Skype 4.2.0.13

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mcewanw
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#46 Post by mcewanw »

saintless wrote:
OscarTalks wrote:I have made a modified version of Skype 2.2.0.35-new which I have uploaded as .pet and .sfs to http://smokey01.com/OscarTalks
Can someone confirm if this pet still works for him?
I think the loophole we had is closed from today. I can't connect this morning. Hope it is my ISP issue but I doubt that.

Toni
I haven't been testing it Toni. But, maybe some of the Skype developers read the Puppy forum. Afterall, it is a very active forum, and a lot gets discussed here and murga forum links are quick to appear on google searches about most anything linux. So annoying that would be, and such a kill-joy wasting other people's time (yours particularly). If so, far better etiquette if Skype developers at least came on this forum and made it clear that they were planning to disable any such workarounds before significant effort(s) had already been put in to them.

Imagine how different things would be if Skype opened up the source or even the protocol (including login protocol details), what fun we would have making it all work and work better.

An opensourced Skype-like app that bettered Skype would be great. Problem, aside from the current number of Skype users, is that Microsoft are slowly and surely building Skype functionality into their other major apps such as Office. EDIT: So it becomes a bit of a monopoly that is difficult to break (maybe the EU, and US and everyone else, needs to warn Microsoft to allow competing VOIP apps to easily be linked into Office and so on else yet another example of anti-competitive practice and not sell their products with any VOIP already built in, but as optional addons only - otherwise becomes the same as how they 'used to' sell Windows OS with Internet Explorer effectively hardwired in).

William
Last edited by mcewanw on Fri 08 Aug 2014, 09:58, edited 2 times in total.

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saintless
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#47 Post by saintless »

Hi, William.
There are some projects in this direction:
http://www.oklabs.net/skype-reverse-eng ... g-journey/
http://www.oklabs.net/fakeskype-source-code/
http://www.oklabs.net/skype-reverse-eng ... g-genesis/

Searching for workarounds helps Skype developers to make the protection stronger unfortunately but there is also a chance they will break something for the new version. We shall wait and see...

Toni

sgchris
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Joined: Tue 05 Aug 2014, 12:21

neither for me it works from yesterday

#48 Post by sgchris »

neither for me it works from yesterday
and I used all the tricks-scripts mentioned above.
I also tried some things with pulseaudio with no effects.

Now I use skype-4.3.0.37-experiment.sfs
all work great except SOUND :cry:

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OscarTalks
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Location: London, England

#49 Post by OscarTalks »

Tried the 2.2.0.35-new several times but not logging in for me.
Oscar in England
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sgchris
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to OscarTalks_Solution of yours that work

#50 Post by sgchris »

to OscarTalks_Solution of yours that work
you posted

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 73f3eb9477

I did it
and works
I tried before a momment
and ALL works fine

Boot in RAM MODE (pfix=RAM)
Install pulseaudio-2.0-test.pet
and run
skype-4.3.0.37-experiment.sfs

ALLthings work fine
perhaps this can give us a dirrection.

sgchris
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Joined: Tue 05 Aug 2014, 12:21

even better

#51 Post by sgchris »

even better
I boot normally
not in RAM mode
install pulseaudio-2.0-test.pet

run the command
pulseaudio -k && sudo alsa force-reload
and then
# pulseaudio

it gave

W: [pulseaudio] main.c: This program is not intended to be run as root (unless --system is specified).

BUT

I load the skype-4.3.0.37-experiment.sfs

and ALL WORKED FINE
video, SOUND etc.
Perhaps all terminal commands don't needed
I will try other time with them.

But that way, for the 5.7.1. precise at least
we have Skype ALL working.

Payoon
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Location: Duisburg, Germany on the banks of the Rhine

skype-2.0.2.35-new

#52 Post by Payoon »

While it worked for me 2 days ago, now login is no more possible. THIS IS MICROSOFT!!
Payoon :cry:

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saintless
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#53 Post by saintless »

As Fred already found if you have a backup copy of /root/.Skype folder with working autologin in your account (and you did not execute logout) it still works with Skype.2 and Skype.4.2 - but you need to start Skype directly (without the start-skype script this time):
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 469#793469

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saintless
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#54 Post by saintless »

For anyone - interested lets keep all in one place:
Use old Skype version after 01.08.2014

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sunburnt
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#55 Post by sunburnt »

Hi Oscar & Toni; Oscar... Could you please make a complete "latest" Skype-4.3.0.xxx ?
Complete with everything needed to run in "Puppy Precise" ?

M$ has done it again... So it`s up to everyone else to fix their F***ups.
.

fedcop
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Skype

#56 Post by fedcop »

FYI MS Email:
Your Skype for Linux version is being retired. Update today.
Dear tampaoffice,

We are now retiring older versions of Skype and it appears that at some point you signed into Skype with one of these. To continue signing into Skype on Linux you'll need to download the latest version. The new version comes with improved performance, the latest features and security updates, so you'll get the best possible Skype experience.

If you're on the latest version of Skype, the above will not apply.

