skype?

robot5x · 2005-02-24 19:39:03

Hi all -
well, this seemed the best place for this...hope it is.
I just read the thread on the skype pkgbuild here
Sounded great so decided to give it a go, but not having much luck at the moment.
I'd just be really interested to hear about peoples experiences with this - does it seem to work ok? needed to do anything to get it up and running? How about headsets - anyone using USB?
All thoughts appreciated.
Thanks -

zeppelin · 2005-02-24 22:16:46

hi,
GnomeMeeting 1.2 is in archlinux repos and is with V4L2 and the audio latency is less than Skype. So I suggest you prefer to use GnomeMeeting which is free software and better for your headset usage

dp · 2005-02-24 22:37:24

zeppelin wrote:

hi,
GnomeMeeting 1.2 is in archlinux repos and is with V4L2 and the audio latency is less than Skype. So I suggest you prefer to use GnomeMeeting which is free software and better for your headset usage

i agree, but how do you communicate with friends using windows or osx? (they use yahoo voice or isight) --- we use skype to phone, because it works on every platform

anyone with another solution please let me know

dp · 2005-02-24 22:38:33

robot5x wrote:

Hi all -
well, this seemed the best place for this...hope it is.
I just read the thread on the skype pkgbuild here
Sounded great so decided to give it a go, but not having much luck at the moment.
I'd just be really interested to hear about peoples experiences with this - does it seem to work ok? needed to do anything to get it up and running? How about headsets - anyone using USB?
All thoughts appreciated.
Thanks -

download it, put it in a dir and start ./skype - that's how i use it

EDIT: forgot: i don0t use a headset, but if your headset is working (ALSA) you can set the /dev/dsp{0,1,2..} device in skype in the settings - that should not be a problem

zeppelin · 2005-02-25 01:12:31

dp wrote:

i agree, but how do you communicate with friends using windows or osx? (they use yahoo voice or isight) --- we use skype to phone, because it works on every platform. Anyone with another solution please let me know

every Windows has netmeeting
Start --> Run --> conf.exe
you just need to install the latest codecs (provided by gnomemeeting.org) in that windows machine [very easy just double click that exe]. Then you have audio *AND* video between GM and NM.

On MacOSX I don't know for OpenH323 open apps because noone I know has a MacOSX. But still I guess there's sth, and I'm sure you can also use the more advanced SIP protocol (next version of GM will have it too). MacOSX can run JAVA apps right?

http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Open+Source+VOIP+Software

well Skype is just the worse

Mith · 2005-02-25 05:23:23

just because it fits the topic.. here's a link [it's in german] telling about a usb-phone using skype

http://www.akademie.de/grundlagen-compu … lefon.html

it's from waitec and man their site looks ugly.. anyway here's the link to the phone and the adapter (2 seperate products for 2 different ways of dealing with skype + "real" phone)
http://www.waitec.com/waitec/articleview/950/1/240/

dp · 2005-02-25 06:18:14

zeppelin wrote:

dp wrote:
i agree, but how do you communicate with friends using windows or osx? (they use yahoo voice or isight) --- we use skype to phone, because it works on every platform. Anyone with another solution please let me know
every Windows has netmeeting
Start --> Run --> conf.exe
you just need to install the latest codecs (provided by gnomemeeting.org) in that windows machine [very easy just double click that exe]. Then you have audio *AND* video between GM and NM.
On MacOSX I don't know for OpenH323 open apps because noone I know has a MacOSX. But still I guess there's sth, and I'm sure you can also use the more advanced SIP protocol (next version of GM will have it too). MacOSX can run JAVA apps right?
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Open+Source+VOIP+Software
well Skype is just the worse

thx for the hints ... i will forward them to friends/family-members/colleagues and see if we can use gm instead of skype (i like it's licence much better than the licence of skype!!!! )

lanrat · 2005-02-25 09:06:49

robot5x wrote:

Sounded great so decided to give it a go, but not having much luck at the moment.

Exactly what kind of problems do you have? I can run and use skype with my friends (usingwindows xp or ipaq). Use the last PKGBUILD from the thread (arch's package is getting old...). There is a newer version 1.0.0.7 available but just change pkgver and the package should build fine.

