but downloaded version for 8.10 as most recent available.
Thanks a lot for this nice news! One more issue—when making a call, recording level stays the same, though I checked the box “Allow Skype to automatically adjust my mixer levels” in settings.
Minor issue—instead of Ctrl+Enter you need to use Shift+Enter in chat window to enter new line.
Wooow, it feels so good to have a skype that JUST WORKS!
Now a 64 version for the latest Fedoras would be nice…
Any idea how close we are from final release?
a- soon
b- very soon
c- very very soon (TM)
Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX doesn’ work.
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 046d:08d7 Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Communicate STX
Driver gspca zc3xx
Kubuntu Karmic 9.10
It works out of the box with 2.0.0.72
Works great over here, using straight ALSA. Whoever said PulseAudio was required, it’s not true in my case (I don’t have it installed) FWIW.
I just installed it on Ubuntu 9.10 alpha (64-bit version), and I can already say it works much better than the previous version of Skype. Way to go!
> Reiterating the comment in the previous thread, it would be nice to have the ability of specifying different devices for the ringing and speakers. I tend to use USB headset for conversation but would like to have ringing sent to the speakers so that I do not miss the call.
I second that. That’s the one thing I’m missing from the old version, where you could “circumvent” PulseAudio for the ringing and send it directly to the chosen ALSA device. I’m not sure if you can have different “audio groups” for the same application to route differently in PulseAudio at all, though.
Except from that, it’s great to have a new Skype version after all this time. The contact groups are something I’ve been waiting for since they have been removed in 1.4(?). I’m looking forward to the first call with the beta, and to not having to check the sound devices every so often, because Skype changed from my headset to the (unused) HDMI device
- Henning
after a first quick test things seem to work fine.
@berkus: will you release smaller incremental updates based on 2.1 beta?
thank you for the new release,
the sound seems to have improved, but unfortunately the webcam only produces a colorful pattern. i never had video a problem under the previous stable version. I am using a logitech quickcam which otherwise performs well with all other apps.
thank you for all the efforts,
martin
@da_apz:
No, you cannot install the Ubuntu version on a stock Debian Lenny version, I already tried. It depends on a newer version of libasound2 (0.1.17 and Lenny comes with 0.1.16).
Adrian
The 64-bit installer contains a 32-bit executable:
# file skype
skype: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), dynamically linked (uses shared libs), for GNU/Linux 2.6.8, stripped
So, it’s still only 32-bit.
To Berkus and the Skype for Linux team: thankyou thankyou thankyou!
Works like a charm (on F11). Now I can finally make calls again! You made my day.
Additions to my previous report:
1. Pulseaudio on my Fedora machines did not show in Skype because i586 archive of pulseaudio-lib libraries was not installed (I am on x86_64 architecture). A bit strange since I installed 64bit version (by converting Ubuntu deb to rpm with alien). With i586 libraries installed, skype uses Pulseaudio as it should.
2. However, on 2 out of 4 machines skype crashes pulse and then crashes itself. Machines that work: Ubuntu and Fedora 11, x86_64 architectures; machines that don’t work: one x86_64 and one i386, both with Fedora 11. On x86_64 machines the problem exists both with the fedora i586 rpm and with converted x86_64 deb package.
Symptoms are the same as mentioned in the previous thread: try test call, hear ringing sound and then no sound at all. Checking running processes I can see that pulseaudio process disappears. Remove pulseaudio and skype works. On problematic x86_64 skype sometimes works with pulse (I can’t test extensively on i386 machine since I administer it remotely). For example, a few times skype worked after reinstalling pulse client libraries. But problem comes back after rebooting the machine. A couple of times restarting X solved the problem but that also did not always work.
Yuri
Thanks a lot for new Linux version of Skype! Hope in future development of linux version will be faster, at least as fast as MacOSX one!
> skype
Aborted
>
No error message, nothing! So what should I do now?
(Using Suse11.1 and the RPM provided for Suse11.x by Skype.)
opensuse 11.1 64-bit kde 4.3.0 = no problem with skype 2.1beta
will be skype complet in qt4.4 or higher? /i think “send file dialog” for example..
i would like to see mandriva builds too
Don’t work on debian unstable amd64
Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 623: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_initialize (0, args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT’ failed!
I don’t use pulse audio server just plain alsa
@ Berkus, no Arch Linux packages? as far as i know, u’re using Arch Linux x86_64 too , Thanks.
