Skype 2.2.

[isadora]

.........................

Submitted a request at Bugzilla:
https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1234

And will be available shortly in version number qutecom2.2.6

[barjac]

Skype 2.2.0.35 is now available as a down-loader/installer package in Cauldron non-free repo.
It is called "get-skype" - simply install it.
This is applicable to both 32 and 64 bit systems.
If you have a version of Skype installed already then uninstall it first.
Note that this a Cauldron package, not release, so could, (despite rigorous testing) have some issues.
Any feedback on this may be added to https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=154

[isadora]

Also needs libalsa2, due to a missing libasound.so.2.
And hence a bunch of other libraries:

The following 24 packages are going to be installed:

- libalsa-plugins-1.0.24-1.mga1.i586
- libalsa2-1.0.24.1-3.mga1.i586
- libavutil50-0.6.3-1.mga1.i586
- libdri-drivers-7.10.2-4.mga1.i586
- libdrm2-2.4.25-1.mga1.i586
- libdrm_intel1-2.4.25-1.mga1.i586
- libdrm_radeon1-2.4.25-1.mga1.i586
- libexpat1-2.0.1-14.mga1.i586
- libffmpeg52-0.6.3-1.mga1.i586
- libmesagl1-7.10.2-4.mga1.i586
- libogg0-1.2.2-1.mga1.i586
- liborc0.4_0-0.4.11-1.mga1.i586
- libpython2.7-2.7.1-6.mga1.i586
- libsamplerate0-0.1.7-4.mga1.i586
- libschroedinger1.0_0-1.0.10-1.mga1.i586
- libspeex1-1.2-0.rc1.4.mga1.i586
- libtheoradec1-1.1.1-3.mga1.i586
- libtheoraenc1-1.1.1-3.mga1.i586
- libva1-1.0.12-1.mga1.i586
- libvorbis0-1.3.2-1.mga1.i586
- libvorbisenc2-1.3.2-1.mga1.i586
- libvpx0-0.9.6-4.mga1.i586
- libxdamage1-1.1.3-1.mga1.i586
- libxxf86vm1-1.1.1-2.mga1.i586

67MB of additional disk space will be used.

9.2MB of packages will be retrieved.

Is it ok to continue?

But then it works!!!
Great job, thanks.

[doktor5000]

Also needs libalsa2, due to a missing libasound.so.2.
And hence a bunch of other libraries:

To be exact, it needs a bit more than that, this is the complete list:

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libqtcore4 libqtdbus4 libqtgui4 libqtnetwork4 libqtsvg4 libqtxml4 libxv1 libxscrnsaver1 liblcms1 libmng1 libalsa-plugins-pulseaudio

[isadora]

Also needs libalsa2, due to a missing libasound.so.2.
And hence a bunch of other libraries:

To be exact, it needs a bit more than that, this is the complete list:

Code: Select all

libqtcore4 libqtdbus4 libqtgui4 libqtnetwork4 libqtsvg4 libqtxml4 libxv1 libxscrnsaver1 liblcms1 libmng1 libalsa-plugins-pulseaudio

Thanks for the addition doktor5000, didn't see them coming by during installation.
But had them probably already on the system.

[isadora]

Also see:
https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=154

[zugunder]

Sorry for maybe a stupid question, but isn't a static version a better option? You just copy 1 file and 3 folders and it works... Is there any reason to prefer a pre-built RPM?

[pmithrandir]

the idea is to prevent any action to the user.
You install it and you get all shortcut, everything installed with just one click.

And if there is any updates, you get it through the common update system.
It's much easier no ? Like that you have only one way to install or uninstall software on your computer

[barjac]

Sorry for maybe a stupid question, but isn't a static version a better option? You just copy 1 file and 3 folders and it works... Is there any reason to prefer a pre-built RPM?

Yes.
1. Using the Mageia package registers all the installed files in the package management system correctly, enabling a complete and clean uninstall or update in the future.
2. Updates are handled correctly and automatically.
3. The software is available to all users in a multi-user environment.
4. The software is available in all desktop environments.
5. The download checksum is tested automatically.
6. The software is registered in the main menu system.
7. No need for a static build when most of the required libs are already on your system.
8. As pmithrandir mentioned above - it's easier.