Update now at http://www.skype.com/download.
How to manually update your desktop version
To download the latest version from Skype's website, simply type 'skype.com' into the address bar of your web browser and follow these steps:

1. Visit skype.com > Downloads tab > Computer
2. Download the latest version by clicking Get Skype for Linux
3. Sign into Skype
Forgot your account details?
See our FAQ to reset your password.
Support
For Skype for Linux support, see our FAQs.

Thank you,
Skype

Which version applicable to Puppies?
Thanks in advance for your help.
fedcop

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OscarTalks
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#57 Post by OscarTalks »

sunburnt wrote:Oscar... Could you please make a complete "latest" Skype-4.3.0.xxx ? Complete with everything needed to run in "Puppy Precise" ?
I'm afraid there isn't yet a "one size fits all" package of the latest Skype that will work for everybody. For Precise Puppy I suggest you go to http://smokey01.com/OscarTalks and install pulseaudio-2.0-i486-w5.pet and then either the .pet or the .sfs of skype-4.3.0.37-experiment

Skype should then start and run from the menu. The main question that remains is concerning your soundcard device settings. For most people (if they are using the default soundcard for both input (mic) and output (speakers or headphones) everything should work if you just get your retrovol settings right. For people who are using another soundcard (perhaps in the form of a usb device for example) you may need to figure out the hw number of the soundcard and edit the file default.pa accordingly. This file is located in /etc/pulse (or possibly /usr/etc/pulse). See this thread http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=94807 for more details of ways of editing this file.

People are still tinkering with pulseaudio so it is best to keep it as a separate .pet package for now so it will be easier for users to make the switch if a better method of audio device selection is found.
Oscar in England
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sunburnt
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#58 Post by sunburnt »

Thanks Oscar; I see what you mean about PulseAudio.

I`ll look for the packages and install as you say. Many thanks...

mcewanw
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#59 Post by mcewanw »

OscarTalks wrote:Skype 4.3.0.37 for Linux is not ideal for Puppy

Alsa support is disabled.
You are required to install Pulse Audio
How stupid is that?
Hi OscarTalks,

What I don't like is that they have made it difficult for old versions of Skype to work (yes, I know about the workarounds people have been coming up with). But, perhaps, they are changing the login procedures to genuinely make them more secure (?), in which case there would be nothing to argue about there.

As far as requiring pulseaudio... To be realistic, it makes sense for Skype t move in that direction, if you think about it. If apps go straight to alsa then every such app needs to be configured to know where the hardware is (e.g. hw:0,0; hw:2,1 and so on endlessly). Fine for systems that just require default hw:0,0 but so many systems, particularly with usb plugins, have all sorts of potentially different sound hardware device ids.

For example, refer to some of the links I posted here (particularly the last couple, and the complexity of relying on apps directly operating via alsa only becomes I think apparent):

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 895#793895

Putting pulseaudio in the middle effectively removes that issue from the application (if pulseaudio is set up correctly for a given machines hardware and all apps are set up to use pulseaudio then the configuration problem is removed).

That's just my overall feeling about it anyway.

William
github mcewanw

jamesbond
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#60 Post by jamesbond »

mcewanw wrote:As far as requiring pulseaudio... To be realistic, it makes sense for Skype t move in that direction, if you think about it. If apps go straight to alsa then every such app needs to be configured to know where the hardware is (e.g. hw:0,0; hw:2,1 and so on endlessly). Fine for systems that just require default hw:0,0 but so many systems, particularly with usb plugins, have all sorts of potentially different sound hardware device ids.

For example, refer to some of the links I posted here (particularly the last couple, and the complexity of relying on apps directly operating via alsa only becomes I think apparent):

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 895#793895
Except that ALSA support has been there since day one. I use USB headset regularly with Skype 2.2 with *zero* problems for years. Choosing the device to use is a solved problem: I can choose which device to use (for input, output, ringer) with ease within Skype itself - and it works. Whatever kinks they had with ALSA must have been straightened over the years. Why drop an proven, working code?
Putting pulseaudio in the middle effectively removes that issue from the application (if pulseaudio is set up correctly for a given machines hardware and all apps are set up to use pulseaudio then the configuration problem is removed).
If they do want to use a "middleware" layer to hide platform-dependence code, then there are many better libraries. They can use portaudio, or use SDL, etc. that does force the end-user to install craptastic crash-prone "audio server". Heck, if they need "low-latency" audio then use JACK, for example. But pulseaudio?
Fatdog64 forum links: [url=http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=117546]Latest version[/url] | [url=https://cutt.ly/ke8sn5H]Contributed packages[/url] | [url=https://cutt.ly/se8scrb]ISO builder[/url]

mcewanw
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JACK versus PulseAudio

