Trillian Astra 4.2 Build 23 Free
Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
IBM Lotus Sametime 7.5.1 L-KBIM06YF5AW Build: 2007-07-17-08.20
Skype Version 4.2.0.187

This problem affects users running the following software on the same computer:

- IBM Lotus Sametime: standalone version, not just the Trillian plugin
- Skype for Windows
- Trillian Astra, configured to use the Skype plugin

IBM Lotus Sametime is started before Trillian Astra. Subsequently, Trillian Astra is started, during which Skype will be launched as the result of having the Trillian Skype plugin configured. The startup of all three software suites, Sametime, Trillian, and Skype, will be successful. However, the following problems will be encountered:

1) The Skype plugin for Trillian will be inactive, meaning that the Trillian contact list will show Skype users as "offline". Additionally, if a Skype message or incoming call request is received, this event will not be captured by Trillian but by the standalone Skype program currently running in the background. A side effect is that Trillian will not be able to save this event into the Trillian message/event history.

2) Shutting down Trillian Astra will leave Skype running. This behaviour is incorrect, and probably results from point 1) above. Since Trillian is unaware of Skype's presence, Trillian leaves Skype running.

The workaround is to start Trillian Astra before starting IBM Lotus Sametime, wait until all Trillian Astra initialization finishes, and only then start IBM Lotus Sametime if desired. If Trillian Astra is started first, none of the aforementioned problems will be encountered. Note this must be a full fresh start, not just Log Off/Log On from the respective software suites. The user needs to ensure that no parts of Trillian Astra, IBM Lotus Sametime, or Skype are running before the fresh start (many times SkypePM.exe is lingering around). In some cases a machine reboot is required.

According to the build date you're using 7.5.1 CF1, but the release should be L-KBIN-6YF5AW (source).

Anyways, have you tried a newer version of the Sametime client (i.e. 7.5.1 CF2, 8.0, or 8.5) to see if the problem persists? It could be a bug in the particular release of Sametime. I 7.5.1 had a bug that when it started it also tried to start MS Outlook (outlook.exe) if it was installed.

"TRILLIAN contained million viruses and blew his motherboard out" - quote by cootmaster on these forums.

Yesterday I upgraded my Skype to the latest and greatest version, and since then I have not had success getting the Trillian Skype plugin to work. My Skype contacts are permanently offline in Trillian, IBM Sametime running or not. So it looks like the problem may not be dependent on IBM Sametime after all.

I even tried removing Trillian from Skype's managed list of applications allowed to use the Skype API. I was expecting the "Trillian is attempting to use Skype" message, but this never happened. Wondering if there is a way to debug this further.

That being said, just in case this IS related to IBM Sametime somehow, I am going to try a newer version. Never mind the build numbers, I am pretty confident our company uses customized IBM Sametime versions (please do not ask me why :-).

Installed the bleeding edge IBM Lotus Sametime 8.5.1 L-KBIBM-823K67 Build: SAMETIME_8.5.1_FP_10101005-2018. No change at all. Trillian Skype contacts still offline. I am pretty experienced in debugging. Any way to move on? Any traces I can get you?

After a reboot I got the "Trillian wants to use Skype" message, and the Skype plugin started working. Then I started Sametime, shut down Trillian, and started Trillian again. The Skype plugin is still working. I guess I will give this a few days of testing before I come back with a more definitive answer. Thanks.

I wonder what happens if you go back to 7.5.1. Hopefully it was just a one-time weird issue.

Edit:
What version of the Notes client are you using? Do know know if you're using the stand-alone or the "AllClient" (i.e. the setup included Designer and Admin) package. In Notes 8.x it includes an integrated version of Sametime by default. I know I'm probably grabbing at straws, but never hurts to be thorough.

"TRILLIAN contained million viruses and blew his motherboard out" - quote by cootmaster on these forums.

No, certainly not a one time issue, I was having this problem since I upgraded Trillian from version 3.x to the new Trillian Astra (which was roughly in October 2009). At that time I searched this forum and found several potentially related problems with the Skype plugin, so I would always wait for and install the next beta or final Trillian Astra version. With the new version in place the Skype plugin would usually start working (after a reboot), so that would keep me happy for a bit. Then it would stop working again. It was only a few months later when I discovered the dependency/workaround described in my initial update, and I decided to live with that workaround back then.

I will see if I can go back to Sametime 7.5.1, but first I would like to give 8.5.1 a few days of testing and reboots. So far things have been working well, but from my past experience I know that sometimes it took close to a week for the problem to start happening again (weird, but there must have been a reason).

As for Lotus Notes, currently I am using

IBM Lotus Notes 8.5 Release 8.5.1FP5
Revision 20101014.1307-FP5 (Release 8.5.1FP5)
Standard Configuration
- did not install the in-built Sametime client

Over the last year or so I have upgraded my Notes several times, and it has made no effect on the behaviour of the Trillan Skype plugin. This makes me believe that Notes is "probably" unrelated to the root cause.

Thanks.

Just a quick update.

Everything has been working fine since the Sametime upgrade. I guess it makes no sense trying to chase after the root cause of this. I suggest to close this thread as a possible issue with older Sametime clients, I am sure that the interested reader will be able to look this thread up.

Thanks for all the help.

Thank you for updating your thread when you figured it out. Sorry I didn't respond sooner.