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I just installed Skype on my Ubuntu 12.04 again and somehow I can only login if I start Skype via root (sudo skype) in the terminal. If I try otherwise via dash or just "skype" without sudo permission I can't log in, it says "Login failed" or "Sign in failed" (got the German version).

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Please go in more details! Is there any error message, the login process is too long, or times out?!... E.g. try with other Skype account. Otherwise, Skype version? – B. Roland Jul 29 '12 at 17:59
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Tip: Don't use sudowith GUI programs. – Uri Herrera Jul 29 '12 at 18:00
If it is required, I suggest gksudo <pogram> from Alt+F2. – B. Roland Jul 29 '12 at 18:22
Strange, I just noticed that my post is kinda cut, sorry. After I enter the login details and hit it, it takes about 3-5 seconds then it says that it couldn't log in, I think in English it's "Login failed" or similar. Also newest Skype version 4.0 (at least it should be the newest since I updated all packages etc.). – Someguy Jul 29 '12 at 22:03
Did you installed the Skype package from the Skype website? or from the repositories? – Uri Herrera Jul 29 '12 at 22:21

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

Try running this command:

sudo chown -R <your_username> ~/.Skype

While replacing <your_username> with your actual username of course.

Maybe you run Skype with sudo once which, after that, root took ownership of some of the files in your skype config/history files.

If you don't need your skype logs, you can also remove your ~/.skype folder (renaming would be safer).

mv ~/.Skype ~/.Skype.bak
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Thank you, that worked just fine. I also thought about the permissions but I couldn't think of a reason why only root should have access. – Someguy Jul 30 '12 at 16:03

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