Skype audio playback and capture problem on ubuntu 8.10

posting a quick note about the problem that I had after upgrading from Hardy Heron to ubuntu 8.10 with skype. There seemed to be a problem with the pulseaudio service and skype, everything worked fine with the audio i.e. playing and recording however using skype, i would get the error.”Problem with audio capture” and “Problem with audio playback”. It turns out that skype works fine with esound instead so running the following commands resolved the problem.

killall pulseaudio
sudo apt-get remove pulseaudio
sudo apt-get install esound
sudo rm /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70pulseaudio
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47 responses to “Skype audio playback and capture problem on ubuntu 8.10”

  1. Dave Tap

    Thanks for sharing this, I had same problem on 3 PCs, this fixed it plain and simple.

  2. John

    Many Thanks,

    This fixed the problem on a Siemens Fujitsu Lifebook S56410

    Regards
    John

  3. John

    That should read

    Fixed the problem on a Siemens Fujitsu Lifebook S6410

  4. Troutguy

    Fixed the problem on a Dell XPS 1530 running 8.10 64 bit, thanks

  5. Prash

    Hi, I am using lenovo 3000 g400…this is the message i received by executing the command
    The following packages will be REMOVED:
    linux-headers-2.6.27-7{u} linux-headers-2.6.27-7-generic{u} pulseaudio
    ubuntu-desktop{a}
    0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 4 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
    Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 53.4MB will be freed.

    Is this normal?

  6. mike

    Got the same output as Prash. I’m hesitant to remove Ubuntu-Desktop since it is the core of the GUI for this system. I’ve made that mistake before and lost my login screen. At first I didn’t know which package to reinstall but eventually found it. Had to reinstall Ubuntu-Desktop through the command line

    Any other solution?

  7. Floyd

    Running:

    pasuspender skype

    Fixed Skype sound problems for me in Ubuntu 8.10

  8. george

    hi.i did like you said but no luck .i have a msi laptop ,a GX701 …what can i do instead ? thanks

  9. mvirard

    Thanks for the esound solution.

    Fixed Skype sound problem for me on a Toshiba Satellite P20 with Ubuntu 8.10

  10. mvirard

    Not so fast: after rebooting the original sound problem reappeared! Is it possible that pulseaudio is automatically reinstalled ?

    Only other move I did was to move the Logitec Orb webcam from a USB port on a hub to a direct port. The (only) good news is that, by now, Skype sees the webcam that it did not see before.

    Any clue ?

  11. Ted Carnahan

    Esound was totally unnecessary for me. I had the same error, but I got Skype audio working by configuring (under Options: Sound Devices) the proper Sound In device and choosing “pulse” for Sound Out and Ringing. You can test with the “Make a test call” option.

  12. Eapen

    The following posting talks about an alternate solution:
    http://tips4nongeeks.blogspot.com/2009/01/skype-sound-problem-in-ubuntu.html

  13. Aodhan

    Thanks. My skype now works….6 months of messing around with Ubuntu on a HP DV6000…Almost went back to XP….

  14. Raul

    Thanks for that!
    Worked on an old Toshiba laptop (A10-S167)!

  15. carthage

    thx it worked for me on hardy

  16. nik

    Hi, I followed all the steps carefully, but in the process my ubuntu-desktop has been removed. And now when I restart the computer, I get a text-based login screen, I’m a linux newbie using ubuntu for the past 1 month, please tell me a method to fix this!!!

    I already tried using sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop but it gives a error message that there may be duplicate entries in the sources.list file or error accessing the ubuntu website to download package!!

  17. OpenQuality.ru | Загадки Ubuntu, или знаем ли мы своих пользователей?

    [...] with Audio Capture” рекомендуется пройти по внешней ссылке. А [...]

  18. Heather

    Thanks. Worked with a DELL Studio 1537 running Ubuntu 8.10.

  19. Diego

    Finally i find a proper solution to this!

    My Sony Vaio VGN-S170F with Intel 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC’97 Audio Controller and me really aprecciate it!

  20. Davide

    Running:

    pasuspender skype

    Fixed Skype sound problems for me in Ubuntu 8.10 – Toshiba P200-17d

  21. bw

    It’s work with 8.10 64bit and Lenovo n200!
    Thanks!

