Howto: Webcams in skype 2.2.0 beta.

[wuxmedia]

just my findings on the matter.
following instructions from This post
had to tweak them.

1 - find out if your webcam works.(there are probably better ways)
install cheese, run cheese. should pick up the webcam, if not google is your friend.

2 - find the files needed for step 3;

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sudo find / -name v4l1compat.so

depending on your system(s) you might have a few, try the one most obvious, but for me it was the wrong one, - it's easy to fix.

3 - make a 'preloader' script.

you'll need to edit your files as root, open your chosen editor (for example leafpad) in terminal;

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 sudo leafpad /usr/local/bin/skype

paste this;

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#!/bin/bash
LD_PRELOAD=*YOUR PATH HERE FROM STEP 2*  /usr/bin/skype

for me it was this;

LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype

4 - make it executable;

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 sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/skype

5 - run skype from terminal with this command;

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/usr/local/bin/skype

it should spit any errors out in the term - for me i chose the wrong file, so i replaced it with the other.

if it works then yah - try the video test function. also remember to change the audio settings, also in skype.

6 - might need to change your launchers settings, to reflect your change. i have skype at startup. change them to /usr/local/bin/skype

probably better ways to do this, but it worked.

[dura]

Thanks for this wux.

[wuxmedia]

you mean it worked?
yay!
probably a bit longwinded.

[machinebacon]

Yes, should be working provided that the webcam is registered and gets the right drivers assigned. The fun thing is to find the *real* device number of it. The package says Logitech, the device is a "PensiBonsu Electronics Inc. Taiwan" and the driver in use is for a "Softcam KMA 870 WTF" (lsusb helps)

Apart from that, preload is the way to go - helps also when the cam goes green (screen).

[wuxmedia]

/wikied 8)

http://linuxbbq.org/wiki/index.php?title=Skype

[rhowaldt]

^ i noticed, thanks wux!

[wuxmedia]

i figured i'd put my only contribution to the wiki. thanks for the __nooct__ at the header, my first wiki post ever. 8)]
i hope to contribute more - I find some things are a bit obvious to fill in.
but, i found a gap i had experience in...
I will try skype 4 to round off the entry.

update. skype 4.0.0.8 works perfectly for me.
however 4.1??? from skype.com crashes GDebi installer..

big up to machine who provided the (depreciated) .debs of the earlier versions 8)

[wuxmedia]

just tried 4.1 again - it's (theoretically) ok for i386 architecture, the skype page recommends dpgk --add architecture 386 !!
i have just bungled the install - but i have the 4.0.0.0.8 version. which used to work, if you'd like to host it MB?

[machinebacon]

Thanks wux, I'll definitely continue hosting the old stable 2.2 versions because they are not available elsewhere, but may add 4.x soon. Guess Skype will make an introduction to some special flavours in the future (Mother, I'm looking at you)

Time will tell :) Thanks again

[wuxmedia]

hmm bungled the install -again-!

get this.

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dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of skype:
 skype depends on ia32-libs; however:
  Package ia32-libs is not installed.
 skype depends on ia32-libs-gtk; however:
  Package ia32-libs-gtk is not installed.

tried this;

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sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs

get this;

