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
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:
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:
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
On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Andrew andy.allen@virgin.net 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:
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
On Fri, 2010-01-29 at 11:03 -0800, Akemi Yagi wrote:
On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Andrew andy.allen@virgin.net 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:
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
Andrew wrote:
On Fri, 2010-01-29 at 11:03 -0800, Akemi Yagi wrote:
On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Andrew andy.allen@virgin.net 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:
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.
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
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
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
On Sun, 2010-01-31 at 11:44 +0000, 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.
On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 9:20 AM, Frank Cox theatre@sasktel.net wrote:
On Sun, 2010-01-31 at 11:44 +0000, 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
On Sun, 2010-01-31 at 09:47 -0800, Akemi Yagi wrote:
On Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 9:20 AM, Frank Cox theatre@sasktel.net wrote:
On Sun, 2010-01-31 at 11:44 +0000, 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
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Akemi Yagi -
Andrew -
Frank Cox -
Marko A. Jennings -
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