Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-02-03 Thread Andrew
On Tue, 2010-02-02 at 09:54 -0500, Brent L. Bates wrote:
> Why are you trying to use 5.3?  Why not 5.4?  After installing 5.4, try
> everything again, even the newer kernel module.  I've been reading these lists
> long enough to remember people saying they have had the same problem as you
> with earlier versions of the OS.  I do not remember the details, but the
> solution has something to do with software settings.  You might want to do a
> Google search for `skype' and `mic'.  The answer may even be in the CentOS
> archives.  I think I saw it on this list.  It may have been the Scientific
> Linux list instead.  I subscribe to and read both lists, so the solution may
> have been on the SL list instead of CentOS.  I hope this helps some.  Good
> luck.
> 
Hi Brent,
Thanks for taking the trouble to reply to me personally. I'm using
CentOS 5.3 on my PC simply because that's the latest version which I had
downloaded and burnt to CDs! I'm afraid I'm a bit slow in keeping up
with the fast-moving development of CentOS and am always a bit reluctant
to rebuild/reinstall the operating system on my PC. However, I thought
that 5.3 was sufficiently up-to-date for my purposes, but was
disappointed when I found that neither the wifi on my laptop nor skype
on my PC worked properly!
I'm now using Ubuntu 9.04 on my laptop which seems to work brilliantly
and is very user-friendly. I'm thinking of using Ubuntu (server
edition?) on my PC, after years of using RedHat and CentOS, because as a
'semi-tech' user (and great supporter of linux) I do like the
user-friendliness of Ubuntu!

Best regards,
Andy

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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-02-02 Thread Brent L. Bates
 Sorry about empty message.  I accidentally hit the wrong buttons.
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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-02-02 Thread Brent L. Bates

-- 

  Brent L. Bates (UNIX Sys. Admin.)
  M.S. 912  Phone:(757) 865-1400, x204
  NASA Langley Research CenterFAX:(757) 865-8177
  Hampton, Virginia  23681-0001
  Email: b.l.ba...@larc.nasa.govhttp://www.vigyan.com/~blbates/

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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-02-01 Thread William L. Maltby
On Sun, 2010-01-31 at 09:47 -0800, Akemi Yagi wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 9:20 AM, Frank Cox  wrote:
> >
> > On Sun, 2010-01-31 at 11:44 +, Andrew wrote:
> >> But this is disappointing because I want my PC to be completely
> >> functional and skype is part of that requirement - so I suppose I'm
> >> going to have to look around for an alternative to CentOS (5.3).
> >
> > My wife uses Skype on Centos 5 (currently 5.4) regularly.
> 
> While I don't use Skype regularly, I can confirm that it works on
> CentOS 5.4 by connecting to it's test call service.
> 
> If your desktop is gnome, run gnome-volume-control and go to the
> "capture" tab.  Make sure microphone is ON.  I had to do this before I
> could get the microphone to work.

Also, a right click on the volume control on the panel will allow you to
oben sound controls. You can configure which switches you see. Very
often several of those controls are muted, by default I guess, or have
the volume set to very low levels.

Maybe you'll have some success palying with those settings.

> 
> Akemi
> 

-- 
Bill

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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-31 Thread Akemi Yagi
On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 9:20 AM, Frank Cox  wrote:
>
> On Sun, 2010-01-31 at 11:44 +, Andrew wrote:
>> But this is disappointing because I want my PC to be completely
>> functional and skype is part of that requirement - so I suppose I'm
>> going to have to look around for an alternative to CentOS (5.3).
>
> My wife uses Skype on Centos 5 (currently 5.4) regularly.

While I don't use Skype regularly, I can confirm that it works on
CentOS 5.4 by connecting to it's test call service.

If your desktop is gnome, run gnome-volume-control and go to the
"capture" tab.  Make sure microphone is ON.  I had to do this before I
could get the microphone to work.

Akemi
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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-31 Thread Frank Cox

On Sun, 2010-01-31 at 11:44 +, Andrew wrote:
> But this is disappointing because I want my PC to be completely
> functional and skype is part of that requirement - so I suppose I'm
> going to have to look around for an alternative to CentOS (5.3).

My wife uses Skype on Centos 5 (currently 5.4) regularly.

