jhecht wrote: Why is this so gnarly?
Is it time for Linphone yet? I'm never sure when to stop debugging, and try something else...
As long as you have the patience to continue with this there will be forward progress. If you can't get the apulse or pulseaudio versions to work the way you want there is always the alsa version to fall back on.
We are nowhere near finished with you yet
At least we know for sure that your cpu and webcam are up to the job - the rest is just a matter of time.
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ps: Whichever version of Skype (or indeed Linphone) you choose to use you will still need to set your mixer correctly. I have no experience with pulseaudio but I know it is easy with alsa. If you do end up going back to an alsa version here is my summary of how best to do it. It looks daunting the first time, but it's dead easy. Just follow the exact order of events:
1) Boot with your 5.7.0 CD and enter the boot parameter of:
puppy pfix=ram
(This will ensure Puppy ignores your existing installation)
2) Run the 'connect' wizard from the desktop icon and get your internet connected.
3) Run mhwaveedit from the multimedia menu and use it to set your mic parameters as follows:
- Menu, Multimedia, mhWaveEdit audiorecorder, then click on the 'play' tab and you will see the 'record' option.
- Click the 'record' option and you will be given a choice of formats to record in. Choose CD quality.
- You should now see a couple of VU meters. If you talk normally and see the meter needles jump then your mic must be selected and your alsa settings are probably about right already. If you do not see the needles move as expected then it is necessary to use the mixer to make adjustments:
NOTE : You have two mixers available to you : Alsmixer, and also Retrovol. Both have advantages so be prepared to use both.
- If you look at the vu meter window you will see a button for "Launch Mixer". Click this and it will bring up
Retrovol mixer. Given your past experience you will probably figure out exactly which controls to activate.
Just bear in mind that Retrovol is only a gui for alsa and may not show
all of the available controls. Sometimes it is necessary to open alsamixer instead - but alsamixer uses some odd keystrokes to enable/diasble sliders and activate functions so we will go there only if Retrovol doesn't give you the control you need.
- In using Retrovol keep this in mind - the controls near the top are for playback (including the first mic slider) whereas the ones below (and including) the 'capture' slider are related to input/recording. (each slider is ignored till you tick the associated checkbox).
- Once you have got your mixer settings correct you will see the VU meters respond as you would expect.
- It is not necessary to actually record with mhWaveEdit - we are just using it for it's VU capability. However, if you want to confirm how the playback actually sounds click the "Start Recording" button. (Ask for more mhwaveedit help if you need it..)
- Once you are happy that the mixer is set correctly proceed with the rest of the Skype install:
4) Download my Slacko 570 Skype combo pet from
this post
(Saving it to /root is probably the best idea)
Click the .pet and let it install.
5) Run 'skypelogin' from the internet menu and do the following:
- agree to the skype terms
- enter your username and password
- tick the 'log me in each time skype starts' (tiny checkbox visble at bottom of login screen when you enter your username/password)
- click 'login'
Skype 4.3 will log you in and display your contacts, then at the end of the 45 seconds it will close down and automatically login Skype 4.2 (which will run with alsa instead of needing pulseaudio as 4.3 does)
Like I said - this is guaranteed to work - and if it doesn't I'm going to grab a plate and a bottle of Tabasco sauce and eat my hat!
EDIT : of course this is just the way to test in Live session without savefile - if it is suitable for your needs you can do the same setup on your installed Puppy (just uninstall the pulseaudio version of skype first)
.