skype/gnome problem?

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1

Ive searched and did not found my problem in the forums so here goes.

Ok, Im trying to get this fixed so my girlfriend doesn’t kill me for switching to linux (she uses the computer for one real reason, to chat over skype to her family in australia.)

We use an asus laptop with a built in webcam, I believe it’s logitech.

The webcam works. It works in Amsn in the test section.

Unfortunately with the skype test it does not work. I thought maybe that’s just a glitch with the testing thing. So i tried a call with a friend in texas.

this was how the session went.

I can NOT see my own video
I can NOT see her video (just a white blank square where her video should be)
I CAN hear her
She CAN hear me

I CAN show her my desktop using the share desktop function
she can NOT show me her desktop, it just gives me a square where her desktop is supposed to be but instead it just shows whatever was on my desktop behind where the square appeared.

Im using opensuse 11.2 gnome desktop

I checked out the skype how to, and all the packages are installed except libqt4-dbus-1 but that’s because it doesnt seem to exist in the software repositories that i have.

I also wonder if this has anything to do with the opensuse firewall, which I have not tried to configure yet and am not sure how.

someone help please?

2

Qt4 is a KDE thing.If you do a search with the "RPM provides box checked you will find it in libQT4 Package.

Have no idea how well that will play in gnome.

3

I don’t see an option to check in the software manager. is there somewhere else i should be looking?

4

Skype works fine in SUSE Gnome, at least for me. You probably could not have installed it without the QT libraries, so let’s ignore that for now. I am a bit puzzled as to why you might not be getting video back from the other side. Are you sure they were sending you video?

As for your video, in Skype -> Options -> Video Devices is your camera listed in the drop-down box (under “select webcam”)? Does the camera work in the application Cheese?

5

Yu should be on the search tab. There are a list of option below the search text input box. one should be “RPM provides”

This will search for RPM’s that provide the search term.

Or you can take my word for it that libqt4-dbus-1 is in the libQT4. search for that and see if installed. If it is you should have libqt4-dbus-1 unless you deleted it.

6

it works great in gnome on my machine, and all other distro’s I’ve used it on. fwiw.

7

well i can’t be 100 percent they were sending, but they said they were.

They can see me so my webcam must be working, but i couldnt see myself and it won’t work when i click test in the video settings for skype.

this makes me think that there is somthing wrong with my computers ability to display the type of video that skype uses.

it also would not display their desktop properly.

so whatever skype uses to display things is not playing nice with my desktop i guess.

8

what are you using to search, both the install software application and the add/remove software application that defaults with gnome do not have that option.

maybe i should just try static skype?

9

OK. I missed the part where you said that they could see your video. So Skype and the camera are talking to each other, they are just neglecting to tell you. :wink:

Any chance you are running Compiz? If yes, turn it off and see if it helps? If not, then it probably is a QT4 thing. I find that Skype works best with QT4.5.

10

Ok so i used the little compiz square to turn switch to metacity windows manager then I logged out and logged back in.

It said i was using metacity as a windows manager but I still had special effects, anyway, skype still had the same problem

when i click the test button the webcam light comes on but no image shows up.

how would I install qt4.5?

11

If you had desktop effects, then you still had compiz running. :frowning: No matter, what you should check is whether you’ve got Compiz “Workarounds” selected in CompizConfig. Try enabling the ones related to your display. “Force synchronization between X and GLX” is a good bet.

To install QT4.5, get all your QT components from hthis repository.

12

sorry if this is a silly question, but if im using gnome should i be downloading from a kde repository?

13

:slight_smile:

Yes, you should be. QT is kind of a KDE thing, so that’s why it is placed/updated in those repositories.

For the record, simply upgrading to QT4.5 is not going to solve your problem. It will make your Skype tray icon behave better, make the chat window update properly, and will make the video window fit the frame - all good things - but it will not in itself make video work.

It’s possible that you have a QT problem in your installation (e.g., rpms from different sources) that will be corrected. But I just don’t see how upgrading QT will get your video working.

Did you try the Compiz Workarounds approach? I actually had a similar problem to yours when I set up my KDE desktop, and I resolved it with Workarounds. Workarounds were enabled by default somehow on my Gnome desktop, so I never had the problem.

14

sorry, i guess i should have said that. Yes i turned on the workarounds.

both the one that you specified and one called qt fix. neither helped. I did have to turn it the workarounds on as they were not enabled by default.

Im completely lost. takes a deep breath

sorry im really really new to this.

so I take the url of the link posted and add it to my repositories? or do i have to go into specific folders and download everything from there?

15

ok now i just royal screwed things up.

I thought i should unsintall and reinstall skype so i used the add/remove programs panel and it uninstalled fine.

but now it wont let me re-install it. I keep trying to and it keeps telling me it can’t because such and such repository already exists (the name of the repository changes everytime.

and I can’t find those repositories where the installer says they apparently are /var/temp yadda yadda

16

Deep breath. :wink:

Now, go into Software Repositories and uncheck all respositories other than the KDE:QT45 repository. We want it to be the only one enabled. Go into Software Management and reinstall all QT4 packages.

Then, continuing with only the one repository enabled, try to install Skype. If you are missing a QT package, it will get it from the right place. Give it a try.

BTW, the problems that you are having with Yast are likely coming from having a poor selection of repositories enabled. Once you get Skype working, you will want to look closely at what you want to have enabled going forward.

17

ok so i made it so only the qt repository was enabled. then I went to software manager and put qt into the search then clicked on the installed tab then clicking on each one i selected upgrade or reinstall but every time i did it asked me what i wanted to do about all these other things.

x program needs y program do you want to do this that or the other thing.

gah how do i know which options to choose so that they don’t break the other ones.

so i went and did the two upgrades available ignoring the rest for now. upgrading the second one on the list made the first one on the list upgrade with no problems.

this is still the type of error i get when trying to install skype now.

[PK_TMP_DIR|dir:///var/tmp/TmpDir.C20yVY] Repository already exists.

shouldnt it just be able to over write those directories? or do i have to be installing it as root?

18

Yes, you need root permissions to do that, but aren’t you asked for your root password by Yast?

19

yes can we just forget I said that haha.

ok so still stuck back and why won’t it re-install

20

Dunno. I suggest that you start a different forum topic about your failure to un-install the Skype rpm. You need to attract the attention of the zypper gurus.