How to cook Skype-4.3 for Linux

The latest voluntary-compulsory update of the Skype program in the environment of its users has caused a whole gamut of feelings - from bewilderment to outrage. Especially, the problem touched the Linux community. Or rather, that part of it that uses the ALSA sound subsystem.

This is due to the fact that Microsoft has for some reason decided that the only correct way is to use PulseAudio, thus leaving a huge number of those who for some reason do not use this sound server without an alternative.

I am one of those who do not see the point in using PulseAudio when ALSA is working normally and I don’t have a desire to reconfigure the entire sound subsystem to please Skype.
')
Let's leave out the whole quest that I had to go through in search of a solution, how to make the previous version work stably and what to do with the suddenly numb new Skype. The solution, as always, turned out to be ridiculously simple. Here I will provide a brief guide on how to make fresh Skype work correctly.

First, some general information.
When it became clear that getting Skype-4.2 version to work without fails, I focused on solving the sound problem in Skype-4.3

Since in everyday life, I use Gentoo Linux, then it’s usual for me to use USE flags when building packages. Therefore, I noticed the apulse USE flag. A little "googling", I learned that this is the PulseAudio sound server API emulator via ALSA. Just what I needed.

Further it was simple:

1. Put apulse
2. With the help of arecord, the microphone device is determined.
3. The configuration file ~ / .asoundrc is written.
4. Skype is set with the apulse flag enabled
5. Enjoy

All items except 3 and 5 are run as root.
Items 2 and 3 were necessary for me, because My microphone is built into the webcam. Those who use a headset connected to a sound card can probably skip these items.

Now the same, but applied to the Gentoo Linux system:

1. We put apulse
   

   ~ # emerge -av apulse These are the packages that would be merged, in order: Calculating dependencies... done! [ebuild R ~] media-sound/apulse-0.1.2 ABI_X86="32 (64) (-x32)" 0 KiB Total: 1 package (1 reinstall), Size of downloads: 0 KiB Would you like to merge these packages? [Yes/No] 

   
   
2. See the list of devices for capturing sound
   

    ~ # arecord -l **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices **** card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC887 Analog [ALC887 Analog] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 2: ALC887 Alt Analog [ALC887 Alt Analog] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 card 2: C920 [HD Pro Webcam C920], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 

   
   Please note - the microphone is in card 2, device 0. This will be reflected in the configuration file
   
   
3. This file must be created under your account
   

    ~ $ nano ~/.asoundrc pcm.!default { type asym playback.pcm { type plug slave.pcm "hw:0,0" } capture.pcm { type plug slave.pcm "hw:2,0" } } 

   
   
4. Install Skype
   

    ~ # emerge -av skype These are the packages that would be merged, in order: Calculating dependencies... done! [ebuild R ~] net-im/skype-4.3.0.37-r1 USE="apulse -pax_kernel -pulseaudio (-selinux)" 0 KiB Total: 1 package (1 reinstall), Size of downloads: 0 KiB Would you like to merge these packages? [Yes/No] 

   
   
5. We launch Skype and enjoy impeccably clear sound, as advertised by this product.

That's all.