Cant Receive Faxes:

[ADH]

Have Vista Ultimate installed and installed a Fax modem. Set it up using the
Windows Fax and Scan program. Am able to send but have not been able to
receive any faxes even though it shows Hello, Ringing- The call was answered
as a fax-Receiving page1.
Goes on forever like this without receiving the message.

 

[Andrew Rinaldi]

Have Vista Ultimate installed and installed a Fax modem. Set it up using the
Windows Fax and Scan program. Am able to send but have not been able to
receive any faxes even though it shows Hello, Ringing- The call was answered
as a fax-Receiving page1.
Goes on forever like this without receiving the message.

Hi ADH,

Can you please tell us the make and model of your modem ?

Please also tell us about your telephone line... are you using VoIP or
any other DSL or cable based phone line ?

I'd suggest that you try running some basic tests with HyperTerminal to
see how well the modem is working. Use AT commands such as ATDT to dial
your cell phone. You should also try calling the modem from your cell
phone and when you see RING RING on HyperTerminal answer the call with
ATA. These basic tests should be run multiple times and work without
incident.

Another simple test is to 'query' the modem using the diagnostics tab in
the modem properties dialog. Again, this should work every time and the
results should be consistent.

Regards

Andrew Rinaldi
Mainpine Developer Support
USA +1 503 822 9944 | UK +44 8458 909438
(e-mail address removed) | www.mainpine.com

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

And while you're at it, see if your modem is on the VHCL.

 

[ADH]

Have Digital cable Cogeco.ca. Also fax is US Robotics 56k Fax Host Int. Cant
find any reference to VHCL.

 

[Andrew Rinaldi]

Have Digital cable Cogeco.ca. Also fax is US Robotics 56k Fax Host Int. Cant
find any reference to VHCL.

Ok, I can see a number of issues....

Firstly, in my opinion you will never get a reliable analog fax service
running over a DSL 'line'. Here's why;

http://hylafax.sourceforge.net/docs/fax-over-voip.pdf

Secondly, USR modems have a lot of problems with their fax firmware. If
you undertake a search for USR in this newsgroup or at hylafax.org you
will soon get some idea of how many users hit problems with fax.

And finally, here's a link to the Hardware Compatibility Lists for the
Microsoft Operating Systems including Vista (VHCL);

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx

Personally, I think this list is useless when it comes to selecting a
fax board... but if this is not critical to your business then the list
will at least give you a board that will install.... even if it won't
work reliably for fax.

Regards

Andrew Rinaldi
Mainpine Developer Support
USA +1 503 822 9944 | UK +44 8458 909438
(e-mail address removed) | www.mainpine.com

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

The primary utility of the list is that if your modem and driver are on it,
you have the option of opening a support incident with Microsoft.

 

[Andrew Rinaldi]

The primary utility of the list is that if your modem and driver are on
it, you have the option of opening a support incident with Microsoft.

Sure... but how does that 'support' really help the customer who's
purchased a modem from the HCL believing it's going to work for fax ?

Microsoft are not going to fix the problems because they are either in
the modem firmware or in the Microsoft T.30 FSP (which they seem 'happy'
to accept is broken).

Regards

Andrew Rinaldi
Mainpine Developer Support
USA +1 503 822 9944 | UK +44 8458 909438
(e-mail address removed) | www.mainpine.com

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

The only thing that even has the slightest chance of getting them to fix
something is for them to receive enough support incidents.

 

[Andrew Rinaldi]

The only thing that even has the slightest chance of getting them to fix
something is for them to receive enough support incidents.

You could be right.... but after 7 years of feeding back detailed
problem reports to Microsoft I'm not expecting them to change anything
in the near future

My suggestion is that when discussing fax and the HCL we make it clear
that this really does not 'guarantee' any meaningful level of fax
compatibility. You only have to read the recent posts on this newsgroup
to see that people really do believe that a fax modem from the HCL will
work reliably.

Regards

Andrew Rinaldi
Mainpine Developer Support
USA +1 503 822 9944 | UK +44 8458 909438
(e-mail address removed) | www.mainpine.com

 

[ADH]

Misled you when I said Digital Cable, it is in fact Digital Phone service
over a cable line. Seem to be coming to the conclusion that maybe it would be
better to buy another modem. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

That is axiomatic. But it is the place I have to start if I want to forward
information on to the developers.

 

[Andrew Rinaldi]

Misled you when I said Digital Cable, it is in fact Digital Phone service
over a cable line. Seem to be coming to the conclusion that maybe it would be
better to buy another modem. Thanks for all the help.

IP based phone services and analog fax really don't mix well. I suspect
you will continue to have problems even if you buy another modem.
However, if you must stick with cable then I guess you don't have much
else to try.

I wish you luck !

Regards

Andrew Rinaldi
Mainpine Developer Support
USA +1 503 822 9944 | UK +44 8458 909438
(e-mail address removed) | www.mainpine.com

 

[Andrew Rinaldi]

That is axiomatic.

To you maybe... but to an end user who's reading this newsgroup and
looking for advice ? I doubt it.

Regards

Andrew Rinaldi
Mainpine Developer Support
USA +1 503 822 9944 | UK +44 8458 909438
(e-mail address removed) | www.mainpine.com

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Actually, in my experience the number of problems encountered with modems on
the VHCL is far fewer than with those that aren't.