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Check you are not in off line mode. Faxes are not sent in off-line mode (See File, Work Offline menu option)
Check that you have a dial tone on each of the fax line(s) you are using. Broken dial tone (voice mail waiting signal) , or no dial tone can cause the modem to cancel the fax.
Check to ensure the modems are enabled by clicking on Tools, Options, Modem. You should see the modems and Enabled listed under status. If any are listed as disabled, you can enable the modem by selecting the modem and right-clicking “Enable”
If this does not help (or if the modems were enabled) then try selecting the modem from the list and click Change. Select the proper modem and go through the wizard to setup the modem. Repeat for each modem.
If that doesn’t work, then check Windows Control Panel, Phone & Modem and confirm each modem is listed and returns a successful response to a query (this can be done by clicking the Modem Properties, Diagnostic Tab) — if not query or modem error here then you have a problem with the modems installed in Windows.
@kaboondy wrote:
Thank you.
I did go into BIOS and disable both the ports and then in Device Manager I reassigned the port numbers to each of the COMs to a higher port number. And it did free up the lower COM ports 1, 2, and 3 as well as the IRQ but I was not able to manually force the computer to select the lower IRQ’s for the Fax Modem.
It is curious that despite being disabled in the BIOS the “communication Ports” still show in Device Manager implying that they are still “active”. I had assumed the COM1 and COM2 must be referring to some other devices rather than the physical, external harware Serial Ports on the computer which I had disabled.
I will reverse the changes and report back. Thanks again.
It shouldn’t matter if the communication ports are listed the Device Manager in Windows after being disabled in the BIOS. However, you can try a Scan for Hardware changes option to see if the Device Manager updates and removes the two Communication Port listings (Right click the computer-name in Device Manager and click Scan for Hardware Changes, or click the Scan for Hardware changes icon.)
I mentioned earlier that the BIOS settings can allocate specific IRQs to specific PCI slots in your computer. This is why many modem manufacturers technical support suggest you change the slot when you have problems with a fax modem (its easier than playing around with BIOS settings to force a different IRQ)
Device Manager (at least for Windows 7) show them as “Communication Ports” where they are linked to a port number (COMx), a memory address, an IRQ number. The two communications ports you see in device manager are referring to the two physical hardware interfaces (serial connectors/devices) on your computer. Even when the connector is not present, or if nothing is plugged into the connector they do still exist and are being reserved as COM1, IRQ 4 and COM2, IRQ 3. Only when you disable them at the BIOS level is when they should no longer be reserved and those resources would be available for use by other hardware on your PC.
@kaboondy wrote:
Regrettably the Fax modem is a USR plug and play type. I was in error when I stated in an earlier post that there were pins on the modem card that could be changed. At one time, I did have such a fax modem – I can look for it to see if I still have it. If I recall correctly, the modem with the “pin setting option” was an older modem (?? ISA) while the currently installed plug and play was purchased many years later (PCI). To be clear the pins on the (ISA type) modem had two sets of pin options – one to set the COM (1,2 or 3) and IRQ (1 – 7) – if I recall correctly.
Yes, the older internal ISA modems had these jumper pins to select the modem irq/com port. Some fax modem hardware during the Windows 95 era (1995+) may have have the option to use plug and play or manually select the com port by way of jumper pins. Using an ISA modem probably isn’t a good idea, and very few PC motherboards had both PCI and ISA slots.
@kaboondy wrote:
Are you suggesting that I should revert the COM1 and COM2 in the Device manager BACK to COM1 and COM2 (instead of COM5 and COM6)? Please note that the external Serial Port A and B are not used on this computer – If I understand correctly, the COM1 and COM2 are normally reserved for the external Serial A and B ports. Correct?
yes, leave them as is, (com1) and (com2) if they show up in device manager. there is no need to change them to com5 and com6. What is important is that the com ports are disabled at the BIOS level.
@kaboondy wrote:
No matter what I have tried, I can not seem to be able to see the COM setting in the modem properties in WinFax. Hence, I have had to use the TAPI setting. In other words the modem is installed on COM2 – confirmed by Modem and Communication Devices Properties – Test Com Ports. When I open the properties – COM2 is not an option. In my mind this seems strange because WinFax does see the modem on COM2 but will not communicate with it directly but only through TAPI.
you mentioned earlier that COM6 appeared as an option? it may be because you changed the com2 setting in device manager to com6.