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wux@aspire:~$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  acl freeglut3:i386 gcc-4.7-base:i386 ia32-libs-i386:i386 lesstif2:i386 libacl1:i386 libaio1:i386 libasound2:i386 libasyncns0:i386 libattr1:i386 libaudio2:i386 libaudiofile1:i386 libavahi-client3:i386
  libavahi-common-data:i386 libavahi-common3:i386 libbsd0:i386 libc6:i386 libcaca0:i386 libcap2:i386 libcomerr2:i386 libcups2:i386 libcurl3:i386 libdb5.1:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386 libdirectfb-1.2-9:i386
  libdrm-intel1:i386 libdrm-nouveau1a:i386 libdrm-radeon1:i386 libdrm2:i386 libedit2:i386 libesd0:i386 libexif12:i386 libexpat1:i386 libffi5:i386 libflac8:i386 libfltk1.1:i386 libfontconfig1:i386
  libfreetype6:i386 libgcc1:i386 libgcrypt11:i386 libgd2-xpm:i386 libgdbm3:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386 libglu1-mesa:i386 libgnutls26:i386 libgpg-error0:i386
  libgphoto2-2:i386 libgphoto2-port0:i386 libgssapi-krb5-2:i386 libice6:i386 libidn11:i386 libieee1284-3:i386 libjack-jackd2-0:i386 libjbig0:i386 libjpeg62:i386 libjpeg8:i386 libjson0:i386 libk5crypto3:i386
  libkeyutils1:i386 libkrb5-3:i386 libkrb5support0:i386 liblcms1:i386 libldap-2.4-2:i386 libltdl7:i386 liblzma5:i386 liblzo2-2:i386 libmpg123-0:i386 libncursesw5:i386 libnspr4:i386 libnspr4-0d:i386 libnss3:i386
  libnss3-1d:i386 libodbc1:i386 libogg0:i386 libopenal1:i386 libp11-kit0:i386 libpam0g:i386 libpciaccess0:i386 libpng12-0:i386 libpopt0:i386 libpulse0:i386 librtmp0:i386 libsamplerate0:i386 libsane:i386
  libsane-common libsasl2-2:i386 libsdl1.2debian:i386 libselinux1:i386 libsigc++-2.0-0c2a:i386 libslang2:i386 libsm6:i386 libsndfile1:i386 libsqlite3-0:i386 libssh2-1:i386 libssl1.0.0:i386 libstdc++5:i386
  libstdc++6:i386 libsvga1:i386 libsysfs2:i386 libtasn1-3:i386 libtdb1:i386 libtiff4:i386 libtinfo5:i386 libts-0.0-0:i386 libusb-0.1-4:i386 libuuid1:i386 libv4l-0:i386 libv4lconvert0:i386 libvorbis0a:i386
  libvorbisenc2:i386 libvorbisfile3:i386 libwrap0:i386 libx11-6:i386 libx11-xcb1:i386 libx86-1:i386 libxau6:i386 libxaw7:i386 libxcb-glx0:i386 libxcb-render-util0:i386 libxcb-render0:i386 libxcb1:i386
  libxcomposite1:i386 libxcursor1:i386 libxdamage1:i386 libxdmcp6:i386 libxext6:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxft2:i386 libxi6:i386 libxinerama1:i386 libxml2:i386 libxmu6:i386 libxmuu1:i386 libxp6:i386 libxpm4:i386
  libxrandr2:i386 libxrender1:i386 libxslt1.1:i386 libxss1:i386 libxt6:i386 libxtst6:i386 libxv1:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386 odbcinst odbcinst1debian2 odbcinst1debian2:i386 xaw3dg:i386 zlib1g:i386
Suggested packages:
  ia32-libs-gtk ia32-libs-gtk-i386:i386 libasound2-plugins:i386 nas:i386 glibc-doc:i386 locales:i386 cups-common:i386 pulseaudio-esound-compat:i386 rng-tools:i386 libgd-tools:i386 libglide3:i386 gphoto2:i386
  gtkam:i386 krb5-doc:i386 krb5-user:i386 jackd2:i386 liblcms-utils:i386 libmyodbc:i386 odbc-postgresql:i386 tdsodbc:i386 unixodbc-bin:i386 libportaudio2:i386 libroar-compat2:i386 libpam-doc:i386 hpoj:i386