#61 Post by mcewanw »

jamesbond wrote: If they do want to use a "middleware" layer to hide platform-dependence code, then there are many better libraries. They can use portaudio, or use SDL, etc. that does force the end-user to install craptastic crash-prone "audio server". Heck, if they need "low-latency" audio then use JACK, for example. But pulseaudio?
Well, there are too many partial solutions in the Linux audio world, but the problem is partly finding a solution that fills all the needs on a modern system. I'm not sure about portaudio, whether it is now able to work with JACK (apparently that was problematic). JACK is designed to provide low-latency with apps designed to use JACK but other apps need to use the likes of ALSA loopback devices with JACK and lose any low-latency advantages in doing so. Jack is certainly the musicians choice, it seems, for these apps designed to use it. However, Skype is not a specialised music app; rather it needs designed to work as smoothly and easily as possible on a standard desktop system. JACK webpage compares the two and points to their uses as follows:

http://jackaudio.org/faq/pulseaudio_and_jack.html
PulseAudio and JACK can appear to have similar goals to many people, and they wonder why its not possible to replace one with the other. However, beyond a very superficial similarity, they really do not have much in common:

PulseAudio is focused on desktop and mobile audio needs. It doesn't try to address low latency usage, but does provide seamless device switching, network routing, global per-application volume control and lots more great stuff.
JACK is focused on the needs of pro-audio and music creation users. It offers the lowest possible latency, complete routing flexibility between applications and audio hardware, and all audio is always sample synchronized - apps don't run ahead or behind of others. It doesn't provide the smooth desktop experience that PulseAudio is aiming at.
I can myself therefore understand Microsoft choosing to go with PulseAudio. Kind of... :-) I think it is more to do with so many major distributions providing pulseaudio on their default installations though. In that regard, I believe many Linux users (on Ubuntu and Fedora and the like) were reporting problems getting old Skypes to work with their system's pulseaudio setup. The easiest way round that for Skype was to redesign their app to drive pulseaudio rather than direct to alsa, and leave it up to the individual distribution administrators to setup their pulseaudio installations such that they worked properly out of the box (with the underlying alsa). In that case, any complaint should maybe be pointed towards Ubuntu and Fedora and so on, for adopting pulseaudio rather than say JACK (and maybe JACK would have been able to address any shortcomings it has compared to pulseaudio as a desktop audio middlelayer solution). However, things are as they are.

I certainly agree that the best would be if Skype would leave previous code for direct Alsa use as at least an option, which is particularly useful for systems like Puppy. It worked for most of it, and presumably provided lowest latency (even Jack needs to go through the likes of ALSA) so why throw it away? Maybe we need some sort of 'fake' or dummy pulseaudio layer, which isn't a server per se but just re-routes calls to pulseaudio API through to ALSA somehow? I don't know if that is possible or not.

EDIT: Here is a link to an interesting, albeit somewhat old, article that might to some extent still explain why Skype want to use pulseaudio and not JACK:

http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/when-p ... n-not.html

Note that pulseaudio does include mechanisms for the voip app to request latency settings, though it seems that the latency requested cannot generally be guaranteed:

http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Softwar ... cyControl/

In any case, low latency generally means higher power consumption, which is not what mobile devices want, and pulseaudio attempts to provide dynamic configuration, which JACK apparently doesn't and Alsa alone can't.

Cheers,

William
github mcewanw

fobq
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#62 Post by fobq »

I'm afraid there isn't yet a "one size fits all" package of the latest Skype that will work for everybody. For Precise Puppy I suggest you go to http://smokey01.com/OscarTalks and install pulseaudio-2.0-i486-w5.pet and then either the .pet or the .sfs of skype-4.3.0.37-experiment
I installed them, but I still can not sign in. I tried out Skype 2.2, 4.2.0.11, 4.2.0.13, 4.3.037-experiment, but the same problem.
What could I do else?

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saintless
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#63 Post by saintless »

fobq wrote:What could I do else?
Delete /root/.Skype directory, start Skype 4.3.0.37 and try to login.

If you still can't login uninstall and unload any Skype pet and sfs files you have. Remove any manually pasted Skype executable (if there is one).
Delete /root/.Skype directory.
Install only Skype 4.3.0.37 (no need to install pulseaudio for testing login).
Start Skype and try to login. If you can't login with 4.3.0.37 there is a problem with your firewall settings most probably. Try to create new account to see if you can connect to Skype servers. Test with deactivated firewall.
No need to try old version if you can't login with 4.3.0.37.

fobq
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#64 Post by fobq »

Thanks, I followed your instructions and Skype now works.
There is just a little problem with the microphone - it is chruching.
I wanted to run pulseaudio to modify settings, but I got this:

Code: Select all

# pulseaudio
W: [pulseaudio] main.c: This program is not intended to be run as root (unless --system is specified).
W: [pulseaudio] sink.c: Default and alternate sample rates are the same.
W: [pulseaudio] source.c: Default and alternate sample rates are the same.
How to modify mic settings?

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saintless
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#65 Post by saintless »

Sorry, fobq, I use Skype 4.3.0.37 only to setup autologin account for older Skype to work. I do not have pulseaudio installed.
You will find suggestions about pulseaudio settings and more help here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=94807
Or use Skype 4.2 or 2.2 as it is explained here (they will work now since you can login with Skype 4.3.0.37):
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=95202

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