@kaboondy wrote:
I am not even sure if all the effort to directly link WinFax to the modem will be helpful in solving this problem even if we are able to somehow get this to happen.
yes that is true, there is no guarantee that this will solve the problem but I think it is a step in the right direction (without replacing the modem )
@kaboondy wrote:
2. In Device Manager, under communications, there are listed LPT1 and COM1 and COM2. The COM1 and COM2 (under properties – Advanced Tab), can have their assigned COM ports changed. I changed these to a higher COM – 5 and 6.
Should leave these at the default settings.
@kaboondy wrote:
It has been some time and I have tried a number of variables on both computers.
3. In Device Manager, I then changed the COM Port assigned to the Fax Modem from COM3 to COM2 (as this became available when COM1 and COM2 were freed). The IRQ for the Modem is set at 21 and I am unable to change it – there is a Change settings dialogue under Resources Tab but this has only “Settings based on” which appear to have a specifc protocol like 0000, 0001, 0002, 0003 etc which I did not understand and is greayed out. In other words, I can not choose to use a free IRQ (I know that IRQ 4 and 5 are free when I select the View menu in Device Manager to show by Connection.
You mentioned earlier the modem has a physical setting for Plug and Play mode? Does it have a jumper on the modem board to turn this off?
@kaboondy wrote:
4. Once the COM (only) was changed for the Modem – I opened the settings for the Modem in WinFax – There was no option to Select COM2 (which the modem is now installed on). Only TAPI and COM6 show as options in the WinFax modem properties. Hence, despite having the Modem on COM2 – I still have to select TAPI to allow the Modem to work with WinFax since COM2 does not show as an option.
If there are any futher suggestions, I would be deeply appreciative. I think I have exhausted every option or idea that has been sggested. Perhaps the only thing to do is to reboot the computer at regular intervals to avoid the WinFax from hanging after a few hours. It should be noted that once WinFax hangs, the only way to get it to work again seems to be to reboot the computer. I realize the other way is to close the program(s) in Task Manager. It is interesting that the program does not respond (the Exit option when one right clicks the Message Manager in the Task bar is greyed out so you can not exit the program gracefully. Also, once WinFax has hung, I can not open up the Modem properties in Device Manager at all. In other words the Modem also does not respond either once WinFax has hung.
Disable power saving features on your PC. Screen savers and power saving mode.
Make sure you are not using any serial adapters/converters on your serial cable. (example 9pin to 25 pin adapter)
Try disabling ECM if this enabled.Some aggressive e-mail spam filters will block e-mail replies from this message board. Usually, it is hotmail.com,gmail.com,yahoo,comcast,verizon and a few others that do this. Sometimes it is blocked at the ISP/email provider level and unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about this. You can adjust your email account to allow email from getfaxing.com domain or use a different e-mail address in your account profile for e-mail replies from this message board.
What IRQ is the modem using? Do you notice that the IRQ number changes after a reboot or uninstall of modem/reinstall? Its possible there is some sort of problem assigning IRQs. Try installing the modem in a different slot, or if you know that COM3, IRQ 5 is not being used you can disable the Plug and Play on the modem and force the modem to use these settings.
Do you have actual com ports connections on this computer? either 9 pin or 25 pin connectors (if it is an older computer) usually, these are reserved as COM1 and COM2. Some computers only have 1 connector for COM1 and don’t have an actual connection for COM2, but both ports are still reserved. Many new computers within that past 10 years or so don’t have any physical com ports.
You could try to configure the fax modem to use COM2: IRQ 3 but you have to make sure that you have physical COM2 port disabled on this PC and disable it in the computers bios if that option is available.
from and older USR Manual…
Most computers come with two external COM ports (COM1 and COM2). If you have an
external COM2 connector (look on the back of your computer), you will have a conflict if
you install an internal modem using COM2. Even if nothing is connected to the external
port, the COM port is still reserved for that port, unless you disable it in the system
BIOS. The reason this happens is that the external connector uses a serial interface card,
which reserves COM2 and IRQ3 for the external connector. If you do not plan to use the
external COM2 connector, most computers will let you disable it (consult your
computer’s user guide or its manufacturer’s technical support). Your internal modem may
then be installed using COM2 and IRQ3, if you choose. Modems are not required to be
on COM2 and IRQ3, but we are using this as an example.Sound cards, network cards, SCSI/IDE, and other serial interface cards use COM
ports and/or IRQs. You may have installed such a card in your computer’s expansion
slot to run an external hard drive, or CD-ROM, or perhaps to connect to your
network. Some video cards also use an IRQ. The main issue to watch for with video
cards is that many of them share COM4’s memory address space. This can conflict if
you try putting a modem on COM4. Please contact your graphic card company for
support on this issue. You need to determine which COM port and IRQ each serial
interface card in your system is using.@kaboondy wrote:
Thank you very much – I will try the suggestions tomorrow. Can you please let me know how to change the parameters of the modems that are located on the two computers that do not have the ability to keep the computer from turning them off to save power.