@Berkus
(Sorry for my bad english)
Hey. Skype has an odd behavior with the HQ video. I have added
<Video>
<CaptureHeight>480</CaptureHeight>
<CaptureWidth>640</CaptureWidth>
</Video>
in the config.xml file, under lib section, in order to make it work.
However, when I start the video call only a 240*320 resolution is used. Then I stop my video using the “Stop my video” option in the call window. Finally I restart it using the “Start My Video” option and video is sent using a 480*640 size
I don’t know if this is normal and if someone else is having the same problem.
Thanks
Its great that you’ve got this new version out…well done! Just in time, as I was considering a switch to google talk since pidgin and empathy are able to connect to it. There is no Arch linux package? Hopefully it should be in the Arch repos very soon.
Skype protocol for Kopete (in KDE 4.3) has own action handler.
It has netscape plugin for registring x-skype mime type for javascript skype checker and application skype-action-handler
It use skype.protcol and call.protocol for work in konqueror from http://blogs.skype.com/sites/linux/2006/08/making_skype_links_work.html
dadypt: I’d recommend not using these hard-coded values anymore, and Skype should automatically scale up to 640×480 when it finds the webcam supports it, and there is another CPU power on both ends, and enough bandwidth to do it.
Andy.
@andypoo
Ok However the camera supports this resolution and the network too, and Skype never scales up to 640×480… In Windows everything works fine.. What a pity…
I start to think that the problems of Skype will never end.
Great news!
But in this beta I can see only five of my contacts and all of them offline – but they are online (checked on Win version). Any chance to find out where the problem is? System, router, bad ISP…? It’s distro independent.
Hi,
Thanks a lot for all your work!
From my experience the new version consumes more CPU power than the previous one during the call.
At my little ALIX board with AMD GeodeLX@533MHz and Xubuntu 8.10 the sound is very choppy and CPU is at 100%.
I guess it is given by the fact that new SILK codec is used.
Compared to 60-70% CPU usage with previous version and G729 codec.
Could you provide us some info about required CPU usage for SILK, SVOPC and G729 codecs?
I wonder if I have any chance to use the new Skype with SILK codec on such a low power machine.
Is it possible to force or to disable the specific codec?
Thanks
In case anyone’s trying to get up to the recommended PulseAudio 0.9.15 on Ubuntu, here’s the link for a PPA that has that version:
https://launchpad.net/~themuso/+archive/ppa
dadypt: This is our first release of high quality video for Linux, so bear with us. We’ll look into your issue. Can you let us know what camera you are using?
@andypoo
Thanks It’s an integrated HP webcam (HP Pavillon dv9000), codec VP71. As a said before it works fine when I had the hard-coded values…
Skype 2.1 beta seems great!
Sound works much better. Looking forward to testing out video when I’m at home.
Looking forward to more great updates.
hey , thanks for the updated skype.
it is working with ubuntu 9.10 alpha 4. but there are issues with the video.
can only see red and green lines.
i think it needs a fix.
although fixes are available on the net and I got it working but its far from working out of the box!
nevertheless , a good job done. kudos!
One more issue, on another laptop of mine: Ubuntu 9.04, on a Dell XPS M1210.
Audio works fine, but the webcam will not turn on. lsusb shows:
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 046d:08c6 Logitech, Inc. QuickCam for DELL Notebooks
This webcam worked fine for me with skype 2.0.0.72 (or whatever the previous one was).
But when will Skype in Linux get the same fancy layout as in Windows? The way it looks now is just old and crappy. I’m still exited by the updates though and has already downloaded the Beta for this new skype version.
It can’t be that difficult to update the layout…
@andypoo
BTW, lsusb shows:
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 064e:a101 Suyin Corp.
It doesn’t work on debian unstable amd64:
$ skype
Inconsistency detected by ld.so: dl-open.c: 623: _dl_open: Assertion `_dl_debug_initialize (0, args.nsid)->r_state == RT_CONSISTENT’ failed!
Any idea?
