When running Skype on Ubuntu 9.04, I get the following error message when making a test call:
“Problem with Audio Playback”
The problem is that Ubuntu uses pulse audio and Skype does not play nicely with it. To fix it, do the following:
- Open Skype options and select Sound Devices
- Change Sound In, Sound Out and Ringing to use “pulse”
- Clear the check mark next to “Allow Skype to automatically adjust my mixer levels” (This step may not be required)
- Press the Apply button and then the Close button.
You should now be able to place a test call.
Update: Microphone issue.
Several people have posted comments saying that they have had problems with their microphone not working in Skype. I did not run into this problem so I don’t know how to fix it. However, Chris did post the following comment on this blog entry:
To fix the microphone problem!
Change the sound in (in the Skype sound options) to your motherboard instead of Pulse. Now it should work for ya!
Thanks Chris for this suggestion. Hopefully it will work for you too.
Fun with Linux 
April 23, 2009 at 2:34 am |
[…] 9.04 uses pulse audio, and you need to let Skype know that you want it to use these settings. Here’s a link that explains what to do. The steps are quick and […]
April 28, 2009 at 8:18 pm |
Thank you for the help. Best regards
April 30, 2009 at 11:43 pm |
Dude, I have been playing with the sound devices for a while now and somehow I did not make it work since 8.04, now we are rocking…
Thanks a bunch
May 2, 2009 at 2:08 pm |
Gracias por la ayuda. Saludos.
May 4, 2009 at 2:05 pm |
Hey dude!!! thx a lot!! its working now
May 8, 2009 at 12:36 am |
Mark…
thanks for the update..I am very new to Linux and your solution brought resolution
May 8, 2009 at 7:35 am |
Thanks a lot!!!
Много благодаря!!!
May 9, 2009 at 11:35 am |
Hello Mate
Thanks for your help, now my sound is working. But still having problems with the mic. Any idea what could be the problem?
June 4, 2009 at 7:19 pm |
me too, Ronald. Got incoming audio now but still no microphone… tried the built-in mic and a headset mic. Testing microphone audio outside of Skype works… Anyone have any idea on settings? I’m running 9.04 Ubuntu Netbook Remix on an Acer Aspire One…
June 9, 2009 at 4:51 pm
same here, incoming audio works but no outgoing audio. mic itself works, I can hear myself in the speakers.
September 7, 2009 at 8:03 am |
This helped for me to solve the mic problem. For input, try to use the one which says hw(ur audio device name), 0 .
(original post with screenshot from Hariharan on Sun Aug 2 2009, 09:50 : http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=346401)
May 10, 2009 at 1:55 am |
hallo!
Thank you very much!
Now my Skype works well.
May 10, 2009 at 3:35 am |
So simple, so cool solution mate!!
Cheers,
Sebas.
May 10, 2009 at 7:12 pm |
this was a very good solution and a very simple one,…thanx for the great help..
May 15, 2009 at 9:58 am |
[…] Ubuntu 9.04 and Skype hey, just a short reference to this tip how to solve audio problems with Skype on Ubuntu 9.04 – this got me back in business in no time: https://funwithlinux.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/fixing-skype-audio-problem-on-ubuntu-904/ […]
May 18, 2009 at 6:43 pm |
I’m using Ubuntu 9.04 and this worked perfectly. Thank You.
May 20, 2009 at 1:25 pm |
Your fix worked for me on Ubuntu 9.04, thanks alot
May 21, 2009 at 3:49 pm |
Problem solved on Ubuntu 9.04. Skype works correctly.
June 10, 2009 at 5:22 am |
Thank you! You’re the best! Thanks to you I finally call my friends again!
June 10, 2009 at 5:27 am |
To fix the microphone problem!
Change the sound in (in the Skype sound options) to your motherboard instead of Pulse. Now it should work for ya!
June 18, 2009 at 7:34 pm |
Motherboard not available as option…
August 10, 2009 at 11:16 am
I tried HDA Intel (hw:Intel, 0) and now it works fine.