  22. dmac

    hey, so it fixed most of the problem. unfortunately whoever I call can’t hear me, though i can hear them fine. any ideas?

  23. Install Skype on Ubuntu « Miguel Regedor

    [...] for more info here [...]

  24. mixa

    Itfixed skype sound problem on my Acer Travel Mate 3040. Thanks

  25. harshana

    Thanx Dude, It works for HP520

  26. Eshwar

    No use…
    I have tried like that.

    can any body help mee

  27. mark

    I’ve lost my desktop and access to the menus
    all I’ve got is my mouse..
    I was trying to fix the sound on my dell xps 1330 laptop that came pre-installed with ubuntu
    I made the following commands..

    killall pulseaudio
    sudo aptitude remove pulseaudio
    sudo aptitude install esound
    sudo aptitude remove /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70pulseaudio

    any suggestions ..?

  28. mark

    installed fluxbox
    removed esound
    reinstalled pulseaudio
    back to square one and old desktop
    …yes!

  29. Emmanuel

    Did not work for me … But I found this method, and it now works perfectly

    http://tips4nongeeks.blogspot.com/2009/01/skype-sound-problem-in-ubuntu.html#comment-form

  30. David

    niiiiiice!!! thanks!!!!!!!!!!

  31. jery dunn

    yeah buddy!!, all day searching and trying, THIS was IT!! PERFECT

  32. Juansho

    YEAHH, this work fine in my DELL inspiron1420.
    killall pulseaudio
    sudo apt-get remove pulseaudio
    sudo apt-get install esound
    sudo rm /etc/X11/Xsession.d/70pulseaudio

  33. Konstantin

    Doesn’t work for me on Packard Bell easy note. Something goes wrong. And there’s no sound coming from the mic. Any suggestions?

  34. Fowad

    Thanx buddy.
    using lenovo Y410 laptop..
    Fixed my problem..
    hats off…….!!!!!!!

  35. Prapat

    This solution is working for me. I’m using Ubuntu 8.10. Thanks for the tip. ^__^
    Running:

    pasuspender skype

    Fixed Skype sound problems for me in Ubuntu 8.10

  36. БaKиHeЦ

    Это хорошо что вы начали вести блог,ведь у вас это отлично получается и надеюсь будет еще лучше. Главное писать о том,в чем вы разбираетесь. Удачи. :)

  37. Bert

    It worked for me: Sony Vaio VGN-CR220E Ubuntu 8.10 (Ibex)

    And all the sound is ok also.

  38. Radek

    I can confirm it w/ Dell Latitude D620,
    but none of sound recording tools work, e.g., Audacity, Sound Recorder.
    In instlled them back, they work. But now skype doesn’t :(
    Is there any compromising solution?

  39. Problemas Skype no Ubuntu 8.10 | codejun

    [...] como achei nesse blog.O problema é com o pulseaudio então é só fazer o [...]

  40. skype在Ubuntu中不能使用语音呼叫 | 风叶

    [...] 最后,在这里找到了原因: 原来,是因为Ubuntu [...]

  41. grafitborz

    Thanks, worked perfectly on Acer Aspire 3100.

  42. Rasto

    Super – it works, .. tryed to find solution, but i got only incoming sound …
    This is what i needed before,i am booting Ubuntu from 16GB USB flash (woyager) and i am using any desktop PC or laptop.
    Now i am satisfyed with UBUNTU.
    Thanks!

  43. shantiq

    well thank you my friends

    pulse cured me on ubuntu 9.04

    i too was having no sound

    then i went to skype options/sound devices and set all three to pulse then happy it is and so am i

    peace shan

  44. brock

    I am using Ubuntu 8.10 on a Lenovo T400 Laptop, and just got Skype configured properly by setting all sound device options to “pulse” under the options -> sound devices tab. I can now hear the test sound and I can make a test call which records my voice and plays it back to me. Just thought I’d share my experience in case this might work for anyone else.

  45. Knight samar

    Hey,

    This worked on Ubuntu 8.10 intrepid on 32-bit machine. I had change all skype devices (Sound In, Sound Out and Ringing) to default and set the Mic to Front Mic in Volume control.

    It worked!

    Thanks!

  46. zakaria

    This is actually a good solution even if the mic wasn’t working during skype conversation.

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