Fax number is dialing too quickly

[Guest]

I'm a confessed Luddite and I'm looking for a more elegant solution to my
problem. After going through various versions of dialing rules to make sure
that the area code was being dialed but "1" was not being dialed, I finally
ran the lines through my phone & put it on speaker so I could listen to what
the modem was doing. Turned out that while there was a dial tone it was
dialing much too fast so the call was not going through and the fax was being
transmitted to a dial tone.

My bandaid was inserting commas in front of the fax number (suggested by a
computer geek ex) but there must be a cleaner way to fix this problem. Any
suggestions gratefully accepted.

 

[Peter R. Fletcher]

What do you mean by "much too fast"? A modem typically dials
significanty faster than a human being can - the default tone duration
(for each digit) is 95 msec, so you should get about 10 digits dialed
in a second. If it seems to be dialing much faster than this, the tone
duration setting is held in the modem's S11 Register, and should be
able to be changed by issuing an appropriate AT command (e.g.
ATS11=95).

I'm a confessed Luddite and I'm looking for a more elegant solution to my
problem. After going through various versions of dialing rules to make sure
that the area code was being dialed but "1" was not being dialed, I finally
ran the lines through my phone & put it on speaker so I could listen to what
the modem was doing. Turned out that while there was a dial tone it was
dialing much too fast so the call was not going through and the fax was being
transmitted to a dial tone.

My bandaid was inserting commas in front of the fax number (suggested by a
computer geek ex) but there must be a cleaner way to fix this problem. Any
suggestions gratefully accepted.

Please respond to the Newsgroup, so that others may benefit from the exchange.
Peter R. Fletcher

 

[Guest]

What I mean by "much too fast" is that when I put the call on speaker phone
to try and debug the problem (i.e. to make sure it was dialing the area code
and was not dialing 1) I could hear that it dialled so quickly no connection
was made and it was trying to send the fax over the dial tone. When I forced
a pause by adding commas in front of the fax number, the fax was sent
successfully.

You must have missed my reference to being a Luddite. I have no idea what
any of the technical stuff in your post means I'm afraid. Please start from
"go into control panel" and walk me through it, okay?

Thanks.

Darlene

 

[Peter R. Fletcher]

Since you have told us neither the OS nor the fax software or hardware
you are using, life is far too short to even start remote debugging in
words of one syllable. God and the denizens of Usenet tend to help
those who make some attempt to help themselves!

However, there is one thing that is worth a try: If you can get to the
Advanced Modem Properties settings for the modem you are using - in
XP, you do this by traversing Control Panel | Printers and Other
Hardware | Phone and Modem Options, choose the modem you are using on
the Modems tab, click the Properties button, and then choose the
Advanced tab - enter ATW in the 'Extra Initialisation Commands' box.
This will explicitly tell the modem to wait until it hears a dial tone
before dialing (this is, however, normally the default). The symptoms
you describe could result from a modem dialing blind in the face of a
local phone system that takes too long (could be only a second or so)
to bring up a dial tone when the phone goes off hook.

What I mean by "much too fast" is that when I put the call on speaker phone
to try and debug the problem (i.e. to make sure it was dialing the area code
and was not dialing 1) I could hear that it dialled so quickly no connection
was made and it was trying to send the fax over the dial tone. When I forced
a pause by adding commas in front of the fax number, the fax was sent
successfully.

You must have missed my reference to being a Luddite. I have no idea what
any of the technical stuff in your post means I'm afraid. Please start from
"go into control panel" and walk me through it, okay?

Thanks.

Darlene

Please respond to the Newsgroup, so that others may benefit from the exchange.
Peter R. Fletcher

 

[Guest]

Since this is a Windows XP newsgroup I thought it would be redundant to say
that my OS is Windows XP; I'm using MSFax.

If you had actually read my first post, you'd know that I had "helped
myself" my coming up with a "work around" for the problem I was having. I
came to this group looking for a better solution, not to be abused for my
lack of technical expertise. That's why I introduced myself as a Luddite.

Thanks for the suggestion(s). I had actually gotten to the "extra
initialization command" by process of elimination but your first suggestion
didn't help. I'll hope for better luck with ATW.

Thanks.

Darlene Stimson

 

[Peter R. Fletcher]

You're right that I should have remembered that this is an XP group -
most of the groups I frequent are "non-denomonational" - but if you
think my post was abusive, I hope you never run into real abuse!

If ATW doesn't help, you really do need to give more details of your
circumstances - e.g. are you directly connected to a normal external
phone line, or are you connected to/through a local switchboard. If
the latter, do you have to dial anything to get "out"- this almost
always requires a pause or wait before dialling the "real" number. I
assume that you want to dial an area code without a preceding 1
because you are in a conurbation where a "local" number may be in a
different area code, but dialling such numbers does not require the 1
prefix. If that isn't the reason, you may want to tell us what it is.