Where can I find the old Skype version 2.0.0.72 for Linux?
my os is FC11 and the latest beta, skype-2.1.0.47-fc10.i586, is much better than the fc5 version.
however, i get a pulseaudio crash as, …
pulseaudio[3400]: resampler.c: Using resampler ‘speex-float-3′
pulseaudio[3400]: resampler.c: Using float32le as working format.
pulseaudio[3400]: resampler.c: Choosing speex quality setting 3.
pulseaudio[3400]: source-output.c: Created output 0 “Input” on alsa_input.pci_8086_24c5_sound_card_0 with sample spec s16le 1ch 16000Hz and channel map mono
pulseaudio[3400]: protocol-native.c: Final latency 199.89 ms = 99.94 ms + 99.95 ms
pulseaudio[3400]: source.c: Assertion ‘pa_cvolume_compatible(volume, &s->sample_spec)’ failed at pulsecore/source.c:666, function pa_source_set_volume(). Aborting.
is there a useful diagnostic i can provide or a workaround?
also, happy to test patches…
tia, jackc…
Question: From what decides Skype that PulseAudio is available?
Background: I run KDE 4.3 (on OpenSUSE 11.2 Factory and x86_64 architecture) with the following KDE (Phonon) Multimedia settings:
1. Intel ICH5 with ALC655 (Intel ICH5)
2. PulseAudio
Testing the first one shows that ALSA is working normally, but in the Skype sound device settings I can see only “PulseAudio server (local)” for all sound device types.
Isn’t it possible for Skype to handle both interfaces parallely?
I tried the Fedora 10 rpm version on my Fedora 11 x86_64 system. It fails immediately, complaining about missing libraries. A quick ldd shows this:
$ ldd /usr/bin/skype|grep not
libXss.so.1 => not found
libQtDBus.so.4 => not found
libQtGui.so.4 => not found
libQtNetwork.so.4 => not found
libQtCore.so.4 => not found
Note that all of these do exist in /usr/lib64. In other words, the dependancies in the rpm are broken, since it installed with no complaints (I actually used “yum localinstall …”). I don’t really want to install the 32-bit libs as that would mean installing a 32-bit version of Qt among other things. Is there any reason we can’t have a 64-bit version? A lot of Linux users are on 64-bit now (unlike Windows users).
@berkus
Wouldn’t it be helpful for you if you integrated some menu item “Report a bug” or something similar, which collects all diagnostic information from the local system you might need for analyzing and connects directly to your bugtracker to push this and additional user comments? A lot of people won’t report you everything you might need, and this could save much time and work. The diagnostic data could include the skype and qt version, information about ALSA and PulseAudio, the kernel and architecture (x86, x86_64) and some more.
@genki-adrian
I have a amd64 stock lenny, with lib32asound2 1.0.16. Looking at the package manifest of the “Ubuntu 8.10+ 64-bit”-package offered at skype.com, it seems to depend on version 1.0.14, thus it works fine. The official download page says it depends on 1.0.12, but the depencies of that .deb say otherwise.
If you want further proof, you’re free to chat with me on Skype, and I’ll be happy to paste you the output of dpkg with Skype 2.1.0.47-1 installed.
@da_apz:
I have to check again, I tried to roll out Skype 2.1 on all the computers at my university but apt complained about the version of libasound2.
Anyway, I am having again the problem that Skype turns mute when a call is established on Ubuntu 9.10. Also, I am having the same problem with Skype like “capriott” installing on Debian Squeeze/amd64. *annoying*.
Adrian
@da_apz:
Ok, found the problem. It’s a matter between i386 and amd64.
amd64:
root@iris:~> lsb_release -c
Codename: lenny
root@iris:~> dpkg -i skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.47-1_amd64.deb
(Reading database … 409813 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace skype 2.1.0.47-1 (using skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.47-1_amd64.deb) …
Unpacking replacement skype …
Setting up skype (2.1.0.47-1) …
i386:
root@flexo:~> lsb_release -c
Codename: lenny
root@flexo:~> dpkg -i skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.47-1_i386.deb
(Reading database … 461507 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace skype 2.1.0.47-1 (using skype-ubuntu-intrepid_2.1.0.47-1_i386.deb) …
Unpacking replacement skype …
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of skype:
skype depends on libasound2 (>> 1.0.17); however:
Version of libasound2 on system is 1.0.16-2.
dpkg: error processing skype (–install):
dependency problems – leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
skype
root@flexo:~>
So the Skype guys had a bad hand packaging.
Adrian
@genki-adrian
Yup; in my original post I was talking about the amd64 packaged version (as that was what you originally asked for), which again worked for me.
Anyway, good to hear you got it installed