  hplip:i386
Recommended packages:
  libc6-i686:i386 libgphoto2-l10n:i386 krb5-locales:i386 libgpm2:i386 libsane-extras:i386 sane-utils:i386 libsasl2-modules:i386 uuid-runtime:i386 tcpd:i386 xml-core:i386
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  acl freeglut3:i386 gcc-4.7-base:i386 ia32-libs ia32-libs-i386:i386 lesstif2:i386 libacl1:i386 libaio1:i386 libasound2:i386 libasyncns0:i386 libattr1:i386 libaudio2:i386 libaudiofile1:i386 libavahi-client3:i386
  libavahi-common-data:i386 libavahi-common3:i386 libbsd0:i386 libc6:i386 libcaca0:i386 libcap2:i386 libcomerr2:i386 libcups2:i386 libcurl3:i386 libdb5.1:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386 libdirectfb-1.2-9:i386
  libdrm-intel1:i386 libdrm-nouveau1a:i386 libdrm-radeon1:i386 libdrm2:i386 libedit2:i386 libesd0:i386 libexif12:i386 libexpat1:i386 libffi5:i386 libflac8:i386 libfltk1.1:i386 libfontconfig1:i386
  libfreetype6:i386 libgcc1:i386 libgcrypt11:i386 libgd2-xpm:i386 libgdbm3:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386 libglu1-mesa:i386 libgnutls26:i386 libgpg-error0:i386
  libgphoto2-2:i386 libgphoto2-port0:i386 libgssapi-krb5-2:i386 libice6:i386 libidn11:i386 libieee1284-3:i386 libjack-jackd2-0:i386 libjbig0:i386 libjpeg62:i386 libjpeg8:i386 libjson0:i386 libk5crypto3:i386
  libkeyutils1:i386 libkrb5-3:i386 libkrb5support0:i386 liblcms1:i386 libldap-2.4-2:i386 libltdl7:i386 liblzma5:i386 liblzo2-2:i386 libmpg123-0:i386 libncursesw5:i386 libnspr4:i386 libnspr4-0d:i386 libnss3:i386
  libnss3-1d:i386 libodbc1:i386 libogg0:i386 libopenal1:i386 libp11-kit0:i386 libpam0g:i386 libpciaccess0:i386 libpng12-0:i386 libpopt0:i386 libpulse0:i386 librtmp0:i386 libsamplerate0:i386 libsane:i386
  libsane-common libsasl2-2:i386 libsdl1.2debian:i386 libselinux1:i386 libsigc++-2.0-0c2a:i386 libslang2:i386 libsm6:i386 libsndfile1:i386 libsqlite3-0:i386 libssh2-1:i386 libssl1.0.0:i386 libstdc++5:i386
  libstdc++6:i386 libsvga1:i386 libsysfs2:i386 libtasn1-3:i386 libtdb1:i386 libtiff4:i386 libtinfo5:i386 libts-0.0-0:i386 libusb-0.1-4:i386 libuuid1:i386 libv4l-0:i386 libv4lconvert0:i386 libvorbis0a:i386
  libvorbisenc2:i386 libvorbisfile3:i386 libwrap0:i386 libx11-6:i386 libx11-xcb1:i386 libx86-1:i386 libxau6:i386 libxaw7:i386 libxcb-glx0:i386 libxcb-render-util0:i386 libxcb-render0:i386 libxcb1:i386
  libxcomposite1:i386 libxcursor1:i386 libxdamage1:i386 libxdmcp6:i386 libxext6:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxft2:i386 libxi6:i386 libxinerama1:i386 libxml2:i386 libxmu6:i386 libxmuu1:i386 libxp6:i386 libxpm4:i386
  libxrandr2:i386 libxrender1:i386 libxslt1.1:i386 libxss1:i386 libxt6:i386 libxtst6:i386 libxv1:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386 odbcinst odbcinst1debian2 odbcinst1debian2:i386 xaw3dg:i386 zlib1g:i386
0 upgraded, 151 newly installed, 0 to remove and 8 not upgraded.
Need to get 59.6 MB of archives.
After this operation, 183 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? n
Abort.

183Mb of install??? feck off!

gonna try 2.2 not much difference between versions afaict