People here are helping you in their own time. If you don't give
enough information to make it relatively quick and easy for them to do
so, they probably won't bother. This may be why I am the only person
who has replied to your original message.

Since this is a Windows XP newsgroup I thought it would be redundant to say
that my OS is Windows XP; I'm using MSFax.

If you had actually read my first post, you'd know that I had "helped
myself" my coming up with a "work around" for the problem I was having. I
came to this group looking for a better solution, not to be abused for my
lack of technical expertise. That's why I introduced myself as a Luddite.

Thanks for the suggestion(s). I had actually gotten to the "extra
initialization command" by process of elimination but your first suggestion
didn't help. I'll hope for better luck with ATW.

Thanks.

Darlene Stimson

Please respond to the Newsgroup, so that others may benefit from the exchange.
Peter R. Fletcher

 

[Guest]

Everything depends on context Peter. I've seen some very patient replies to
somebody who didn't know his phone & fax number were the same, so I expected
that when I introduced myself as a Luddite it would be clear that I don't
know what information is required by somebody with superior expertise to be
able to advise me.

Trust me, as a victim of verbal, physical and sexual abuse and a student in
a program training to work with victims of violence in all forms I know very
well what abuse is. Perhaps you are one of those suffering the misconception
that harsh words can do no harm.

Back to the technical details; I have a direct phone line out and have set
up the MSFax Wizard to dial *70 to disable my call waiting while faxing. The
ATW did not work - I'll try the ATS11=95 command that you suggested earlier.
This Gateway computer came with the modem installed - it is a Microsoft
certified Agere Systems AC'97 modem currently set to a maximum port speed of
115200. Don't know if it's relevant but the driver is version 2.1.35.0 which
is supposed to be the most recent (looked for updates yesterday). Ran the
diagnostic routine and had a geek friend look over the log file - everything
was fine.

As I had said originally, I did resolve the problem by forcinga pause with
commas before the number is dialed but I was sure there had to be a cleaner
way around it.

I'm not an idiot - IQ of 148 - but I'm new to trying to configure a fax
modem. Any assistance from any users of this group is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Peter R. Fletcher]

Nothing further occurs to me. ATW won't help in your scenario, because
the *70 from the fax driver goes out _after_ the initialisation string
and before the number. Indeed, it could conceivably be that which is
causing the problem. I have always had a separate fax line without
call waiting, so I have never needed to disable it. If you pick up the
phone normally and dial *70, does the dial tone disappear when you
dial the *. If so, how long does it take to reappear after you dial
the 0? If the answer is "a perceptible time", that may be the answer,
though I don't know why lots of other people don't (apparently) have
the same problem in the same circumstances.

The eaisest test for thsi would be temporarily to stop sending the
*70. If this fixes the problem, you will either have to do what you
did - force a timed pause with a comma, or use a W instead (included
in the dial string, it pauses dialling for a new dial tone). Also in
that case, if you can use *70W instead of *70, it should automate the
second wait, and allow you to enter the number normally.

My best suggestion is that you get your geek friend to look at the
problem on site.

Everything depends on context Peter. I've seen some very patient replies to
somebody who didn't know his phone & fax number were the same, so I expected
that when I introduced myself as a Luddite it would be clear that I don't
know what information is required by somebody with superior expertise to be
able to advise me.

Trust me, as a victim of verbal, physical and sexual abuse and a student in
a program training to work with victims of violence in all forms I know very
well what abuse is. Perhaps you are one of those suffering the misconception
that harsh words can do no harm.

Back to the technical details; I have a direct phone line out and have set
up the MSFax Wizard to dial *70 to disable my call waiting while faxing. The
ATW did not work - I'll try the ATS11=95 command that you suggested earlier.
This Gateway computer came with the modem installed - it is a Microsoft
certified Agere Systems AC'97 modem currently set to a maximum port speed of
115200. Don't know if it's relevant but the driver is version 2.1.35.0 which
is supposed to be the most recent (looked for updates yesterday). Ran the
diagnostic routine and had a geek friend look over the log file - everything
was fine.

As I had said originally, I did resolve the problem by forcinga pause with
commas before the number is dialed but I was sure there had to be a cleaner
way around it.

I'm not an idiot - IQ of 148 - but I'm new to trying to configure a fax
modem. Any assistance from any users of this group is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Please respond to the Newsgroup, so that others may benefit from the exchange.
Peter R. Fletcher

 

[Guest]

Thanks Peter,

Getting rid of the *70 fixed the problem. That was an awful lot of work for
something that's supposed to be one of the working features of MSFax <sigh>.

Darlene

 

[Peter R. Fletcher]

MSFax is (as you will have read here) not the most wonderful of
applications. Unfortunately, you get what you (don't) pay for!

Thanks Peter,

Getting rid of the *70 fixed the problem. That was an awful lot of work for
something that's supposed to be one of the working features of MSFax <sigh>.

Darlene

Please respond to the Newsgroup, so that others may benefit from the exchange.
Peter R. Fletcher