BTW License is not everything. The biggest problems you're going to experience with gnomemeeing/netmeeting are connected with network configuration (public ip, firewall, nat, port forwarding, calling someone and "being called" by someone from outside network etc. etc.). IMO from this point of view skype might be easier to setup but this depends on many things.

dp · 2005-02-25 10:09:14

lanrat wrote:

BTW License is not everything. The biggest problems you're going to experience with gnomemeeing/netmeeting are connected with network configuration (public ip, firewall, nat, port forwarding, calling someone and "being called" by someone from outside network etc. etc.). IMO from this point of view skype might be easier to setup but this depends on many things.

very true! ... on the other hand: after you spent 2 hours for trying to find out how to configure your zyxel 650r router (running in nat mode) to let ports pass to your ip, you start to like your success ;-)

zeppelin · 2005-02-25 12:29:30

dp wrote:

lanrat wrote:
BTW License is not everything. The biggest problems you're going to experience with gnomemeeing/netmeeting are connected with network configuration (public ip, firewall, nat, port forwarding, calling someone and "being called" by someone from outside network etc. etc.). IMO from this point of view skype might be easier to setup but this depends on many things.
very true! ... on the other hand: after you spent 2 hours for trying to find out how to configure your zyxel 650r router (running in nat mode) to let ports pass to your ip, you start to like your success ;-)

The main problem is the protocol H323. You can use SIP clients and you will not have such problems. {well if the ports are both ways closed then how do expect to send/receive data anyways..}
GM will have SIP support [and will be the first client to have both] in the next version. If you can't wait, use SIP clients from the link I gave you above.

Skype is bloatware [feeds the roumour that it has better audio quality] and uses a closed protocol. try reading the comments on Skype that GM dev did

robot5x · 2005-02-25 17:18:50

lanrat wrote:

Exactly what kind of problems do you have?

well - I can't actually make a call, it just freezes and gets stuck on 'connecting...'. One of the skype linux mods suggests this is something to do with the sound setup, although it has access to /dev/dsp and there's nothing else using it.
I'd really like this to work, since I can call my family in poland and save about $100 a month on standard rates!
I like 'free' software as much as the next linux user, but if it's gonna save me money I don't care if it was created by satan.

zeppelin · 2005-02-26 01:29:57

robot5x wrote:

I like 'free' software as much as the next linux user, but if it's gonna save me money I don't care if it was created by satan.

I really don't understand why you don't use GM. It's also gonna save you money. [see my above comment on working with NetMeeting]
btw. for the huge problems you say you have with NAT
http://software.newsforge.com/software/ … 30&tid=150

lanrat · 2005-02-26 04:08:09

robot5x wrote:

well - I can't actually make a call, it just freezes and gets stuck on 'connecting...'. One of the skype linux mods suggests this is something to do with the sound setup, although it has access to /dev/dsp and there's nothing else using it.
I'd really like this to work, since I can call my family in poland and save about $100 a month on standard rates!
I like 'free' software as much as the next linux user, but if it's gonna save me money I don't care if it was created by satan.

Run skype from an xterm and see if it shows any error messages.
Make sure you have a proper proxy and firewall settings (IIRC skype tries to read proxy settings from opera configs first).

BTW Polish commercial IM providers are opening services on the same basis as skype. Unfortunatelly none of them (AFAIK) is available for linux. IM with VoIP is now a very hot topic :-)

I've just read your post on skype forums. The answer from skype SU is a little strange to me because you say that you can call your own phone number (?). I've never used skypeout though... But I think there shouldn't be any differences between calling a phone and calling a second skype. Try to relogin and run skype several times. It seems that skype randomly has problems with /dev/dsp (this happend to me after last upgrade but it vanished later). If you have old configs in ~/.Skype try to remove them first (make a backup). Are you completly sure nothing is using /dev/dsp at the same time? What kind of soundcard/sound daemon are you using? If you run skype as root can you make a call?

cjdj · 2005-02-26 15:34:01

I use skype quite a bit and it works pretty well. On my fathers computer (windows), Skype seems to use up a LOT of CPU. basically his computer is useless for anything else while he is talking on Skype, and its not a slow computer. Something is not quite right on it.

We tried netmeeting, and since we a both behind routers, had an aweful time trying to get them to connect. Finally got it to work, but the connection kept dropping at random times, never staying up for more than 7 minutes.