However, none of the above need stop you doing it your way - that is what freedom of choice is all about, it's your computer at the end of the day

[doktor5000]

Additionaly, you don't waste space due to superfluous static libraries being installed,
and you have fewer security holes due to those static libraries, that are partly really
ancient when it comes to proprietary software.

[zugunder]

Well guys, everything you mentioned is totally true for any application. I have no intention to question any of the points you have. I just thought (and to a certain extent it has been proved by my own experience) that in case of Skype the static version may be more stable and work better overall. Partly maybe due to older, but better tested and tailored libraries, which may be important for a proprietary software...
Anyway, from my experience, a static 2.1 consumed less CPU than any rpm (I ran Mandriva 2010.2 then and I tried Suse and MIB rpms) on my comp.
So I am curious why that might happen.
Thank you.

[doktor5000]

Anyway, from my experience, a static 2.1 consumed less CPU than any rpm (I ran Mandriva 2010.2 then and I tried Suse and MIB rpms) on my comp.

Do you have any numbers on that one? And how have you measured this?

FYI: What MIB is doing with their skype package is illegal, they are not allowed to redistribute it.
Dont know what that means to your liability, but you should know that.

[zugunder]

FYI: What MIB is doing with their skype package is illegal, they are not allowed to redistribute it.
Dont know what that means to your liability, but you should know that.

Thanks, I know. But it's always a good thing to remind about it in order to keep that in mind.

Do you have any numbers on that one? And how have you measured this?

I should start with telling you that I have an upside-down camera in my laptop, so I had to use v4ltools (if I remember its name correctly) to flip it.
After that it seemed that skype switched to some higher-compression mode to save bandwidth (tested under Suse and Mandriva), so that CPU consumption during video calls increased ~3-fold - up to 50-60% for my dual-core CPU.
I tried several versions of Skype and several packages of the version, that seemed the least CPU-consuming.
I usually ran Skype in a test mode - i.e. watched my own image via webcam under the same light conditions. It turned out that (in my particular case) the difference in CPU consumption between max and min (which was static 2.1.0.72 as far as I remember) was 10-15%. I.e. max consumption (with one of the rpms) was >60%, min (with static) - under 50%.
I realize that this test is not valid for every computer, but I was able to find the best option for me.

P.S. An updated beta 2.2 static crashed without any output soon after starting application when I ran it under Mandriva, so I stayed with 2.1. But will definitely try a 2.2 package on my new Mageia installation.

[doktor5000]

For me skype 2.2.0.35 (last beta update) needs 15% cpu from a Core2Duo P7450 when running
the test video under Options -> Video -> Test.

[pmithrandir]

FYI: What MIB is doing with their skype package is illegal, they are not allowed to redistribute it.
Dont know what that means to your liability, but you should know that.

Thanks, I know. But it's always a good thing to remind about it in order to keep that in mind.

Do you have any numbers on that one? And how have you measured this?

I should start with telling you that I have an upside-down camera in my laptop, so I had to use v4ltools (if I remember its name correctly) to flip it.

I read something about that in the skype rpm creation, you should try it and give us your feedback.
I think many users provided infos and test and that the RPM is pretty good. I use it since one month without any issue

[zugunder]

For me skype 2.2.0.35 (last beta update) needs 15% cpu from a Core2Duo P7450 when running
the test video under Options -> Video -> Test.

I will try it of course... BTW, does the CPU load depend on FPS (i.e. on in light or dark room)? In my case it did.
I have T4500, 2.3GHz.

