[arch-general] skype - problem with audio playback when initiating call

[David C. Rankin]

On 06/29/2012 04:46 PM, Mauro Santos wrote:
> Most probably something else is grabbing either the playback or the
> capture device, at least I have only seen that error when that's the
> case. If you don't want pulse to "manage" your sound devices you should
> look into setting up an asound.conf with explicit entries for dmix and
> dsnoop to avoid one program hogging the sound device.
> 
> That said, the latest skype has been working just fine here with xfce+pulse.
> 

I suspect there is a soundcard fight going on. Incoming calls work with:

Speakers: Intel ICH6, Intel ICH6 - IEC958 (hw:0,4)
Ringing: Intel ICH6, Intel ICH6 - IEC958 (hw:0,4)

It's just the dialout that is messed up. I have also noticed that with
pulse/Intel configs I get a delay when testing skype sound (push test button and
10 seconds later the audio file plays).

To test, I fired up gnome (stuck in fallback with my Nvidia 8800 - sigh), but
skype sound worked fine.

I have no beef with pulse, alsa, whatever as long as it works. Since this is my
first time messing with skype -- I'm just happy to identify the issue.

Kudos to the folks who put the skype wiki together. Setting up a separate user
to run skype with and preventing it from snooping is just plain smart. Simple
solution, well written up.

Thanks for your help and explanation!

-- 
David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.