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Skype always started and logged in automatically after PC start. But today it didn't happen. Instead of this Skype login window popped up and I was asked to enter my credentials. I entered them, the login window disappeared, but nothing else happened. I didn't see the usual things after that like the main Skype widnow, contacts etc. I thought that I was hacked, but no, as I could login with the same credentials on the Skype webpage. Then I repeated the procedure, but started Skype from terminal, hoping to see some errors, but there was no output at all. skype command just exited.

Is my Skype version still supported (4.3.0.37)? I've heard that Skype had reduced the number of supported Linux versions this summer...

My OS: Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS

My Skype version is

enter image description here

ka3ak
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  • Prepend `strace` to the command and add the output to your question. – Murphy Dec 07 '17 at 09:25
  • @Murphy Could you please tell me which parameters I should use? Because I get usage information when I start it without them. Sorry, but I'm not familiar with this command. – ka3ak Dec 07 '17 at 09:28
  • You use the same command as you did before to start Skype. But you start the line with `strace`, then add the command. However, did you check that Skyp isn't already running in the background? Try `ps -ef | grep -i skype` for that. – Murphy Dec 07 '17 at 09:31
  • Do you mean that I should type "strace" then ENTER then "skype" and ENTER ? – ka3ak Dec 07 '17 at 09:33
  • http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2011/11/strace-examples – Murphy Dec 07 '17 at 09:35
  • 3769 2766 0 12:35 pts/10 00:00:00 grep --color=auto skype – ka3ak Dec 07 '17 at 09:36
  • Which means that Skype isn't in the background. That's OK so far. – Murphy Dec 07 '17 at 09:39
  • I've run strace and saved the log. But it contains 78786 lines. How do I share it here? It doesn't seem to be an option to attach a text file. – ka3ak Dec 07 '17 at 10:02
  • Well, a trace of that size is often enough an indicator that there are no obvious errors in execution, and the program is working as expected. If you had development experience you could check for problems and errors yourself (I would expect them near the end of the trace). Or you could use a service like [Pastebin](https://pastebin.com) to make it available. However, with Videonauth's answer in mind it seems futile, the problem is most probably Microsoft made. – Murphy Dec 07 '17 at 10:12

4 Answers4

16

As you can see here Microsoft decided to force people to upgrade to newer Skype versions and the old ones cease to work since a few weeks already. This might probably be related to Skype moving from peer-to-peer to being cloud based (mentioned by @Rsf).

As announced earlier this year, the old Skype for Linux v4.3 is at its end-of-life and will be decommissioned in the upcoming weeks.

You will be automatically signed out of Skype until you update. Please, update to the new Skype 8.x, which is ready for you with lots of improvements at Skype.com.

In case you hit any issues, please check known issues, system requirements, or post your questions directly to this forum. All your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

The Skype Team
(source)

To get the newer version you should download the latest .deb file from Microsoft and install it with gdebi or dpkg (shouldn't make a difference but gdebi is a bit more secure when it comes to dependencies).

Be aware, the new Skype will create a file in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ and will do so every time it updates if the file does not exist with the exact name Skype chosen for it. So renaming the file in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ only calls for trouble in form of duplicated source list entries. You as well want to remove any before existing files for Skype in your sources.list.d directory.

Videonauth
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    Probably related to the [peer-to-peer network being decommissioned](https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA12381/what-does-it-mean-that-skype-is-moving-from-peer-to-peer-to-the-cloud) – Rsf Dec 07 '17 at 11:59
9

You can rewrite the skype binary to present a different (false) version:

# perl -pi -e 's/4\.3\.0\.37/8.3.0.37/g' skype

and it works for now. Of course, it is just a matter of time till it stops working.

Radovan Garabík
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    Wow! Can't believe it actually worked! Didn't know you could do direct string replacements inside a binary. The more you know. – Deepak Mittal Dec 07 '17 at 18:22
  • I've not tried it yet, but it was worth installing the new version in my case. Because when I used the old version there were some problems with file transfer and screen sharing. When my conversation partners shared their screens the text wasn't readable. – ka3ak Feb 16 '18 at 09:39
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The only thing that worked for me was: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/skype/forum/skype_linux-skype_startms-skype_installms/skype-is-now-available-as-snap/732fb227-3e0a-46b3-8cbc-55dd2fae09ab.

Skype is now available to Linux users as SNAP package, which will make installation and updates on many Linux distributions way easier.

Feel free to install it from the Snap Store or by running the following command in your terminal*:

snap install --classic skype

*In order to install Snap packages, you will need the snapd installed first. Here is how: https://docs.snapcraft.io/core/install

Skype Preview for Insiders is also available.

By installing this application you agree you have read and accepted Terms of Use and Privacy Statement. Install it with:

snap install --channel=insider/stable --classic skype
terdon
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rawrintheclouds
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-1

this works on my Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS

sudo perl -pi -e 's/4\.3\.0\.37/8.3.0.37/g' /usr/bin/skype
Jeff Schaller
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chris
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  • Seems to be a simple modification of https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/409473/70524 to use `sudo` – muru Feb 16 '18 at 09:22