In the rabbit hole

Installing Skype on Arch Linux 64 bits

Introduction

Skype is a mess since there is always problem using it on Linux. However, it’s probably one of the best VoIP software and at least, one of the most used, especially in business communications.

The installation proposed in this article is to install Skype on a 64 bits Arch Linux. One of the main problem, is the “64 bits” because Skype is still a 32 bits software.

Installing Skype

Because Skype is a 32 bits software, you need to configure pacman to be able to install 32 bits software through the multilib repository. To do that, uncomment the following lines into /etc/pacman.conf.

[multilib]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Now, run some update of pacman to be able to install Skype.

$ pacman -Syyu
$ pacman -S skype

The problem

You should now be able to run Skype and connect to your account. Moreover, you should be able to chat with your contacts with no problem. However, if you try to call someone or test your audio configuration, it will just hang up. Your contact will never see this call.

This problem is an audio problem.

Installing audio stuff

I will not enter in the details of ALSA, PulseAudio or other stuff because I don’t understanding a thing about these softwares. However, you should be able to make call with Skype installing two more 32 bits packages: lib32-libpulse and lib32-alsa-plugins.

$ pacman -S lib32-libpulse lib32-alsa-plugins

Now, you should be able to make your “Echo / Sound Test Service” or call your best friend to tell hom this story!

Possible errors

Microphone doesn’t work

Don’t worry, it may be nothing. Go to the GNOME preferences, inside Sound'' configuration. Now choose theInput” tab. You need to activate the microphone by switching the “On/Off” button on the right. You also may increase the volume to your convenience.

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