[zugunder]

Hi guys, so here is the first update...
Installed get-skype from the Cauldron/media/x86_64/non-free/release with all suggested deps. I can log in without any problems, but as soon it starts to refresh the contact list - it crashes with this output:

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*** glibc detected *** /usr/share/skype/skype: corrupted double-linked list: 0xefb2eb08 ***
/usr/bin/skype: line 2:  5768 Aborted                 LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l2convert.so /usr/share/skype/skype

This output is kind of strange to me, because though I have an upside-down camera and v4l-utils 0.83 installed (where my camera is listed for sure), I start Skype with simple "skype" command, without preloading any libraries.
Surprisingly enough, I do have apparently the same libs v4l2convert.so and v4l2compat.so both in /usr/lib/libv4l and /usr/lib64/libv4l...
I do not know what it means, sorry.
But anyway, as I mentioned above, I had a very similar problem with Skype 2.2 under Mandriva 2002.2, but in that case there was no output at all, just notice of termination as far as I remember. I posted a couple of posts on the Skype's forum several months ago, but no help from there.
My guess is that it's a problem of Skype since many people complained on the Skype's forum on similar issues with 2.2 beta, segfault being the most popular. In my case, both 2.2 static and some rpms caused the same problem.
Do you think it is possible to package some 2.1 version as well?
Otherwise I'll have to move to some 2.1 static version .

Thank you.

[doktor5000]

Could you please show the output of

Code: Select all

ls -la $(which skype)

?
and

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head $(which skype)

? In the bugreport about this get-skype-package
you can see this decision: https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=154#c19

[barjac]

To test skype without preloading the v4l lib you can use :-
/usr/share/skype/skype

Using just skype at the cli calls a script at /usr/bin which starts it with the preload.

[doktor5000]

@barjac: You should change your sig, never knew you were already active in this thread.
But looking more closely at your nick, and then thinking about your full name, it struck me

[zugunder]

Hi guys,
I'll test the static 2.2 and dynamic 2.1 tomorrow.
Running Skype 2.2 without preload resulted in termination right after successful login - exactly the same issue as I had with it in Mandriva 2010.2. So I think it's an internal bug of Skype.

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$ /usr/share/skype/skype
Aborted

That is all, nothing more...

doctor5000
Did you mean this? I am not sure I understood what it should be...

Code: Select all

$ pwd
/usr/share/skype
$ ls -la
total 20880
drwxr-xr-x   5 root root     4096 Jun 30 22:35 ./
drwxr-xr-x 193 root root     4096 Jun 30 22:35 ../
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root     4096 Jun 30 22:35 avatars/
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root     4096 Jun 30 22:35 lang/
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root root 21358456 Jun  8 05:16 skype*
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root     4096 Jun 30 22:35 sounds/

Thank you.

[doktor5000]

About the internal bug of skype, i know that one. Move away or rename your ~/.Skype directory where
the logs and settings and everything related to skype is saved. Start skype again, should now work.

The problematic part is getting to know what causes this termination. For me it where the logs, one of the .dbb files
in ~/.Skype/skypename.

[zugunder]

About the internal bug of skype, i know that one. Move away or rename your ~/.Skype directory where
the logs and settings and everything related to skype is saved. Start skype again, should now work.
The problematic part is getting to know what causes this termination. For me it where the logs, one of the .dbb files
in ~/.Skype/skypename.

I heard about that too, but removing /.Skype folder did not help - neither some time ago with Mandriva, nor today with Mageia, so the problem doesn't seem to be a log file...
But it is still all about the dinamic 2.2.

[zugunder]

Update for 2.2 static - no luck...
First of all, it needs one more dep, that I installed later:

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$ skype
/usr/share/skype/skype: error while loading shared libraries: libXrandr.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Then (with removed /.Skype):

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$ skype
/usr/bin/skype: line 2:  6704 Aborted                 LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l2convert.so /usr/share/skype/skype

and (with removed /.Skype too):

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$ /usr/share/skype/skype
Aborted

So it looks like high time to say goodbye to 2.2 version. Will try a 2.1. To be continued...

P.S. Will it be enough if I just delete the whole /usr/share/skype folder in order to remove Skype 2.2 static prior to istallation of 2.1 dinamic?

[barjac]

Use:-

Code: Select all

su
urpme get-skype-static

which will remove it properly and update the rpm db
then use

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su
rpm -Uvh <packagename>

to install the older dynamic version.

I was hoping that doktor5000 may have found the solution, but see how 2.1 dynamic goes.

@doktor5000 I mailed zugunder some test rpms of older versions to try.