Salix Forums

Hi,
I am not a linux guru, but I have some experiences.
I have just upgraded to from kde 455 to 471, following the suggestions as described. Among some minor issues regarding the installation, I found that skype has no sound. It was perfect under kde 455, but after the upgrade, I got some messages about the soundcard, to remove drivers of the "removed" accessories (which were otherwise identical with the installed drivers), the presence or absence those mystic drivers did not affect anything.
Starting skype (2.2.0.35) no sound was found, the test call fails "Problem with audio playback". Otherwise I have sounds, video or music can be played without problem. In the options for speakers and ringing I have only hdmi (unknown) and there are no other options.
I have reinstalled multilib also, but the problem did not solved.

Can anyone help? Or is it better to return to kde 4.5.5?

BTW: change of kde to kde-plasma in .dmrc (as suggested) resulted fail in starting kde, but re-setting to kde helped.

Salix (Slackware) favours stability over being bleeding-edge, so it often doesn't have the latest versions of things.

I'm just stating the obvious really - such an upgrade carries an inherent risk of instability, whether for a distro or for someone's individual system.

But maybe if you fiddle with it a bit you can get it to work

I have many times upgrade using this script from salix-kde-4.5.5 to salix-kde-4.7.1 without any problem.
Suggestion: If you have installed kdeplasma-addons then you have to remove this package before upgrade and install it after upgrade.

I also use skype in salix-kde-4.7.1 64 bit after installing multilib packages.

My system is HPG62 64 bit. Having intel sound card and camera in motherboard.
Sound and camera work fine under skype, vlc and also camera under xwcam.

Change Session=kde to Session=kde-plasma in .dmrc is a must otherwise kde return to login prompt.
Another thing i found to happen in 64 bit 4.7.1 kde is a bag where link to kdesu is removed after upgrade so have to be created again
ln -sf /usr/lib64/kde4/libexec/kdesu /usr/bin/kdesu

Also is good after upgrade to reboot your system.

My productive system for everyday work is salix64-13.37-kde-4.7.1 and is stable as rock.
I agree that stability is the most important thing. Thats why i use salix (slackware). And also another reason is that salix system is fast.

Sounds like kde 4.7.1 is ready for adoption by Slackware, then. Or is this the sort of thing that will only appear in the repos with the next release after 13.37?

mimosa wrote:Sounds like kde 4.7.1 is ready for adoption by Slackware, then. Or is this the sort of thing that will only appear in the repos with the next release after 13.37?

Such upgrades will happen in "current" and not in "13.37".

kde updated to 4.7.3. And versions came up quickly. So it is early to say which version will be in slackware current.

mimosa wrote:Salix (Slackware) favours stability over being bleeding-edge, so it often doesn't have the latest versions of things.

I'm just stating the obvious really - such an upgrade carries an inherent risk of instability, whether for a distro or for someone's individual system.

But maybe if you fiddle with it a bit you can get it to work

Thank you all for feedbacks. Sorry for not in-time feedbacks, but at this moment I am in US, so 6 hrs delay is the minimun.

I am a little conservative in changing OSs and other sw related issues. I had been using win'95 till the end of 2008 (!), and then, by replacing my computer, I choose slamd64 (and in virtualbox an XP, for some compatibility reasons). That was very stable, but I was suffered by eg. old version of firefox (3.06) and other minor issues. This was the reason of change. At this moment the change affect my 'home computer' not the official one. Previously and now I stuck to slackware versions due their stability and speed. Additionally, I choose salix due to dependency handling.
I have found some stability issues of kde 4.5.5. Although, I am open mind, I would like to use my computer(s) for work. The stability problems were very annoying, and I have though that those are rather kde than OS problems, and I thought that changing from 455 to 471 will solve my problems. Partially it is true.
This is only an explanation for that I am not very enthusiastic to change a good and working operating system by l'art pour l'art, to reach the bleeding edge.
If you, as experts, are telling to go backward, I will do it. But a usable solution for skype will change my thoughs.

What was the problem with kde 455?
1) installing the kde version does not work as expected. The installation of lxde then kde (using the method suggested by you) helped a lot, and I had got a working kde and lxde environment.
2) many times I could not switch off my computer, I needed to open a terminal, su, shutdown. (I did not create sudo, at least at this stage).
3) I have encountered some virtualbox issues (in comparison with slamd64)
4) using some 32 bit sws, like Calibre, has led me to forced shutdown (by pressing the power button). This is an example, do not get too much conclusions form the sw.

>Suggestion: If you have installed kdeplasma-addons then you have to remove this package before upgrade and install it after upgrade

I have not any addons (what are visible and not automatic).

My computer is Acer 7720, and has Realtek soundcard, crystalview (or what) as camera, and intel wifi. It is 4 years old, but salix has put it faster, the battery life is also over 2 hrs (before: 1.7 hrs), and wifi recognition is better. And I want to use it a couple of years more.

Thank you again for all the contributions, and if most of salix guys advices me to downgrade due to lack of usable solution, I will do it.

I also apologize not mention my problems before, but I thought that they are my personal problems and they should not affect the overall good impressions.

Summarizing: I am not stupid but I am suffering from lack of some expertise and my main goal is not sw (os) development. I will be very happy if skype is working (to keep the connection with my family), other programs, which are useful for me, are working perfectly (at least now).

Any advice for solution is welcome.

asnobli

Starting skype (2.2.0.35) no sound was found, the test call fails "Problem with audio playback". Otherwise I have sounds, video or music can be played without problem. In the options for speakers and ringing I have only hdmi (unknown) and there are no other options

1) remove file /etc/asound.state and /var/lib/alsa/asound.state. Then as root start alsa again typing you will see this File asound.state will be created again.
type cat /var/lib/alsa/asound.state or /etc/asound.state and check if all sound devices are there.

2) Also install xine-lib and phonon-xine packages.
3) Go to system-settings -> multimedia and look there if gstreamer and xine sound systems exist. Choose xine and see if skype has sound.

Another option is maybe your multilib installation was not correct. Look here for multilib installation

djemos wrote:kde updated to 4.7.3. And versions came up quickly. So it is early to say which version will be in slackware current.

I've meant: In 13.37 there is KDE 4.5.5. So for sure no KDE version other than 4.5.x will be in 13.37. And only Pat knows which version is going to be in current and when this will happen

thenktor wrote:I've meant: In 13.37 there is KDE 4.5.5. So for sure no KDE version other than 4.5.x will be in 13.37. And only Pat knows which version is going to be in current and when this will happen

I agree. Only Pat knows