How to access Skype in Unity?

Question

I don't know how to access Skype in Ubuntu 11.10 because it gives me some error when I press the Skype icon on Unity launcher.

Here is a screenshot.

It's obvious that another instance of Skype is running but I don't know how to access it.

What could be the problem?

Solution 1

I found solution. After first signing in, I opened options, and checked option "Start Skype minimized in the system tray". Here is screenshot:

EDIT: After there steps I had to do one more step. After typing next command into terminal:

gsettings get com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist

I've got this:

['JavaEmbeddedFrame', 'scp-dbus-service', 'Wine']

I've just added Skype into this list issuing this command:

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist "['JavaEmbeddedFrame', 'Skype', 'scp-dbus-service', 'Wine']"

You don't need to check Start Skype minimized... for this to work - as soon you as you update gsettings the skype icon will appear.

Hope this helps :)

Solution 2

Try to reinstall official Skype version for Oneiric. Open a terminal and type:

sudo apt-get remove skype
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install skype

Then restart your system.

Solution 3

The real problem here is that under Unity, the Skype icon doesn't appear in the tray when it is running. When you close the Skype window, the Skype process is still running as you expect, only there is no tray icon to show that it is. After you change com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist as described in #2, the icon appears (on next log in, for me), and it is now obvious when Skype is running, and when it is not.

What I can't tell you is why this white listing was added...

Solution 4

I had a similar issue where another instance of Skype wasn't running. From this answer on my question, can you try deleting the ~./Skype hidden folder after backing it up, then rebooting and restarting Skype?

Solution 5

Make sure these two packages are installed.

sudo apt-get install sni-qt sni-qt:i386

View more solutions

Comments

[Admin]

Try open a terminal and type <i>killall skype</i> and then try starting skype again. Or you could go to "System Monitor" the find skype in the list of processes and click "End Process" at the bottom right corner.

[Admin]

Why to kill Skype process? I am asking how to access already running Skype.

[Admin]

Did you install Skype from partner repository or from Skype website?

[Admin]

I think it was from Skype website.

[Admin]

aptitude may not list skype even with Partner Repository registered. To install search for Skype in the Ubuntu Software Center this will automatically install everything required even on 64-bit.

[Knowledge Cube]

Running the first command with purge instead of remove will completely remove Skype, along with (possibly) faulty configuration files, from your system.

[Sanam Patel]

That's not going to fix it. There are many posts on this same bug, see the sidebar or search here for 'Skype single instance' for more info. The root cause is that Skype just stops working with no indication it has stopped, and does not properly shut down. I hope for an update someday from Skype but I have uninstalled it for now as it is totally unreliable and no longer functions on my machine.

[Jason Southwell]

@WarriorIng64: not from your home folder though.

[Jason Southwell]

@TomBrossman: did you reinstall Skype? I hope you made sure to do that before saying "That's not going to fix it".

[Sanam Patel]

@Roland Taylor I did, I also tried a few other suggestions like deleting the .skype folder. It didn't work for me, and I suspect the OP will experience the same bug continuing. If it works for someone else, great. I can always edit my comment if I see others having success with this method.

[Иван Бишевац]

@TomBrossman: I deleted .Skype dir and after checking "Start Skype minimized in the system tray" option, for me now works.

[Sanam Patel]

@Иван Бишевац glad to hear it. I had the same problem, tried the same thing, and Skype still silently crashed every single day. Hope you have better luck. Also, now that I said I can edit my original comment, I don't see how. D'oh!

[Иван Бишевац]

@TomBrossman: I forgot to mention one more step. Sorry. See my edit above.

[Igor Zinov'yev]

what software source do you need to have enabled for this to work on AMD64? I can't install skype using apt-get, it tells me that there is no installation candidate.

[igi]

@Igor Zinov'yev: you should activate the Partner repository.

[sumit garg]

This worked great for me, thanks for the suggestion!

[alfonx]

Just a hint for Ubuntu-beginners: The "gsettings" commands above must be run as the normal user which uses the desktop.. NOT as root. If you run them as root, they will not have the expected effect.

[DartLenin]

Just to be explicit about igi's previous comment: sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ $(lsb_release -sc) partner"

[Elder Geek]

Welcome to askubuntu! Would you be so kind as to add versions to your answer? Like the version of skype to which your answer applies? I thank you and the community thanks you!