Sérgio's Notebook

Skype on Ubuntu Linux 10.04

May 16

smachadoLinux 2 Comments

There are some issues with version 2.1.0.81 of Skype on Ubuntu Linux (possibly other distributions as well).

The first issue is the default theme on Skype versus the one for Ubuntu. The default theme on Skype configured menu text with dark colors and the default Ubuntu theme configures menus with dark background. This makes the menu text mostly invisible.

Luckily by moving the mouse pointer over the menu the background highlight makes the text visible.

To change this permanently select “Options” from the Skype menu on the bottom left corner of the Skype window or press CTRL+O.

On the “General” section change the style from “Cleanlooks” to “Desktop Settings”. Close and restart Skype. Now you should see the menu text clearly.

The second issue is a problem with the video camera. This might or might not happen to you. It is a known problem with a workaround on the Skype release notes:

Skype does not work well with newer version of GSPCA Webcams driver (Linux Kernel >=2.6.27), possible workaround:

• Ubuntu 32 bit: install “libv4l-0″ package and launch Skype with: LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype
• Ubuntu 64 bit: install “lib32v4l-0″ package and launch Skype with: LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib32/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype

Other distributions might have the same library, but may have a different path.

In my case I already had the package ??libv4l-0 installed. If that’s not your case, or if you’re not sure, run on a terminal window:

sudo aptitude install libv4l-0

With the library installed you cannot simply start Skype from the start menu because the variable LD_PRELOAD needs to be customized for Skype.

So you have to start it from a terminal window or change Ubuntu menu. To change Ubuntu menu do the following:

• Open the System > Preferences menu and select “Main Menu”
• On the left select the “Internet” menu and on the right select “Skype”.
• Click “Properties”.
• On “Command:” replace the default command with: bash -c “LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype”

Now every time you start Skype your video should work.