She has a Microsoft Lifechat (USB) headphone/microphone that she uses
for that purpose.  If her computer is booted up with the headphone
plugged in, then it doesn't work properly.  But if the headphone is
unplugged when the computer is booted and plugged in afterward,
everything is fine.
-- 
MELVILLE THEATRE ~ Melville Sask ~ http://www.melvilletheatre.com

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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-31 Thread Andrew

On Sat, 2010-01-30 at 17:18 -0500, Marko A. Jennings wrote:
> On Sat, January 30, 2010 1:42 pm, Andrew wrote:
> > I've only had this problem since I upgraded to CentOS 5.3 - skype worked
> > absolutely fine with CentOS 5.0, so I'm wondering if anybody else has
> > experienced this with CentOS 5.3?
> 
> I have experienced the same problem with three different (in practically
> every way) CentOS 5 machines.
> 
Thanks,
But this is disappointing because I want my PC to be completely
functional and skype is part of that requirement - so I suppose I'm
going to have to look around for an alternative to CentOS (5.3). I've
already put Ubuntu on my laptop to get the wifi working (which didn't
with CentOS 5.3), so I may have to do the same with my PC. Pity, because
I started my linux 'experience' with RedHat (6 then 9) and have been a
fan of CentOS for several years.

unless anybody can come up with a solution to the ALSA mixer
problem!

Andy

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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-30 Thread Marko A. Jennings
On Sat, January 30, 2010 1:42 pm, Andrew wrote:
> I've only had this problem since I upgraded to CentOS 5.3 - skype worked
> absolutely fine with CentOS 5.0, so I'm wondering if anybody else has
> experienced this with CentOS 5.3?

I have experienced the same problem with three different (in practically
every way) CentOS 5 machines.

Marko
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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-30 Thread Andrew

> No, do *not* remove alsa-lib or alsa-utils (they are core CentOS packages).
> 
> Have you rebooted since installing kmod-alsa as the kernel will need to 
> load the new drivers? If not, please reboot and retest.
> 
> If it's still not working after updating ALSA using kmod-alsa from 
> elrepo (after a reboot), then you might want to consider removing that 
> package as it hasn't fixed the problem in your case:
> 
> yum erase kmod-alsa
> 
> Hope that helps.

Thanks for that advice - I've rebooted and tested again but, although
the playback sound is absolutely fine the mic still doesn't work - when
I try the 'skype testing service' I just get some faint buzzing sounds
instead of (my) intelligible speech. OK, I'll remove kmod-alsa if it
obviously hasn't cured the problem, but where does that leave me? I've
only had this problem since I upgraded to CentOS 5.3 - skype worked
absolutely fine with CentOS 5.0, so I'm wondering if anybody else has
experienced this with CentOS 5.3? I don't particularly want to go back
to CentOS 5.0, but I'm pretty frustrated that I can't use skype at the
moment because it's such a useful communication facility. If I'm going
to stick with CentOS (5.3), isn't there something else I can upgrade to
solve this problem?

Andy

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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-29 Thread Ned Slider
Andrew wrote:
> On Fri, 2010-01-29 at 11:03 -0800, Akemi Yagi wrote:
>> On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Andrew  wrote:
 What version of ALSA driver are you using? Have you tried updating ALSA
 as the version within CentOS is quite old now (1.0.14rc3).

 Elrepo has an updated ALSA driver package here:

 http://elrepo.org/tiki/kmod-alsa

>>> Thanks for that useful information, but can you tell me exactly how to
>>> perform the update? I tried 'yum update *alsa*' as I have the Elrepo
>>> repository installed, but it came up with 'No Packages marked for
>>> Update'. Do I need to completely remove all the currently installed ALSA
>>> packages and then do 'yum install kmod-alsa? Any advice gratefully
>>> received, thanks.
>> Perhaps, you do not have elrepo enabled (default behavior) ?  In that case, 
>> try:
>>
>> yum --enablerepo=elrepo install kmod-alsa
>>
>> Akemi
> 
> Many thanks,
> I've installed kmod-alsa OK but the mic is still not working (with
> skype). Do I need to remove the old ALSA packages alsa-lib and
> alsa-utils? - because when I type 'yum erase alsa-lib alsa-utils' it
> wants to remove 123 packages!
> 
> Andy
> 

No, do *not* remove alsa-lib or alsa-utils (they are core CentOS packages).

Have you rebooted since installing kmod-alsa as the kernel will need to 
load the new drivers? If not, please reboot and retest.

