Help! Upgraded Skype and now it won't start!

Silent Observer · posted: 2014-08-03 23:13

I downloaded the newest version of Skype (4.3.0.37-1) for Linux as an upgrade from the 4.2.0.11-1 I've been using for a while -- initially the Debian 7.0 .deb version, which I believed would be compatible with Jessie (I'm running antiX 13.2 on testing repos, with fluxbox desktop), then the"Dynamic" version, which is a common tarball install. After installing a dependency (libasound2-plugins), the .deb file installed without a hitch using gdebi -- but Skype wouldn't start. Trying to launch it from a terminal gave -- instead of a string of error messages -- just the single word"aborted". I removed the .deb package, downloaded the tarball and decompressed that into its own folder in /opt (it included a .desktop file, so the fluxbox menu found it easily when updated), and got exactly the same result. Checking the system requirements, I found that direct Alsa sound is no longer supported and I didn't have pulseaudio installed (funny, no dependency on pulseaudio, though), but installing pulseaudio, at least after the fact, made no difference.

I'd just revert to 4.2, except that I'm operating with limited storage on this older machine (no, not my Pentium II laptop, this is my Athlon XP 2000+, but antiX only has about 12 GiB split between root and home), and had deleted the downloaded .deb file for 4.2 -- and Skype has never kept"outdated" versions of their software available, preferring (even before they were bought out) the Microsoft way of upgrading the world on demand when they create a new version that won't run on the old machines. It seems like there ought to be something simple keeping Skype from starting, but the complete lack of useful error message makes it almost impossible to troubleshoot, and they have no real support (especially for Linux).

I need to have this working by Tuesday evening, when I'm expected to be on Skype at 5:00 PM (I get home from work shortly before 4:00). Worst case, I guess I could install Pidgin and its Skype compatibility plugins, but I'm not certain Pidgin can voice chat into the Skype network. If I don't have a solution to Skype's new misbehavior by tomorrow evening, I guess I'll find out.

Any suggestions? (Ah, well, I just checked and I have Skype Debian 4.2 still stored on my other computer, so I do have the option to revert to that version if I can't get this fixed; I can transfer that via USB key and have it installed in fifteen minutes).

dark-D · posted: 2014-08-03 23:50

install skype via smxi. after that, install pulseaudio and restart the computer.
as root run smxi -G skype is in 1 ) package install > 2 ) non-free > 8 ) skype
if you are on systemd pulseaudio should start at boot and skype should work.
if pulseaudio doesn't start, you can start it from terminal with pulseaudio --start

Silent Observer · posted: 2014-08-04 21:30

This has become less urgent, because I found that Skype 4.3, which now uses pulseaudio only, is also now capable of coexisting with other applications that use sound (previous versions would either monopolize the sound hardware if loaded first, or fail to produce any sounds if other sound producing software was loaded when Skype started, even if set to use pulseaudio) -- which means I can run it on my main system, where I play the actual games these calls are tied to, and still be able to hear game sounds. I also, on the other hand, found that skype 4.2 is apparently blocked from Skype's servers, so having the old .deb file available is no real help.

@dark-D: I've got pulseaudio installed on the Athlon XP system, and started it from the command line as you suggest, but Skype still aborts. I was (perhaps not very sensibly) reluctant to restart antiX because Conky is reporting 54+ days of uptime, which is the most I've ever had without a restart on any system (any OS) I've ever used (previous record was Win98, which crashed pretty consistently at 49 days). Reinstalling Skype from smxi, restarting the system, and verifying that pulseaudio is installed and set to start at the correct runlevel (2, 3, 4, 5), I don't find pulseaudio starting on system startup -- and Skype is still aborting. Manually starting pulseaudio (pulseaudio -D --start) makes no difference; Skype still aborts.

dark-D · posted: 2014-08-05 07:55

i'm sorry that you messed up your uptime. that method worked for me as i had the same aborting as you without an error message.
on my computer i was able to know if pulseaudio was working because in alsamixer all the mixers were changed.
as for pulseaudio covering the sound of other applications you can solve it by commenting out the line load-module module-role-cork in / etc/pulse/default.pa
as a last resort try this tip from archwiki
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Skype#Skype_does_not_start_after_upgrade_to_4.3."
linktext was:"https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sk ... de_to_4.3."
====================================

Skype does not start after upgrade to 4.3.

After upgrading Skype, you may see the welcome screen and contact list appear very briefly (or not at all), followed by Skype crashing. Should you run it from the terminal, the behaviour will be the same, except the message 'Aborted' will be displayed after it crashes.

This issue affects users that upgrade from versions prior to 4.3, and is related to database changes which are incompatible with the old version of the database.

Make sure Skype is not running, and run:

Code: Select all

$ cd ~/.Skype/yourskypeusername
$ cp main.db main.db.backup
$ sqlite3 main.db
update Messages 
set body_xml=substr(body_xml,instr(body_xml,'<files'),12)||
             substr(body_xml,0,instr(body_xml,'<files'))||
             substr(body_xml,instr(body_xml,'alt=')+5) 
where type=68 and body_xml not like '<file%';
.quit

Now you can upgrade Skype.

Silent Observer · posted: 2014-08-06 01:18

Thanks, dark-D -- unfortunately, I've now got the 4.2 Skype starting (and failing to connect) every time I try to launch Skype, despite having removed that package (via gdebi) and installed Skype 4.3 (also via gdebi). I'm now pretty sure pulseaudio is starting (as you say, the mixer has changed, shows only a single device), but Skype has gone completely crazy. Not to imply that the fix you found did it -- I had that (and thought I'd gotten rid of it by manually deleting the Skype program file) before. If I can get back to the"aborted", I'll try applying your fix.

Silent Observer · posted: 2014-08-06 23:20

Okay, I used smxi to remove Skype (it reported it was removing 4.3.0.37-1), then reinstalled via gdebi from the downloaded .deb file. Now I'm back to getting"aborted", but applying the main.db fix changes nothing. I suspect that this is due to SSE2 dependence (my Athlon XP 2000+ is one of, if not the last model of AMD processor that didn't have SSE2); Windows versions of Skype have required SSE2 since early 2013, and I've seen at least one reference that the current Linux upgrade goes there as well (and unlike the Windows version early last year, there isn't an SSE-only version of the client available, despite the fact that Linux users are far more likely to be running older machines). Given that 4.3 works alongside other sound-using applications on Kubuntu and likely will on Mepis, I no longer need Skype on the Athlon XP -- which has, as its main job most of the time, to act as a wifi hotspot for the house until I can get a real N-router (maybe in a month or two -- tires and shocks for my van come first).