I like the useability of skype. If I could use an non-proprietary software that works on windows and linux, and doesnt have the troublesome network problems, and behaves nicely on both platforms, then I would use that, but I have found anything yet.

robot5x · 2005-02-27 17:58:49

Hi all -
well, thanks for all the tips and suggestions. I finally managed to get sound working - was a silly permissions error. I don't use the standard grouping scheme (audio, optical, etc) so that was probably the problem. Anyway, /dev/dsp works fine - I can hear others, and all the skype sounds work. Now I need to figure out the microphone - is this just a case of plugging it in, and setting the right values in aumix or something?

Mr Green · 2005-02-27 18:20:04

like open up alsamixer ;-)

dp · 2005-02-27 18:42:03

zeppelin wrote:

dp wrote:
i agree, but how do you communicate with friends using windows or osx? (they use yahoo voice or isight) --- we use skype to phone, because it works on every platform. Anyone with another solution please let me know
every Windows has netmeeting
Start --> Run --> conf.exe
you just need to install the latest codecs (provided by gnomemeeting.org) in that windows machine [very easy just double click that exe]. Then you have audio *AND* video between GM and NM.
On MacOSX I don't know for OpenH323 open apps because noone I know has a MacOSX. But still I guess there's sth, and I'm sure you can also use the more advanced SIP protocol (next version of GM will have it too). MacOSX can run JAVA apps right?
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Open+Source+VOIP+Software
well Skype is just the worse

some report on the conf.exe :

one of my colleague tried it but reports that windows then runs MSN messenger too ... and keeps lots of ports open :-(

additionally it seems that it cannot connect to microsoft directories, because they don't longer exist (no idea what this means)

anyway ... on the way i did lots of propadanda (on how gm does not run on windows .... bla bla bla) and now people started to think about switching away from windows ... funny, but the most important factor to them is that openoffice2 gets stable enough to be usable (they have seen it work on my machine, but it keeps crashing too often to make a good impression)

EDIT:
not every windows has netmeeting: i got an error trying to do this on my windowsNT4 - it says there is a new version on the internet, tries to get it and then stops saying that netmeeting is not longer supproted by ms and i get forwarded to MSN website

lanrat · 2005-02-28 09:51:05

robot5x wrote:

Now I need to figure out the microphone - is this just a case of plugging it in, and setting the right values in aumix or something?

Yes, it is (normally). You need to unmute mic and probalby set mic boost (if you have it). Alsamixer is easier than aumix. Sometimes you also have to set capture device (in alsamixer press space).
Sometimes it's not that easy though. Set it up with alsamixer and test with arecord and aplay. If you still can't record from the mic there is alreay one thread with a solution that will help you.

robot5x · 2005-02-28 18:28:13

Thanks lanrat -
set up alsamixer and the mic works perfectly. I'm really impressed with this package - had a conference call with four different members of my family last night. It works perfectly, only problem is thinking of something to say to them...
being able to make international calls for 2 cents/min is even better!
wee!

zeppelin · 2005-03-01 13:22:13

cjdj wrote:

If I could use an non-proprietary software that works on windows and linux, and doesnt have the troublesome network problems, and behaves nicely on both platforms, then I would use that, but I have found anything yet.

wait for the next release of GM which will have SIP support and will solve (hopefully) all these issues. Then your father would need a SIP client for windows. See my above links for open source SIP clients

Arch Linux

#1 2005-02-24 19:39:03

skype?

#2 2005-02-24 22:16:46

Re: skype?

#3 2005-02-24 22:37:24

Re: skype?

#4 2005-02-24 22:38:33

Re: skype?

#5 2005-02-25 01:12:31

Re: skype?

#6 2005-02-25 05:23:23

Re: skype?

#7 2005-02-25 06:18:14

Re: skype?

#8 2005-02-25 09:06:49

Re: skype?

#9 2005-02-25 10:09:14

Re: skype?

#10 2005-02-25 12:29:30

Re: skype?

#11 2005-02-25 17:18:50

Re: skype?

#12 2005-02-26 01:29:57

Re: skype?

#13 2005-02-26 04:08:09

Re: skype?

#14 2005-02-26 15:34:01

Re: skype?

#15 2005-02-27 17:58:49

Re: skype?

#16 2005-02-27 18:20:04

Re: skype?

#17 2005-02-27 18:42:03

Re: skype?

#18 2005-02-28 09:51:05

Re: skype?

#19 2005-02-28 18:28:13

Re: skype?

#20 2005-03-01 13:22:13

Re: skype?

Board footer