April 26, 2010 at 9:25 am |
all i did was to go to volume mixer settings in ubuntu (right click on volume icon on far right on thike a e taskbar) and from there to “Input” and unmuted the microphone 🙂 no works like a charm. i have linux mint 8 on dell inspiron 1520. also uncheck auto allow skype to adjust mixer settings.
June 13, 2009 at 3:17 am |
[…] work a little weirdly generally. The Mute button gets checked all by itself for no apparent reason. This is evidently not a problem I’m having all by my lonesome, but time to fix it has been […]
June 13, 2009 at 4:43 am |
Worked for my I am using Compaq laptop……Thanks allot!
June 14, 2009 at 12:27 am |
Worked like a charm, thank you very much
June 14, 2009 at 3:29 pm |
sound works great but my on board mic dont seem to work (my webcam works fine) any idea how to fix that or find out what my mic is called?
June 18, 2009 at 9:34 am |
Same problem as Travis with Ubuntu 9. Skype works (and video) but no one can hear me.
September 25, 2009 at 6:07 pm |
Same here. I’m running ubuntu 9.04 on a Dell laptop. Everything works but my mic.
June 15, 2009 at 7:49 pm |
I use Ubuntu 8.10 but this solution doesnt work for me.I can hear the other person but the person whom im chatting with cant hear me…kindly help !!
July 9, 2009 at 5:55 pm |
[…] 9, 2009 at 19:55 · Filed under Uncategorized via this blog I discovered how to be able to use skype without problems in ubuntu […]
July 16, 2009 at 5:59 pm |
Thanks a lot for all of your help.
July 17, 2009 at 8:02 am |
Thanks dude!
That was a life saver!!!!
July 20, 2009 at 6:40 pm |
Many thanks, also. Your fix worked for me as well in Ubuntu 9.04/Skype.
July 20, 2009 at 7:21 pm |
Have a slightly different problem; anything I say finally gets heard about one minute later.
Any ideas on this one? Not sure if it’s an audio problem, or a network problem. My network hasn’t been having any issues that I know of otherwise, so I’m not sure.
August 3, 2009 at 8:11 pm |
I am having trouble running Skype with Ubuntu 9.04. The instructions above got rid of the “Problem with Audio Playback” and the “Problem with Capture” messages, but the mic still doesn’t seem to work. Was anyone able to get past this?
August 3, 2009 at 11:58 pm |
Well . This is how I fixed it.
http://srimal-techdiary.blogspot.com/2009/07/skype-on-ubuntu-904.html
Worked for me .
Hope it helps someone else too.
Regs
Srimal.
August 9, 2009 at 11:40 pm |
Thank you very much for this simple howto. my skype works perfectly now. for those who had problems with the mic, i used to have problems with mine and it turned out that it was muted. follow the instructions here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=789578 and try to use the pavucontrol that will be installed to unmute the microphone. that’s how i did mone anyway.
August 22, 2009 at 10:05 am |
thank u very much. i have fixed my audio problems as ur instruction.
August 25, 2009 at 7:16 pm |
Great advice, and changing to pulse did play back back on track. thanks.
August 30, 2009 at 4:03 pm |
Hey! Great! It works! Thanks a lot!!!
I use LinuxMint 7.
September 19, 2009 at 2:33 pm |
Well, I changed everything to pulse from default. I can now hear and talk.
that is it for ubuntu 9.04.
Thanks budy, keep it up.
October 8, 2009 at 10:03 pm |
[…] 10:03 PM Did you try this fix? Fixing skype audio problem on Ubuntu 9.04 Fun with Linux Obsidian Black Dell Inspiron Mini 9 – 1GB RAM – 8GB SSD – Ubuntu 8.04 Website: […]
October 9, 2009 at 9:40 pm |
Finally moved from ubuntu 8.04 to 9.04. Generally ok but Skype audio test failed about 90% of the time. Pulse settings were ok.Suspected the Firestarter firewall was starting random unscheduled backfires. Deactivated Firestarter & seems to have stopped the backfires. Firestarter was ok on 8.04—-life is hard.
October 19, 2009 at 10:53 pm |
Thank you!
It works perfect!