Are you referring to the Network adapters? If you don’t have an option available, its likely that feature is not supported for your Network Card or drivers are old/outdated OR you need to adjust the ACPI power saving options from your computers BIOS (if it supports this). This is beyond the scope of the technical support we offer here for WinFax PRO.
you can try this
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297684The Class 1 or Class 2 settings and initialization speed settings should remain on default settings as selected by WinFax. If you have problems sending or receiving faxes , then you can try Class 2 assuming the modem supports this mode.
if the com port doesn’t appear in the WinFax drop down option then the modem is not configured properly for WinFax.
Reconfigure the modem in WinFax by pressing the SHIFT key and clicking properties. This will force WinFax to reconfigure the modem. If that doesn’t work, you might have to remove (from Add/Remove Modem) and then reboot the computer.Not a specific WinFax issue but its possible your network connection is lost due to power saving features.
If it is a wired connection , then check the Ethernet Network Adapter properties in Device Manager.
In one of the tabs (probably Power Management) disable the option “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”
you should do this on each machine accessing the shared message store and the machine hosting the message store@kaboondy wrote:
2. The main question in my mind is which is the problem –
A. “… because if WinFax is in a hung state (for some unknown problem),..” – ie WinFax, the program is in a hung state – OR
B. The modem is in a hung state and then causing the WinFax program to hang – the reason I ask this is because when WinFax is in a hung state – I can not access the modem properties in either WniFax Pro Setup OR the Control Panel – Modem Properties (which I think would have nothing to do with the WinFax program itself). In other words, if the modem is working properly then should I not be able to access the modem properties in Control Panel despite WinFax being crashed?
C. Is A. and B. really the same thing. I don’t know enough to realise if I am asking a silly question.The S7 time change will work if you need additional time to make a connection to a fax machine. The S19 change probably won’t make any difference
It is unknown what causes the modem to hang. You could check to see if there is any common denominator, such as a specific caller? or a wrong number/voice call? it appears that it is detecting a incoming ring signal from the modem (“Incoming call…”) but then hangs. This would indicate the modem is actively monitoring incoming calls but fails immediately after initiating some command to the modem. It could be something as simple as a Caller ID string that isn’t being parsed correctly when using TAPI mode.
@kaboondy wrote:
Under the advanced properties, there is an option to “Disconnect a call if idle for more than xx mins. and Cancel a call if not connected within xx secs. The disconnect box is unchecked (hence not selected) but the second option of cancel a call is filled in at 60 seconds – perhaps the call gets cancelled but we should also disconnect – maybe this causes the hangup as well?? Also, I have encountered receipients that have a much longer connect time of almost 1.5 minutes – and had to change the modem initialization string to end in 100. Perhaps I should increase the number of seconds from 60 to 120?? Just a thought and I would appreciate your opinon. 💡 😉 ❓ .
Those specific settings you see in the Windows Control Panel for the modem have no affect in WinFax PRO. If you want to alter those settings in WinFax, you will have add or modify the initialization string setting in WinFax PRO. The initialization string sends commands to the modem to change specific settings.
The “Cancel a call if not connected within xx sec.” is the same as the setting S7=XX where XX is the value in seconds. Right now you have S7=100 which sets your modem to disconnect during an “outgoing” call if a connection is not made within 100 seconds. The other option is “Disconnect a call if idle for more than xx mins.” This setting is S19=XX where XX is the value in minutes. By default, I believe this option is OFF (set to 0) for the U.S. Robotics modems. You can add S19=1 to set this to 1 minute, but I don’t think this will solve any problem because if WinFax is in a hung state (for some unknown problem), it will not answer calls regardless if your modem had disconnected or not.
Here is an example if you wanted to change S7=120 and add S19=1 to your current WinFax modem initialization string:
Line 1: AT&F&D2&C1&H1&R2&I0S7=120
Line 2: ATS36=0S19=1
Flow Control: AT&H1&R2&I0TalkWorks that was bundled with WinFax PRO 8.0 is version 1.0 (Windows 95/NT 4.0)
TalkWorks was removed from WinFax PRO for the next version 9.0 and released as a separate product called TalkWorks PRO 2.0 (it was WinFax PRO 9 with voice features built in) (Windows 95/98/SE/NT 4.0)
TalkWorks PRO 3.0 was the last version of TalkWorks released, it included an updated version of WinFax PRO 9.0. This version was designed for Windows 95/98/SE/NT 4.0/2000, and also works with Windows XP.