If it's still not working after updating ALSA using kmod-alsa from 
elrepo (after a reboot), then you might want to consider removing that 
package as it hasn't fixed the problem in your case:

yum erase kmod-alsa

Hope that helps.

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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-29 Thread Andrew

On Fri, 2010-01-29 at 11:03 -0800, Akemi Yagi wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Andrew  wrote:
> >> What version of ALSA driver are you using? Have you tried updating ALSA
> >> as the version within CentOS is quite old now (1.0.14rc3).
> >>
> >> Elrepo has an updated ALSA driver package here:
> >>
> >> http://elrepo.org/tiki/kmod-alsa
> >>
> > Thanks for that useful information, but can you tell me exactly how to
> > perform the update? I tried 'yum update *alsa*' as I have the Elrepo
> > repository installed, but it came up with 'No Packages marked for
> > Update'. Do I need to completely remove all the currently installed ALSA
> > packages and then do 'yum install kmod-alsa? Any advice gratefully
> > received, thanks.
> 
> Perhaps, you do not have elrepo enabled (default behavior) ?  In that case, 
> try:
> 
> yum --enablerepo=elrepo install kmod-alsa
> 
> Akemi

Many thanks,
I've installed kmod-alsa OK but the mic is still not working (with
skype). Do I need to remove the old ALSA packages alsa-lib and
alsa-utils? - because when I type 'yum erase alsa-lib alsa-utils' it
wants to remove 123 packages!

Andy

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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-29 Thread Akemi Yagi
On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Andrew  wrote:
>> What version of ALSA driver are you using? Have you tried updating ALSA
>> as the version within CentOS is quite old now (1.0.14rc3).
>>
>> Elrepo has an updated ALSA driver package here:
>>
>> http://elrepo.org/tiki/kmod-alsa
>>
> Thanks for that useful information, but can you tell me exactly how to
> perform the update? I tried 'yum update *alsa*' as I have the Elrepo
> repository installed, but it came up with 'No Packages marked for
> Update'. Do I need to completely remove all the currently installed ALSA
> packages and then do 'yum install kmod-alsa? Any advice gratefully
> received, thanks.

Perhaps, you do not have elrepo enabled (default behavior) ?  In that case, try:

yum --enablerepo=elrepo install kmod-alsa

Akemi
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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-29 Thread Andrew
> What version of ALSA driver are you using? Have you tried updating ALSA 
> as the version within CentOS is quite old now (1.0.14rc3).
> 
> Elrepo has an updated ALSA driver package here:
> 
> http://elrepo.org/tiki/kmod-alsa
> 
Thanks for that useful information, but can you tell me exactly how to
perform the update? I tried 'yum update *alsa*' as I have the Elrepo
repository installed, but it came up with 'No Packages marked for
Update'. Do I need to completely remove all the currently installed ALSA
packages and then do 'yum install kmod-alsa? Any advice gratefully
received, thanks.

Andy

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Re: [CentOS] Skype and problem with ALSA mixer driver?

2010-01-28 Thread Ned Slider
Andrew wrote:
> Having used skype successfully in the past with previous CentOS
> versions, I haven't yet been able to get it working fully with CentOS
> 5.3 - the playback sound works OK but I can't get the mic working. I
> previously used the skype version installed with yum from the skype repo
> but thought maybe this was faulty, so have just installed the static
> version (cd skype_static-2.1.0.81). However, the mic still doesn't work
> and I've notice the following (repeated) error messages on the command
> line (currently this version has to be executed from the command line):
> 
> snd_pcm_avail_update() returned a value that is exceptionally large:
> 203032 bytes (1057 ms).
> Most likely this is a bug in the ALSA driver. Please report this issue
> to the ALSA developers.
> snd_pcm_avail_update() returned a value that is exceptionally large:
> 201176 bytes (1047 ms).
> Most likely this is a bug in the ALSA driver. Please report this issue
> to the ALSA developers.
> snd_pcm_avail_update() returned a value that is exceptionally large:
> 199280 bytes (1037 ms).
> Most likely this is a bug in the ALSA driver. Please report this issue
> to the ALSA developers.
> 
> ..etc
> 
> Does anybody have any information about this issue/bug and any idea how
> to solve the problem?
> Thanks,
> Andy
> 

What version of ALSA driver are you using? Have you tried updating ALSA 
as the version within CentOS is quite old now (1.0.14rc3).

Elrepo has an updated ALSA driver package here:

http://elrepo.org/tiki/kmod-alsa

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