Bug 518924 – <net-im/skype-4.3 is obsolete and fails to log in

• Product: Gentoo Linux
• Status: RESOLVED UPSTREAM

[Description Martin Väth 2014-08-03 10:02:11 UTC]

To my big regret, it seems that microsoft is now pushing the protocoll of >=skype-4.3:

I was no longer able to login with earlier skype version (error: no connection).
A search with google revealed that apparently the same is happening on all linux distributions for all users of <skype-4.3.

I have not found an official announcement, but unless this turns out to be a temporary problem, it makes probably no sense to keep any version of <skype-4.3 in the tree.

[Comment 1 Paul Bredbury 2014-08-04 05:50:53 UTC]

Community announcement:  http://community.skype.com/t5/Linux/Having-trouble-signing-in-Retirement-of-older-versions-of-Skype/td-p/3439685

32-bit Pulseaudio is needed. Tips for minimal installation of pulseaudio:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1443183#p1443183

[Comment 2 Martin Väth 2014-08-04 09:45:07 UTC]

In the gentoo forums, it was reported that one can perhaps still connect when using MSN logins. I have no MSN account, so I cannot verify this:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-7593726.html#7593726

[Comment 3 Chiitoo 2014-08-04 21:46:49 UTC]

Indeed, I use Skype and KMess here, with MSN/WLM accounts.

One via KMess, which can communicate with Skype-users who also log in with a MSN/WLM account (or should I say converted-to-Skype account).

The other is on version 4.2.0.13 of Skype, for communicating with those who either never were using MSN, or who created a full-blown Skype account during the 'merge'.

I suspect the MSN/WLM protocol makes the difference, which they probably wont change much due to it still being used in Chine (just a wild guess; I've not investigated it at all, ever).


Feels like I'm balancing on top of a thin wobbly tower.  ^^;

[Comment 4 Chiitoo 2014-08-08 15:55:28 UTC]

(In reply to Chiitoo from comment #3)
> I suspect the MSN/WLM protocol makes the difference, which they probably
> wont change much due to it still being used in Chine (just a wild guess;
> I've not investigated it at all, ever).

China you meant to type probably, silly me!

~cough~

Today Skype logged me off, telling me that it was either due to a connection issue, or my password was changed elsewhere (way to get paranoid people go into pancake-mode!).

My credentials have not changed, however, and when I try to log in now, it's only telling me: “Sorry, we didn't recognize your sign-in details.  Please check your Skype Name and password, then try again.”

Of course from only that, I have no way of telling if it's a temporary issue or not, but I'm guessing it might be final indeed.


It does seem a bit odd, for I can still use the “microsoft accounts” to connect via KMess (perhaps because of the http fallback).


I'll report back if Skype starts working again, though I'm doubtful it would be enough of a reason to keep the version in Portage?

[Comment 5 Ulrich Müller 2014-08-23 18:15:45 UTC]

There's nothing that can be done about this at the distro level (apart from cleaning up old versions, but that doesn't solve any problems).

skype-4.3.0.37 is in the tree but does not work with ALSA.

<skype-4.3 apparently cannot connect to servers any more. The protocol is proprietary, so we have neither an obvious way to investigate, nor can we say if the issue is transient or permanent.

Looks like you should contact upstream for both problems. Or switch to one of the free alternatives (e.g., ekiga, empathy, tox, webrtc).