LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] special characters problem only with Skype

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special characters problem only with Skype [SOLVED]

Hi all,

Recently I messed up my Slackware box at work and had to reinstall. I took the opportunity to go pure 64-bit, instead the usual AlienBob's multilib system (great work, by the way!). All seems OK or is quite easy to handle, but as the subject states I have problem displaying special characters (é, á, ò, ô, etc.) only on Skype, which was downloaded and built using the Slackbuild from Slacky which can be obtained here (another great job too!).

I am a Brazilian native and special characters are quite important in my daily communication, so this problem is quite annoying as all of them appears as �...

I've also tried this question at ##slackware and someone there asked me to try Dugan Chen's font rendering guide, which I use regularly and did not solve the issue.

I've run out of ideas. Can anybody throw me a light here? I'll be happy to provide whatever information should be necessary.

Thanks in advance,
gtludwig

I think the problem lies in the UTF-8 locale support

there's a lot of threat in this forum discussing about how to change the default locale to UTF-8, but for a start, try looking at

Code:

/etc/profile.d/lang.sh

That is a fascinating Skype package / build, have many people tried this approach out rather than a full mulilib approach?

Hi, I couldn't reach the Slackware box during the weekend.

@willysr,
my /etc/profile.d/lang.sh file is as follows.

Code:

#!/bin/sh

# Set the system locale.  (no, we don't have a menu for this ;-)

# For a list of locales which are supported by this machine, type:

#  locale -a



# en_US is the Slackware default locale:

#export LANG=en_US



# 'C' is the old Slackware (and UNIX) default, which is 127-bit

# ASCII with a charmap setting of ANSI_X3.4-1968.  These days,

# it's better to use en_US or another modern $LANG setting to

# support extended character sets.

#export LANG=C



# There is also support for UTF-8 locales, but be aware that

# some programs are not yet able to handle UTF-8 and will fail to

# run properly.  In those cases, you can set LANG=C before

# starting them.  Still, I'd avoid UTF unless you actually need it.

export LANG=en_US.UTF-8



# Another option for en_US:

#export LANG=en_US.ISO8859-1



# One side effect of the newer locales is that the sort order

# is no longer according to ASCII values, so the sort order will

# change in many places.  Since this isn't usually expected and

# can break scripts, we'll stick with traditional ASCII sorting.

# If you'd prefer the sort algorithm that goes with your $LANG

# setting, comment this out.

export LC_COLLATE=C



# End of /etc/profile.d/lang.sh

I can confirm the default locale to be UTF-8 by doing this:

Code:

root@cpc-5564:/home/gtl# set | grep LANG

LANG=en_US.UTF-8

@andrew.46,
I thought the exact same thing about this package / build. Since I had the opportunity, I ran the Slackbuild script.

@all,
Still I get the inconvenient question mark...
Before having the problem that led me to reinstalling I had built the same script and it worked as should, with all characters properly displayed (no question marks!).

Finally got my 'pure' 64bit slackware -current running and while I cannot help out with your character display problem I can thank you again for the link to that brilliant Skype slackbuild. Works beautifully :).

Hi all,
I got the problem solved and forgot to close this thread.
The way to solve this issue (for both mine future reference or other users that may experience this!) is here:
http://www.slacky.eu/forum/viewtopic...315865#p315865

enjoy! =D

Hmmmm.... can't modify this script to run skype 4 :(. Anybody else with success?

i have SlackBuild script for Skype 4 on my Slackhacks

Quote:

Originally Posted by willysr (Post 4703806)

i have SlackBuild script for Skype 4 on my Slackhacks

I saw, thanks for that :). However the slacky.eu script for 64bit does a nice 'mini-installation' of 32bit libraries for skype to link against which is exactly what I am after (rather than use a full multilib setup). I shall keep pottering around with it.....

Edit: All is well, I version-bumped a more recent script and version 4 is up and running :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrew.46 (Post 4703829)

I'm not sure what you mean by that. I'll guess that what you did was install the static 2.2 from slacky.eu in order to use on a pure 64 bit system., then used Willy's slackbuild to install the latest version over that? If so, did you set his script to static?

If not, what were the steps you followed?

Sorry, on re-reading I can see that I have been less than clear :). On current I am using this:

http://www.z01.eu/repo-slack/slackwa...pe_static/src/

which has just been updated for the latest Skype. I am using a 64bit without alienBOB's multilib setup, this slackbuild downloads just the required 32bit libs for Skype and tucks them in /usr/share/skype/lib32. Handy if the only use you have for 32bit libraries is to keep Skype happy...

Thanks! I read the Slackbuild and understand now. I'm not sure if I need to make the symlinks for this to work but either way I'm upgrading now :)